Sunday, January 28, 2007

My guide on how to stop losing customers

Copyright © Vincent Murphy
http://www.HomeGrail.com


Throughout the years, I have seen a lot of people all making the same old mistakes when constructing their websites, Here is my guide on how to stop losing customers and how to avoid these online business mistakes that will turn visitors away from your website and cause you to lose profit and popularity.

Avoid at any cost, signs on your website that say “Under construction” . Websites are supposed to be live and ready and they are supposed to change and expand over time. Under Construction signs on your website look cheap and unprofessional, if your site is not ready to show to the public, then please don't show it!

Hit or Visitor Counters.
Someone who visits your site usually doesn't care on how many other people have visited your site but I can bet you that if the visitor counter displays a low number it will be an enormous turn-off for most people. It indicates that your website has low traffic and therefore is not very popular. If you must have a visitor counter then check out statcounter.com They offer a free yet reliable invisible web tracker, highly configurable hit counter and real-time detailed web stats. Insert a simple piece of their code on your web page and you will be able to analyse and monitor all the visitors to your website in real-time from your own statcounter admin area. Also any decent web host should have detailed statistics available.

Too much Technology .
Try to keep your website simple and easy to navigate. There are loads of really cool and crazy items you can program into your website but they are only going to distract the visitor and turn the focus away from your main intentions. Also some of this overuse of technology can slow down the loading time of your page, so drop it in favour of a more simple design. Avoid too many animated graphics, flash shows and other huge graphics, as well as amateurish audio and videos.

Statements of copyright.
Make sure you always include copyright statements on every page, and update the year in the copyright statement as appropriate. If your guests look at your website and finds that the copyright information looks like this; Copyright 1995 it’s a real turn off and it is actually shouting out loud that your website has not been updated for years! As I wrote above websites are supposed to be live and ready and if it has not been updated since 1995 it probably means that your going out of business.

Extra long sentences can finish off your website. Don't forget; customers get easily distracted. Help your guests by keeping your sentences short and to the point.

Studies have revealed that most people will not read extra long pages of text right off their computer monitor. I have seen sales pages reaching over 15 printed pages and you have to be a rather enduring person if you care to read through all that off your pc screen.

Visitors will either print your page or they will scan it for bullet points. Make sure you keep your pages as short as possible without compromising your content. If you have a lot of content that basically needs to be on one page, then make short pages with a “next” button at the end instead so people can read more by turning to the next page. This method can even give you some extra money as well as you can put AdSense boxes to each of these pages.

It helps if you actually tell your visitors what to do – in the marketing world it's called a “Call To Action.” neglecting this may result in a customer leaving before they have bought anything. If you tell your visitors what to do next it is much more likely that you will see greater results. Examples of this are: , Sign up to our newsletter, Click on the link below, Call Us, and Order today!

Once you have built your website and everything looks pleasing to the eye, don't think you can now put your feet up and wait for the traffic and customers to arrive from nowhere! Actually once you have built your website the hard part begins. You will have to market your website consistently in order to obtain traffic. There is no use in spending lots of time and money on creating your website if you fail to market it.

Draw up a marketing Plan, the plan should indicate the marketing goals and objectives to be achieved over a specific time period and then lays out the various strategies to be followed in achieving them.

Vincent Murphy is the Webmaster/Owner of http://www.HomeGrail.com

Successful Home Based Business FREE GIFT, 6 FREE HOME BUSINESS EBOOKS: http://www.HomeGrail.com/newsletter-signup.html

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Saturday, January 20, 2007

The Keys To Having A Successful Home Based Business

Copyright © Vincent Murphy
http://www.HomeGrail.com


Because of the continuous development and expansion on the internet, it is crucial that you get a head start on your competitors. There are thousands of people that potentially have the same idea as you, to make a fortune on the internet. However, there are a number of things that you can do to help build a successful home based business.

The first thing you want to determine before starting a successful home based business is what you are going to sell. You want to select a product that has public appeal and is popular if you want to have a chance at selling it. Once you find the perfect product, make sure you are passionate about it yourself. Being passionate about the product you are selling will assist you in promoting it.

Having a plan to your home business is crucial once you have determined the product you want to sell. If you want to have a successful home business, you need to know what you are going to sell, who your target audience is, and how you plan on marketing it to them. As your business develops your plan should and will change, but it is vital that you have a plan in the initial phases.

Once you have the product picked out and have a plan to get you started, it is time to bring in the business. Advertising is crucial with your home business because it will decipher whether you get business or not. You must create a strong advertising campaign to help get customers to your site. There are a number of ways you can go about advertising your business, so try a few out and see what works best for you.

It’s going to take a little bit of time before you turn your business into a successful home based business, so be patient. Once you do begin to generate some traffic, how you deal with the customers is just as important as the product and content itself. The customers have the final say in whether or not they purchase from you, as well as if they are going to return in the future. Therefore, it is crucial that you take the time to acknowledge every customer and respond to their needs.

The last key to having a successful home based business is taking care of you. If you have confidence in yourself and believe that you can succeed, you will be more motivated and determined to do so. It is crucial that you set realistic but challenging goals to help you progress efficiently.

There are a number of things you can do to better your chances of building a successful home based business. However, preparation and believing in you are among the most important facets. Remember, every little detail can make the difference between you getting the business or your competitor getting the business

About the Author:

Vincent Murphy is the Webmaster/Owner of http://www.HomeGrail.com

Successful Home Based Business FREE GIFT, 6 FREE HOME BUSINESS EBOOKS: http://www.HomeGrail.com/newsletter-signup.html

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Do You Have Your Successful Home Based Business Idea?

Copyright © Vincent Murphy
http://www.HomeGrail.com

With the constant development and enhancement of the internet, more and more people are looking for successful home based business ideas. It’s not a question really of what you can do to be successful working at home, but what you can’t do to be successful. As long as you are willing to put in the effort and promote your business, you will have a successful home based business.

There are a number of successful home based business ideas, but it all begins with you trying them out and seeing what works best for you. So what are some of the ideas you can try out you may be wondering?

Freelance jobs are great because it is a broad category that allows you to work with your skills. There are a number of different freelance jobs including freelance writing, graphic designing, copywriting and so on. If you were to do a Google search for freelance jobs, it comes up with a result of over 14 million. The demand is there and so is the possibility for success.

One of the most well-known and popular successful home based business ideas is affiliate programs. There are hundreds of thousands of affiliate programs to choose from giving you the chance to promote programs that are associated with your website. Another benefit of affiliate programs is that there is no limit to how many you can join. However, if you truly want to have success with affiliate programs you should join no more than a few. The reason being is that it takes a lot of effort to promote affiliate programs.

If affiliate programs are not quite your thing, take a gander into online advertising. If you have any sort of graphic design skills, you can make a living by advertising for other peoples successful home based businesses. Advertising is the key to people’s success with their businesses. If you can design logos and banners for websites, there is plenty of business to be made.

Not everyone has the ability to design graphics and logos, but there are a number of people who are qualified to be article writers. Everyone knows that quality content is the key to getting people to stay at your website and return later. Because of this, hundreds of people are willing to pay for their content. Through article writing, people are able to get fresh content, optimize keywords, and promote their website through the resource box. Article writing is one of the best successful home based business ideas out there.

While these are some of the most popular successful home based business ideas to consider, there are a number of other methods as well. As long as you are motivated and determined, it is easy to find a home based business with the high traffic volume circulating the internet today. The successful part is up to you and how much effort you are willing to put in.

Vincent Murphy is the Webmaster/Owner of http://www.HomeGrail.com

Successful Home Based Business FREE GIFT, 6 FREE HOME BUSINESS EBOOKS: http://www.HomeGrail.com/newsletter-signup.html

Thursday, January 04, 2007

New Techniques in Online Marketing

Copyright © Vincent Murphy
http://www.HomeGrail.com

Online marketing is an ever increasing business that evolves on a daily basis. There are various new procedures and techniques of marketing that are appearing all of the time, so it is essential you keep up with these changes to stay in profit. By adapting to these particular changes in online marketing, your business will be able to move forward with the rest of the marketing world.

To move with these changes you must analyze your advertising methods on a regular basis. Try to gather public opinion on what people actually think of certain forms of online advertising, including what kind of ads they don't like or what actions people are taking to avoid them. By gaining knowledge and awareness about what kind of ads your potential customers are more likely to take notice of, will guarantee you advantage over your competitors.

One of the most significant alterations in online marketing involves the option for targeting a particular niche. A niche can be defined by people with certain needs or interests, and in some cases they can be defined by, how old they are,what sex they are, and by nationality. You will need to recognize what your target audience is so that you will have an effective and successful internet marketing campaign.

Start by checking exactly where your customers are located, then you will have a better understanding on which parts of the world you should be concentrating on. This includes creating online ads on websites that are generally more popular with people in certain areas, such as ads that are only relevant to their local community or district.

It is very important knowing exactly how people access your site. One of the most remarkable changes in online marketing involves the ability to track where your website visitors are accessing your site from. One of the biggest mistakes most online marketers make is not measuring their promotional response rates.There are numerous company's out there such as Track That Ad or Adminder that provide this service.

By understanding where your visitors and traffic are coming from,you no longer have to waste your time and money on areas that have no response or value to your business. Once you know what is working well you can fine-tune your promotions and special offers for optimal performance and effectiveness.

Simplicity is an important change to consider with new techniques in online marketing.
By making things user friendly, easy to understand, and well organized you will be able to have a successful website that customers will want to return to on a frequent basis, certain colors may be a factor,and placement of the ads should be considered.

Vincent Murphy is the Webmaster/Owner of http://www.HomeGrail.com

New Techniques in Online Marketing To Join His Newsletter All About Making Money Online Send A Blank Email To: homegrail@getresponse.com