How to Build a Successful Web Site:
The Elements of a Winning E-Biz.
By Chris Malta Home EBiz Product Sourcing Expert
When it comes to creating profitable web sites,
there’s no magic formula or quick fix. You have to set your site apart from every other
web site and motivate buyers to come back again and again. It’s a step-by-step process
simple enough, but not easy.
According to Jim Nelson, of eCommerce solution provider SiteSell.com, there are two key
components to building a successful eBiz: content and customer relations.
Content Is King The first step is building your web site around a lot of good,
quality content. Explains Nelson, The more useful, interesting knowledge you provide
visitors with, the more your site becomes a legitimate, helpful tool in their eyes. As
you help people learn about whatever topic your site is focused on, you’re giving them
a reason to choose to buy from you and developing loyal customers.
Beyond that, your search engine rankings correlate directly to the amount of valuable
information you provide. The more fresh, changing subject matter on your site, the
higher it will rank. And the higher it ranks, the more users will find it. That’s why
you want to be adding new, content-rich pages on a regular basis. If you can gain good
positioning in the major engines (Google, Yahoo!, and MSN), you’ll automatically do
well in all the minor engines that pull their results from these popular sites.
You should base your pages around keywords you can compete with. Research the supply
and demand for various key phrases on Google, Yahoo!, and WordTracker, and use that
data to determine which keywords to center your copy around. As you research the topic
your site will be about, you’ll find hundreds of related keywords. You might not rank
well for every one, but if you can rank well for enough of them, you can really boost
your traffic.
Make It Personal Because users primarily come online with the intention of gathering
information or finding a solution, a hard sell can turn many visitors off. People want
to feel like you’re not just after their money, but that you’re actually offering them
something in return that the relationship is mutually beneficial.
That’s why the second component of a profitable web business is to make it personal.
Your site is your instrument for cultivating a connection with your shoppers. Audio and
video can greatly enhance that personal sense. You want visitors to understand that
you’re a real person with a name, a face, and a phone number where they can reach you.
Creating a personal presence lends credibility to your business. You want your web site
to make customers feel welcome, and you need to reaffirm that positive initial
experience by following up with quick, friendly service. If visitors feel like they
know you and like you, they’re going to want to buy from you, rather than just moving
to the next e-tailer in the results pages.
Maintain Consistency Sometimes, in spite of taking all the right steps, you’ll find
your site loses it’s positioning and your traffic and sales slip. This is fairly normal
the engines have simply modified their ranking algorithms again. The important thing
is not to panic, says Nelson. The search engines want people to find well-built sites
in the results; so if you give them that, the engines will find you again and you’ll
come back up in a fairly short period of time. Just keep doing what you’re doing
quality content is a process that still works.
