How To Create a Web Site that Makes the Sale (Corrected)

Nothing can be more frustrating than visiting a web site and not
being able to find what you are looking for.

Maybe the site is just plain ugly, or looks like it was done by
a kid attacked by a box of Crayola crayons.

If you're going to do business on the Internet, you need a
professional web site. This is your business card and the
visitors' introduction to who you are.

First impressions count. You want to make a good first
impression, and you want to get your potential visitor to
bookmark your site.

Here's how to create a good first impression and keep your new
visitor coming back for more.

1. Give your site a purpose. Do you know what you want your web
site to do?

Maybe your goal is to make the sale. If this is your goal, then
you want to make sure that you include useful content for your
visitor to read.

Make it interesting, and emphasize the benefits of your offer.
Give him/her useful information.

2. Make it fast loading I have cable modem, so if I'm really
interested in the site, I'll wait around for it to download so
that I can look at the content.

Unfortunately, most people are using dial-up. If your site takes
more than 10 to 15 seconds to load, your visitor will just click
away and go somewhere else.

The easiest way to make sure your site is fast loading is to go
easy on the graphics. Although graphics can make your site
visually appealing, they can take forever to load.

If you must include graphics, then use a graphics compressor to
shrink your graphics so that that they load more quickly.

Below are some sites online where you can shrink .gif and .jpg,
your most common graphic files, for free.

http://www.spinwave.com/crunchers.html
http://www.netmechanic.com/accelerate.htm

Now I've seen some pretty terrific interactive sites online.
They may use flash or some other kind of scripting to make them
interactive.

Although these types of sites can be fun places to visit, if you
have a business site, you want to skip creating this type of
interactivity. You'll have slow load times, and you'll lose
visitors fast.

3. Choose a good design
Keep it simple. Stick to the same color scheme. You don't
want something that looks like it was painted by a two year
old.

Think about what works well on screen. Have you ever
tried to read yellow type on an orange background? Think
about your reader.

Different colors mean different things to different people
and cultures. Keep that in mind.

It's very easy to find color charts online that tell you what
the different colors mean.

4. Include original content Your visitor is only going to stay
about 10 seconds if he/she has seen the same content somewhere
else.

Whether you are a writer or not, you can create useful content.
Use your unique perspective to create a free report or ebook or
articles your reader can read on your site.

If you're offering affiliate programs, create a review. Tell the
visitor something about that product that's not included in the
sales letter. Let him/her know what you liked about the product
and how it has helped you.

5. Give the visitor a free offer One of the easiest ways to win
the heart of your visitor is to offer something free. This will
not only help you establish credibility in the mind of the
visitor, but if you give before you get, your visitor is more
likely to consider your offer.

Unfortunately, freebies abound online, so getting your visitor
to accept your freebie can be tough.

There are several things you can do to make your freebie
valuable.

Again, you want to create original content. It could be a free
ecourse, an ebook or report. Just make sure that the information
you are offering can't be found anywhere else.

Write it from your perspective. Offering your unique perspective
can go further in winning the heart of your visitor than great
writing.

You can also offer a sample of your product. This could be
several chapters from your book or or a demo version of
software.

You can also offer a free newsletter, but make sure you include
some content that's your own. There are hundreds of thousands of
newsletters online, and your visitor won't stay subscribed very
long if he/she is reading the same thing over and over.

6. Capture contact information Before you give away that
freebie, make sure you get the visitor's contact information. I
know you've heard this a million times, but it takes repeated
exposure of your message to your visitor in order to finally
make the sale.

It's very important to build your list. You want to create a
market that is hungry for your products. A list of people who
are interested in what you have to say gives you a better chance
of making the sale.

A good, clean, professionally designed web site can go a long
way towards building your reputation online. First impressions
count. Make your first impression keep your visitors coming back.