NowPulse - Use the Internet to Increase Revenue.

"Our website has generated
dozens of qualified leads
in just a few weeks..."
Victor Romero
President, eCallogy

There are two critical rules that will transform your web site into a money making machine:

1. Drive Targeted Traffic To Your Site
2. Drive Users To Complete An Action

These two requirements are intertwined. Success with one element is almost useless without the other. No matter how beautiful and functional your site is, no one will appreciate it until YOU drive traffic to it. On the other hand, all the traffic in the world won't make you any money if your site is poorly designed.

Drive Targeted Traffic
to Your Site.

Search Engine Optimization

Drive Visitors to
Complete an Action.

Professional, Credible Design

Identify Specific Audiences on Frontpage

Create a Linear Path for each Audience

Give Visitors an Action to Complete

Search Engine Optimization

Some so called "pros" charge hundreds of dollars for placing your site within the top-10 results of major search engines. The secret they're not telling you is that anyone can receive top placement by using obscure keyphrases that probably won't generate much traffic. Before paying for someone to promote your site on search engines, ask them about the popularity of the keyphrases, and the kind of traffic you can expect.

DMOZ is the best engine to be listed on. It's free, and once you're added to their directory, many other major engines including Google, AOL, Netscape, AltaVista, and Lycos will include you within their listings.

External Links

Using "Reciprocal Links" are a great way to increase traffic. Just seek out sites that share a similar audience and that offer a complimentary (not competing) service. Contact them and ask them if they would like to exchange links.

Many search engines, including Google, base your site's ranking on "Link Popularity". This means that the more links on other sites that point to your site, the higher your rankings will be.

Online Advertising

If you decide to advertise with banner ads, keep these rules in mind:

Stay away from sites that charge a flat rate per month, unless they can demonstrate a high volume of traffic. The trend is to pay for impressions, usually purchased in quantities of 1000.
Don't pay to have your banner displayed on a site that displays more than one or 2 banners per page. Sites that have multiple banners per page will load slowly and create too much competition between banners to make advertising very effective.
Have your banner designed by a professional. Poorly designed banners lack professionalism and credibility, and won't generate much traffic.

Bidding for keywords on search engines is one of the most cost-effective forms of targeting. First, you only pay for actual clicks. Second, the audience you are advertising to is actively searching for your service or product. Third, you don't need to spend thousands; you can start getting results with as little as $50.

Affiliate Programs

Affiliate Programs are a great way to generate sales. Other websites promote your product or service, and you pay only for completed orders or leads that they send to you.

You can set up your own affiliate tracking software, or pay another company to handle your affiliate program for you. Some sites that offer this service are Commission Junction and LinkShare.

Viral Marketing

The name might sound scary, but it's a safe and powerful way to generate traffic. It's based on the same principal as the classic "word-of-mouth" promotion. The idea is to offer an entertaining or informative free service on your site, and encourage visitors to tell their friends about it.

Professional Design

Your website is your online identity. Visitors will often judge your company's professionalism and competency by the appearance of your website. A site that appears to be designed by an amateur can hurt your credibility. It can sometimes be better to NOT have a site, than to have a poorly designed site.

Optimization is a tricky skill to master. You want your images to load quickly without compromising too much quality.

Identify Specific Audiences on Frontpage

On the web, you only have a few seconds to grab the attention of the average web surfer before they move on to another site. Keep text on the frontpage brief, and use highlights to draw viewers deeper into the site.

Use vertical markets or specific solutions that your viewers can quickly identify with. One example is the eCallogy site we designed. In a brainstorm session we listed the different markets that require call center services. We then created a link for each market on their front page.

Create a Linear Path for Each Audience

The web is a collection of interlinked pages. The very nature of the web can make for interesting and random navigation. To keep viewers from straying, it's important to give them a linear path that starts as soon as they identify with an audience or solution on the frontpage.

The flow should start with content that generates interest or evokes an emotional response. This should be followed by facts and information to validate the initial interest. The process should come to a close by giving the user an action to perform. One example is the I-Link site we designed. Notice the different solutions listed in the top left corner. Each solution links to a unique slideshow-style presentation that is several pages long. Each presentation is followed by a form for the user to request more information.

Give Visitors an Action to Complete

It is important to give a sense of closure to the experience you've created for your visitors. This could be, for example, a feedback form to fill-out, entering a credit card, generating a phone call, or subscribing to a newsletter.

Everything you've put into your website comes down to this one crucial point. To increase the ratio of completed orders, make your customers comfortable. Studies have shown that simple things like reminding viewers that the form is secure, displaying a money-back guarantee, and having a Privacy Policy can drastically increase sales conversion rates.