The More Traffic you Generate, the More Money you will Make

It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? You set up a website, get it linked to some search engines like Yahoo or Google, and then you just sit back and wait for the money to roll in, right?

Wrong!

Too many people think it’s that simple, but it isn’t. That was part of the problem with the “dot.com” bubble of the 1990’s; everyone thought a website was a ticket to instant wealth. They’re not. You have to stop thinking of a website as if it were a magic lamp that’s going to grant you the wish of instant wealth and treat it as it really is: a business, just like any other. Think of it as a storefront, a shop on a typical street in “Anytown, USA” (or any other country, for that matter).

If you have a business, how do you generate income? Just getting people in the door doesn’t do it – unless you have a movie theater and you’re charging people to come in! If you have a website, and people visit your site and just look around, that’s the same as a bunch of window-shoppers walking around a store. They’re traffic, but they’re not buying.

You have to convert visitors to sales!

If you want people to visit your site and if you want to make money, you need to take care of several key elements. First, you need to advertise; that goes back to getting it linked with various search engines. And, just advertising is not enough; you need to make sure you put those ads in places your target clients will see. Are you chasing the teen market? Putting up some videos ads on YouTube or other such sites are a good way to connect with that demographic. You can also set up a blog regarding what your company offers and join Facebook or some other networking website. Today’s young people are truly wired into all these places. By connecting with them at those sites, you can show that you’re in sync with what they’re looking for.

Next, you need to make your site user-friendly. Once people get on it, can they easily find what they’re looking for; see what you have, and then place an order? Can they check back in and track the progress of that order (if it’s being snail-mailed to them)? Do you have a secure ordering system so they can feel safe about giving you their credit card information? Then there’s the issue of your product(s); what exactly are you offering, and how does it compare to your competition? Are your prices competitive? If not, do you offer better quality or better extras? As an example, if you sell anti-virus software (something very popular), and your prices are much higher than other sites, you can still make good sales if your price includes good tech support. Setting up a system whereby clients can do an online chat with a tech support person can be a real plus!

Finally, there are updates. You can’t just set up a good website and leave it at that. The internet is the single most dynamic “world” there is; updates take place daily – in some cases hourly! If people click to your site and just see the same thing day after day, they’ll grow bored with it. So, plan out a schedule whereby you update your site at least once a month – even if it’s just general information about your products. This too will help turn site traffic into actual income.

Make sure when visitors get their to your site, you have something good for them to buy – then make them want to buy it!