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Informative Articles

Google gives Web Page History More Importance
by Rick Hendershot, e_Marketing Blog The Google patent application submitted in March, 2005 has generated a good deal of debate among search engine optimization experts. The patent document contains many general suggestions about the direction...

If You Don’t Like The Weather…Just Wait Ten Minutes
This old saying which addresses the variability of the weather in Montana is also applicable to the market dynamics for an online business. If there is one thing that is certain about the future of online marketing, it is that it will...

SEO, PPC & SEM - ASAP!
This article examines the basics behind quality site promotion. Let us take a good look at acronyms in the industry! Search Engine Optimization(SEO), is a term thrown around a million times a day online. So many sites use old techniques that...

The MOST TRAGIC Mistake a New Marketer Almost ALWAYS Makes
Copyright 2005 Richard Meredith So... you're a new marketer, and you want to make extra money or even perhaps a great living! One of the first things you do is join an affiliate program or downline club of some sort. Or maybe even you are trying...

Your site on the first page of Yahoo search engine
Are you ready to know a little powerful secret? A little secret that means 388% of extra-traffic to your site totally free of charge? ..Do you think that I'm gone crazy if I'm telling you that Yahoo! wants your sites on its first page of results?...

 
Online Marketing: A Busy Person’s Guide

Managing your online business is a full-time job. Unfortunately, most people have other responsibilities that prevent them from devoting all their attention to e-commerce.

If your time is limited, here are five things you must do to keep your revenue flowing:

1. Keep content updated

Nothing signals a neglected business like old content. If you walked into a retail store that had dusty signs and old merchandise you’d turn around and walk out. You would instantly know that the service would be poor and the merchandise unacceptable. A neglected website signals the same things. The only thing your online customer can judge is what they see on the screen. They have no idea you work late into the night improving your product. Make sure to do simple things like updating your copyrights to the current year and removing references to holidays that have passed. Which leads us to our next topic—promotions.

2. Develop frequent promotions

Excite your customers whenever possible. People respond to novelty. Create new promotions as often as you can. Even slight changes make a difference. A discount, a bundle, anything that says “ALL NEW” will catch their eye. If you get into the habit of constantly revising the way your products are merchandised, you will have a much stronger sense of what works. Which leads us to our next topic—testing.

3. Test and revise

In my marketing business, I have seen companies spend hours in meetings deciding what words to use and how to position a product. Often it is based on nothing more than a strongly held position by an aggressive staff member. The arguing continues until the loudest staffer gets his way. This is not the way to make decisions about your website. The only true way to know if something works is to test and revise it. If you are not tracking promotions you are simply devoting time to a hobby. This


is not to say that intuition should be ignored. It should be tried and tested to determine whether your customer sees things the way you think they do. Which leads us to our next topic—feedback.

4. Get feedback from your customers

If you want to know what your customers think you have to ask them. It’s not complicated. I guarantee that sometime in your career you will be shocked by how customers perceive something differently from you. I use the word ‘shocked’ advisedly. Sometimes you will be so close to a product that the obvious benefit or flaw escapes you completely. This is not a good experience, but it will encourage you to see how your customers view your offers. Which leads us to our next topic—buying.

5. Make buying easy

Your main goal for your website is to get people to buy something. You have a service or a product that needs to be purchased. Is it easy to buy? Do you require lots of extraneous information that you don’t use? Think long and hard about what your buying process should look like. Check out how the largest companies sell their products online. They streamline the process so that people don’t get frustrated and give up along the way. This should be your goal. Don’t feel you need to make the purchase seem ‘important’ by requiring lots of unnecessary steps. Amazon has reaped the benefits of "1-Click" ordering.

If you pay attention to these five areas, you should not feel guilty when you devote your time to other parts of the business. Which leads us to the final conclusion—make it fun! Busy people need fun too.

About the author:
Digital Media Works, Inc.(http://www.DigMediaWorks.com ) is an Internet marketing and design firm. A seasoned 25+ year management/marketing professional, founder Stephanie Diamond, former AOL Marketing Director, is experienced in building profits.