Introduction

Each year many people attempt to launch a business on the Internet, and each year nearly as many people fail.
There are several reasons for choosing to go online over a “conventional business” and I’m willing to bet that these
are the reasons why you want to do the same:

Low overheads.
No premises to buy.
Easier and quicker to set up.

However, even with such factors working in your favour, the vast majority of people are STILL unable to make
money online.
Here’s why.

They don’t treat an online business as seriously as they would do a ‘conventional business’ – simply because they
haven’t had to risk so much in order to start it. If you’d just put your life-savings into a business venture then you’re
far more likely to treat it seriously than an idea that had cost you a tenner to set up and which only took you a
couple of days (at the most) to produce.

The latter applies to most Internet businesses. They’re almost too easy to set up, and fail as a result. It’s also all
too easy for them to fail due to the competitiveness of the Internet!
Of course you could just simply want to put your existing business onto the Internet. Here you have a slight advantage: you’ve already done a lot of hard work building your business.

You have taken it seriously, but even so it’s STILL all too easy to neglect your online presence for the same reason…. It feels easy so you don’t give it that much thought.
The second main reason is linked into the first, and is the subject of this article.

Many online businesses don’t have a website that does what it is meant to do – SELL PRODUCTS! Even worse, many websites can’t even be found in the first place because they have been marketed so poorly. If you’ve got a poor website, how on earth do you expect it to be a success?
I truly believe that this is as a result of the first reason.

People are just too lazy when they have NO motivation.

In this article, I’m going to share with you the main core “secrets” of making a website that DOES ITS JOB, and SELLS PRODUCTS.
However, before we start getting to the main tips, there’s something you need to decide.

Decisions, decisions!

Before you even start designing and building your website, ask yourself this: What exactly will the purpose of my website be?

There are two main types of websites:
1.) Sites that just provide some information about the business.
AND
2.) Sites that directly sell products to the customer.
If you’re launching an online-only business, then you’re website is obviously going to fall into the latter category.

This is also the one that most business websites fit into nowadays.
Now I know that all that sounds really obvious, but many people don’t even think about this issue. They just plough in and produce a site that does neither successfully.
If you already own a business, and you’re not sure what you want your site to do, ASSESS YOUR SITUATION and DO YOUR RESEARCH… What kind of sites do businesses similar to yours already run? Are you ready to sell products over the Internet? Do your customers want or even need to buy products over the internet?
Once you’ve got this very basic idea over with, you’re ready to move on to producing your site.
Even with something as basic as this, it’s surprising the number of sites that I’ve seen which don’t seem to have a specific purpose. If you’ve just come across a business website, and it’s not instantly clear to you what the site is all about, you’ll probably click the back button straight
away (more on this later.)

So now we’ve got that over with, it’s time to reveal the main “secrets” of producing websites that sell…

Keep it simple!

My first tip is to say keep your site as simple as possible. If your website doesn’t need to be complicated, then don’t make it so. People are turned off by over-complication. It shouts lack of efficiency and just plain confuses people. It also loses peoples trust, and here’s how: Gaining new customers online is quite difficult at the best of times, especially if you don’t have a physical presence to help promote your online branch. Fraud across the Internet is now widespread, and people are becoming
more and more suspicious of sites offering products online.

Keeping your site simple is a great way of gaining trust. You’re being upfront about everything, so you’ve got nothing to hide, right?

There’s also a second, and very good reason for keeping your site simple – LOADING SPEED. If people have to sit there for half an hour whilst your site loads then they’re going to give up! Keeping it simple will mean that your site will load quickly even on a standard 56k dial-up
connection, in turn maximising your customer base.

Reduce the number of clicks required to access a page.

Make sure that all the main pages on the site have a link to them from the homepage.

Don’t use adverts all over the page.
They’re an immediate turn off, and also slow down page speed. If you
MUST use them, do so sparingly.

Avoid pop ups! They’re very annoying, and can even crash certain web browsers.

Keep text simple, yet descriptive.
Don’t waffle too much.

Don’t use fancy images where they are not needed!
Avoid FLASH animation.
It might look good, but I know that I for one find it very annoying. It’s unnecessary, and remember we’re trying to keep things simple here.
As we’ve just touched on the subject of trust, that brings me on to the next thing:

Gain the trust of your visitors

Apart from keeping things simple, there are many things you can do to gain a persons trust when they visit your
website.
Your site needs to SHOUT trustworthiness. It’s absolutely crucial to create a good impression if you want your site to
sell! I think we’ve all visited a site before and thought “I’m not buying anything off this site – I don’t trust it.”
People are very cautious when buying things online. This is mainly due to fraud, and isn’t something that’s going to
change probably ever. Therefore it’s absolutely imperative that people feel that they can buy from your site in total
confidence. If you gain the customers trust then your site is going to SELL! (And that’s what we want to do right!)
Here are my secrets to building trust when people visit your site:

Use testimonials
If your business isn’t well established or known to the masses, testimonials are an absolutely invaluable way of
gaining trust. If people can see what others think of your product or service then it gives them a pretty good reason
to buy – “other people were happy, and so I will be too!”
They’re gaining an opinion from an unbiased source, and the absolute best way to sell a product to someone is
through a recommendation.
. . .
Offer a guarantee
Customers will be more comfortable buying from you if they know they can return their purchase if they’re not
completely satisfied. Why do you think companies such as Argos offer a “14 day Money Back Guarantee”? And make
sure you TELL your customers. Let them know you want them to be happy. . .
.
Gain approval
Gain a seal of approval from a company such as VeriSign. This way people know that you’ve been approved by an
independent third-party as having good business practices.

Be upfront
Clearly display your contact details so that people know they’re dealing with a company they can easily contact
should something go wrong. You’d put your contact details inside a company brochure wouldn’t you? So make sure
they’re on your website as well. . .
. . .
Answer all questions quickly
If you take 5 days to reply to a simple query then it simply says that’s how long it’ll take for an order to be processed.
It makes you seem disorganised, and generally untrustworthy.
(Yes I know that’s not specifically about what to include in a website, but you NEED to do it all the same.) .
.
Display a privacy policy on your site
People will be much more comfortable in dealing with someone who they know won’t spam them, or generally
pass on their details to anyone without their permission. You’re giving them a guarantee of integrity.

Basically implement anything that points to your site being reputable and somewhere that people can trust.
It WILL help your website to SELL! But many people still overlook it. I see sites every day that just do not look
reputable. I’m sure most of them ARE, but if I don’t gain that impression within a few minutes then I’ll try another
site. As a customer, it’s not worth the risk.

Have a Great Domain Name…. Make a name for yourself!
This is really important. You just can’t get by with an address like http://www.geocities.com/dfdsj/fsdgdsh/home.htm
Take a look around the Internet, and almost EVERY successful web site has a memorable domain name:
www.amazon.com, www.ebay.com, www.google.com etc. So to make your website a success, you MUST have one
too, and it MUST be memorable, relevant and above all still available (Quite a challenge as you’ll probably find
out!)
Ok, so how do I think of a good un’?
Write down the first ones that come to mind. Chances are they will to other people too – that’s great, but it could also
be a problem (see below.)
If I was setting up a business selling say mobile phones, these domain names were the first that sprung to mind:

www.crazyphones.com
www.ultimatemobiles.com
www.valuephones.com

I thought of those in just a few seconds… I’m sure you could think of much better, but that’s not the point.
A quick search on a domain name registration site such as www.lycos.co.uk reveals that out of those three, two are
already registered to someone else. Only www.ultimatemobiles.com is available for me to register.
This highlights one of the problems you’ll face when trying to come up with a suitable domain name – FINDING ONE
THAT’S AVAILABLE.
It’s quite easy to think of a short snappy name that would do just fine, but the chances are is that someone else will
have thought of it before you.
Even if the name of your dreams has already been taken, don’t despair, and follow my advice here:
Try altering the format of the name. So www.valuephones.com is already taken, but what about
www.value-phones.com or www.valuphones.com or www.valuephones.co.uk etc.

Whilst we’re on the subject of different domain names that are similar, there’s a very important thing that you need to
take into consideration: Choosing an ending that’s right for your site.

If you’re a British company, and you expect most of your customers to be from the UK, choosing a .co.uk domain
name would probably be best for you. It shouts to people “UK company”… “No worrying about shipping from
abroad.”
Similarly, if you’re based in the US, a .com ending might be better for you.

If you decide that you want to appeal to people internationally, a .com ending will probably suit you best
as it’s widely regarded as being international. But there are many different endings to choose from. .net,
.org, .tv, .ac.uk etc. They’re all designed for different purposes. But be careful. A .org name usually means an
organisation which is not-profit making, so probably wouldn’t suit a commercial enterprise.

MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT THE ENDING YOU WANT TO REGISTER ACTUALLY MEANS.

Also ensure that the name you choose is easy to remember and relevant.
If I registered the name www.phonesdirectsw194jt.com then you’re not going to remember it are you?!
Also consider where your domain name will be communicated to people. If you’re going to be saying it a
lot over the phone then avoid names with words in such as “two.” When not written down, it could also mean “2”,
“to”, or “too.” Over the phone, how will people know which one it is?

SHOUT about what you offer!

Now this is a VERY simple one! In fact it’s so blindingly obvious, most people don’t give it a second’s thought!
I bet it’s happened to you: You come across a site and you think “what’s this supposed to be about?” The
homepage gives no clue. You see some kind of logo and a photo but you’re still mystified as to why the site exists,
and who runs it.
This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make when setting up a business website. People need to know about
what you offer within the first few seconds of loading your website for the first time. If they don’t, they’ll give up and
press…. You guessed it…. The nightmare “back” button*. Why should they spend 10 minutes finding out about what
you offer only to discover it’s not what they’re looking for?

*Yes I know that over and over again I keep saying DO THIS otherwise they’ll press the “back” button, but it’s
true! That button is the LAST thing you want your visitors to press. That’s what this whole book’s about.
Getting visitors to stay at your site and BUY FROM YOU!
(So don’t moan at me…. Please _)
Anyway, back to this section. You need to clearly sum up what your site is about on your homepage. You must
make it really obvious. You can do this with both words and layout:
If it’s a shopping website, lay it out like one. Have a list of “departments” or “categories” down the side. Have a brief
paragraph at the top of the homepage… “Welcome to ABC Toys. Browse around for the widest selection of
hand-made toys in the UK delivered direct to your door in 7 days!” etc. Show pictures/photos with toys in them.
Make it feel like a toy shop!
If on the other hand you’re not aiming to sell anything directly from your site, and simply want it to give some background information on your company, the same rules still apply. Put a brief introductory paragraph on the homepage. Clearly show your logo. Blatantly state what your company offers.
Like I said before, it’s obvious stuff, but MANY MANY sites make this mistake. I dread to think how many visitors (and
sales) it costs them!

Offer your visitors MORE There are many things that you can offer visitors to your site that will benefit BOTH of you. You will benefit from gaining yet more trust, reputation, and free advertising, whilst your visitors will benefit from getting MORE from
you.

This is the last tip in the book:
Offer a newsletter
This is primarily what I was talking about just. Nearly every big company has a newsletter. Now think about why….
Offering a newsletter to your customer’s means you can continually promote your site. And the more you promote
it, the more you’ll SELL.

All you need to do is make a newsletter available something like monthly. Inside, include the latest news from your company or venture, and make available some exclusive offers to your subscribers. That way you’re offering THEM something, and you should gain from extra sales generated by those offers. But remember that it’s supposed to be a NEWSletter so don’t just fill it full of adverts and offers for your website. Include some free articles and news within your mailing. Make it information
that is worth knowing and that your target audience will be interested in. They’ll appreciate what your newsletter is
offering, improve their opinion of your site, and as a result will be more likely to buy from you.
Btw. I think it’s worth noting that it’s probably best to email a newsletter around once a month at the most. If you’re
constantly bombarding them with “offers” every day of the week, then they’ll get pretty fed up of you, unsubscribe
from your newsletter, and probably never buy anything from you again! EVEN WORSE, they’ll tell everyone else,
and the reputation of your business will suffer accordingly.
It’s not worth it – so don’t Spam people.

To Summarise…
Remember… To produce a website that sells, this is what you need to do…
Keep it simple
Reduce the number of clicks required to access pages
Don’t use adverts all over the page
Avoid pop ups
Keep text simple, yet descriptive
Don’t use fancy images where they are not needed
Avoid FLASH animation
Use testimonials
Offer a guarantee
Gain approval
Be upfront
Display a privacy policy on your site
Have a Great Domain Name
SHOUT about what you offer
Offer your visitors MORE

Follow these principles, and you should produce a successful website. I think one of the best pieces of advice

I can give is to say use your common sense! Think clearly about everything that you do. Will this enhance the
site? Will it be useful to visitors? Does this tell the customer everything they want to know? Does that create
a good impression? As a customer, would I buy from this site?