Chapter 1 - Getting Started with Internet Marketing

In order to succeed online with your business (whether you are selling your own product/service or are selling for another merchant's product as an affiliate), you need a simple, but focused, website.  One that is easy to build, maintenance-free (or close to it), credible, low cost, and one that is a powerful traffic-builder and customer-converter.

Having the right tools and the right products alone does not insure the success of your site.  There are many factors to consider when designing and building a site.  Unfortunately, most of these are easily ignored by Internet business owners and as a result, they either fail or just do not succeed as well as they need or want to.

Here are some key points to consider when building a website:

Speed
Let's face it, people are in a hurry in this day and age.  To you, this means that you have between 10 and 30 seconds to capture a prospective customer's attention and interest.  To minimize the load time of your website, keep your graphics small and compress them and optimize them as much as possible without losing too much noticeable quality.  Also, use flashy technology, like JavaScript, Streaming Audio/Video, Flash, animation, etc., sparingly and only if it is important to your presentation.  For instance if  a video is necessary in order to make you visitors understand the benefit and features of your product, then use video, by all means.  But do not use it just because it might make you look "cutting-edge" or "state-of-the-art".  Doing so may hurt you because you will be wasting your prospective customer's time.

Target market
Know your market and make certain your site caters to their needs and wants.  It's absolutely crucial that your website reflects the values of your prospective customers.  Is your market mainly business professionals?  If so, your site should be clean and professional.  Is your product aimed mainly at teenagers and young adults?  If so, then your site should be more relaxed and informal.  The key is to know your market and build your site to their preferences.

Focus
Make sure your web site is focused on the goal of selling your product or service.  A site offering a range of largely unrelated products is not necessarily unfocused, but usually this is the case.  If your business does offer many products, dedicate a unique page for each product and even for each target market, if you have more than one, instead of just trying to sell them all from one page and to one target market.  However, if you have more than one it is probably best if you build different sites, each focused for a particular target market.

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