When people visit your site, be ready to answer their inquiries. Most visitors come to websites to find information. If you are unwilling to provide answers, you may be losing potential customers. Giving them detailed information both satisfies their curiosity and increases the likelihood that they will buy from you.

Design your banners to be subtle and not annoying to visitors to your website. Do not let them know that it is really a link. People often ignore the typical, boring banners they see, so create something special that will make people want to click them.

Create an easy to use “Link To Us” link. That makes it easy for those who are so inclined to click and link back to your site, thus allowing their visitors to easily find you as well.

You will get more business if you have more payment options available. You might think that offering credit card payments is sufficient, but many customers prefer using PayPal or direct debits from their checking accounts.

If you want to improve satisfaction with your website, create a frequently asked questions section. Your customers will be able to find answers quickly to questions. Customers are more likely to continue ordering from a website that is easy to navigate.

Instead of marketing your site as a business, market it as a group or a social site. This will keep customers coming back, rather than visiting once and leaving immediately. This also keeps your website front and center in peoples’ minds. Offer people an easy way to advertise your site on theirs.

When writing content, use simple and plain language to make your points or describe your products. Actually using the word “easy” in your content will get you some added attention. Sometimes people can think that the products on your site are complicated, so when you add “easy to use” people are more likely to buy these type of products. Your business can increase by a lot when you do this.

Make up goals for your website and do everything you can to stick with them. Determine the type of content you would like to write as well as the directories you want to submit to. Directories have different needs; some might want short articles, while others require long ones. Write with these guidelines in mind to have the best submissions.

Know your competition when you market on the Internet. You can easily check out your competitor’s web site and see what features they have. You can also investigate their traffic stats and compare them to your site.

Create a unique, well designed website. Your website is the face that you present to potential customers and is essential to your marketing success. Interesting articles and a user friendly design will go a long way in keeping visitors on your site. You need to design the site in a way that is visually interesting and keeps visitors sticking around and exploring for awhile.

If you have a knack for writing, try writing about your products and business and then submit your articles to websites and magazines. Make sure these articles are signed with your full name and contain information about your business. If you get published in an online magazine, include a link to your site. Attempt talking to editors and try offering them affiliate commissions and freebies as a way to have your articles published.

When building your website, use a banner with your mission statement or your customized slogan. This can help new visitors get a quick idea of what your company is all about. It doesn’t take a lot of time, and best of all it’s free to do.

Your website needs to be as sales-friendly as possible if your Internet marketing efforts are going to be successful. Try different fonts and color schemes before deciding on what works best. Just keep in mind that you want your website to appeal to a person’s eye so they do want stay longer on your site.

Don’t overlook direct marketing in conjunction with your Internet marketing. You could call, email or send a fax to your customers to advertise a special offer. You can find a lot of helpful information in the yellow pages, or in online directories.

Posting your freebie offers on freebie directories can give you great advertising at no cost. IF you are giving away an e-zine, give it to a lot of different directories. Do not forget about online encyclopedias, site directories, guides and sites such as Google Places where you can list your business.

The appearance and performance of your website is just as important as the in-store buying experience. Always keep testing graphics, ads, links and your checkout system for things that may create problems for your customers. If your store is not working well, customers will not stay.

Direct a certain percentage of profits to a charity. Advertise this clearly to your customers. You will receive a good bump in business by offering this incentive, even if the actual percentage donated is relatively small.

On your webpage, have free offers. An effective freebie that many people enjoy is a download of an article specific to your business. For instance, if you are in the construction industry, you could offer an article or book on the changing code regulations in your area. This tells customers that you care about what is important to them.

As you can see from the above article, the end goal for all businesses should be longevity. From the largest corporate giant to the smallest mom-and-pop outfit, sustainability is the true yardstick of business success. Good Internet marketing can be vital to building the sort of loyal customer base that can keep you afloat for years.

Richard Vanderhurst