Posts Tagged ‘small business owners’

Ah, a website–the greatest marketing tool of the 21st century! Some small business owners believe all they need is a website. It doesn’t really matter what the colors look like and if it’s easy to navigate. It should be enough just to have a website that displays your product, right?

Not necessarily. Research shows that a potential customer will come to your website up to seven times before they actually buy your product. Colors and navigation in this situation do matter. The tips below show how important website design really is.

Effective Website Design Tips to Improve Your Online Sales
The first thing to keep in mind is to have a fast loading website. One fact I found being in telecommunications is that many folks only still have 56K internet access at their homes. The majority of them feel they have DSL or T1 service at work and only need 56K service at home for checking emails and light surfing. The next is to steer your customers to your order page. Do not place a bunch of useless links nor clutter your site with unnecessary text. Give your visitor the needed information to make an educated decision to purchase your product and/or service and steer them to your order page. You also need to offer an opt-in email to capture names and emails of your visitors. This enables you to follow up numerous times and get them to return at a future date to place their order. This is the cheapest and yet the most effective way to advertise!
- Bruce Galle getting started online expert

3 Tips to Make Your Website Sell
I’ve seen some pretty awful websites. Color combinations that made the text impossible to read; navigation buttons that change from page to page; pages that start talking or play music as soon as you open them (with no way to adjust the volume or turn it off!); and pages crammed full of tiny text (and ads) in wall-to-wall boxes — these are among my pet peeves! My three tips for solo and small business owners: 1) If you are selling a product, your page should do just that…and ONLY that. Don’t fill up your page with links that take visitors away from the one action you want them to take: to buy your product. 2) For non-sales pages on your site, keep your navigation simple and consistent, and use white space liberally. You don’t need to fill every available spot with an ad or link! 3) Buy, and read, the book, “Don’t Make Me Think,” by Steve Krug. It’s a fun, lighthearted book with seriously great website layout advice. You’ll never look at your website the same way again! – Terri Zwierzynski self employment expert

Design the Correct Website and Increase Your Success
Website design comes in many shapes, colors and forms. You should plan your type of design according to the website, theme and outcome you wish to achieve from your visitors. Some sites easy navigation is most important, in others the overall look. But what is a must to creating or designing a site requires an understanding of website design. Even better than understanding it is to do it yourself! Learning how to create successful websites without spending hundreds or thousands of dollars will put you ahead of most competition. It really isn’t that hard when you use new web 2.0 easy to follow courses based on video. You can do it! Why make it harder than it is.
- Kenth Nasstrom affiliate marketing expert

Get Inside the Head and Heart of Your Visitors
The best website designs get inside the head and heart of the ideal visitor. Work with your website design company to create a profile of your perfect customer. Describe who that person is – their gender, education, socio-economic level, interests, problems, etc. Once you capture the essence of this person, you will gain a sense of what they want and how you can engage them in your message. Pictures and testimonials that show benefits received through your products and/or services are likely to be particularly effective. This is where a video or flash presentation can be extremely advantageous.
- Ruth Kuttler web design expert

Has your website design played a role in attracting customers?  What have you done to improve your website?  Any tips?

What is the biggest problem that small internet business owners face? Lack of time. It takes a lot of time and energy to run a profitable business. Someone has to answer e-mails, market and promote the business, develop and send out a monthly newsletter, write articles to optimize search engine placement, develop or update a website, search for content to add to the website, and drive customers to the website! Are you tired yet? You may ask, “After all that how does anyone have time left to enjoy their business?” Well, the answer is…there isn’t any time left. Small business owners become stressed and frustrated. Some even end up quitting their business all together.

How can you avoid this problem? What is the key to being a successful small business owner? Hiring a reliable Virtual Assistant. Virtual assistance can give you that one precious gift you most desperately need–time. A Virtual Assistant can handle all the time consuming tasks so that you can actually enjoy your business.

Make a list of the things you need to do to run a successful business. Then, put a check by the things that you can delegate to someone else. For example, do you enjoy writing articles, or E-books? But, you don’t have time to promote them and write them? Then hire a Virtual Assistant to help you submit your articles to web sites, post blogs, create a newsletter, and update your web site so you can actually write.

You may ask, “Is hiring a Virtual Assistant cost effective?” Well, how much is your time worth? When you can delegate mundane tasks needed to keep your business running, then you will have more time to put into your business–thus, being able to increase your revenue.

So, give it a try. If necessary hire a Virtual Assistant on a trial basis to see if it works for you. You’ll be surprised at how much your business will actually grow.

What are your concerns about hiring a virtual assistant?