"Let Your Little Website Shine" Part 6 (Final in series)

Written by Lynne Schlumpf


Continued from page 1
from these. Make sure you have clear instructions atrepparttar bottom of each newsletter ezine that lets them unsubscribe if they want to. There's nothing worse than someone being subscribed to your newsletter long after they want to be. They tend to get VERY angry! Listbot automatically puts this information atrepparttar 134731 bottom of every newsletter you mail. One of my most successful ezines was a jokelist. (If you also decide to do a jokelist, make sure you have a disclaimer about it being possibly offensive and only intended for those over 18 years of age) I usually had 4 or 5 good jokes in it, with a few sales mentions atrepparttar 134732 top of each issue. The sales mentions were not hard sell. They merely mentioned that my online store had a new item or was having a sale. I rarely had anyone unsubscribe from this newsletter. Another really successful one was a recipe newsletter. People love recipes. Try to think of a newsletter you could write that you could be really creative and interesting with. If you're an expert at something (most everyone is an expert at one thing, at least!), create a newsletter that targets people who are interested in that one thing. Keeping in mind who your target subscribers are and what they are interested in helps keeprepparttar 134733 newsletter on track. 13. Has clear navigation: I getrepparttar 134734 giggles everytime I think of this subject because ofrepparttar 134735 way it was handled on one of my favorite websites. I'll get to that in a minute, but let me just mention a few things about navigation. Just take a look at some of your favorite websites to get an idea of how simple they make their navigation links. If they're into some depth in your site and want to know what page they're on, put page number links in a corner somewhere. Put simple boxes acrossrepparttar 134736 top or downrepparttar 134737 side with links that tell them how to get back home. Plan your website on paper first if you like, kind of like a logic flowchart. You can use Microsoft Frontpage 2000's navigation and hyperlinks icons to do this also. Then test, test, and more test. Have others go to your website and tell you if it's confusing. Now, I will let one of my favorite sites explainrepparttar 134738 concept of what they call "Mystery Meat Navigation" to you. You'll come out laughing, but you'll rememberrepparttar 134739 lesson well. Go here to check out their discussion of this topic: http://www.websitesthatsuck.com/badnavigation.html Well, that’srepparttar 134740 end of this series, and I thank you all, fromrepparttar 134741 bottom of my heart for joining me. I wish you great success and fun besides!

Lynne Schlumpf is the CEO of Route 66 Cyber Cafe, Inc., http://www.r66cci.com, a Web hosting and design company specializing in promoting websites for new owners, building affordable e-commerce sites, and providing reliable web hosting solutions as an affiliate of Virtualis Incorporated.


Basic Marketing Principles: Don't Put Up Your Website Without Them

Written by Merle


Continued from page 1

3) Are you Chargingrepparttar Right Price?

If you charge too much, no one will buy. If you charge too little, people will think there's no value or that there's something wrong with your product or service. (And they still won't buy.) Before you set your pricing, make sure you do a little research into your competitor's backyard. That way, you'll have a better idea of where to set your pricing.

Don't forget about "perceived value." Anything you can add on inrepparttar 134730 way of free bonuses or free shipping will go a long way in convincing folks to buy. Withrepparttar 134731 enormous amount of freebies floating around online, it shouldn't be too hard collecting a few that relate to what you're selling that you can give away with every purchase.

4) Does your Copy Sell?

Make sure your text helps motivate your customers to make a purchase. Sprinkle "powerful headlines," "calls to action," and plenty of testimonials from happy customers throughout your pages. Remember that people read differently online; they skim. Make it easy for them to catchrepparttar 134732 main points and benefits quickly.

Also, offer a few different payment options and make it easy to place an order. If they have to jump through hoops, you'll loserepparttar 134733 sale. Simple and Easy is repparttar 134734 way to go.

5) Is your Site Designed with your Target Market in Mind?

Doesrepparttar 134735 look of your website cater to your target market? You need to know demographics of your intended audience before you even beginrepparttar 134736 construction process. Know your market's demographics such as age bracket, income, education, and whether they are mostly male or female. If your site is geared towards teenagers, it needs to look fun and hip (saverepparttar 134737 sophisticated look for their parents). If your audience is middle aged businessmen you'll need a more corporate look.Make sure you keep your core audience in mind when choosing your fonts, site colors, and any graphics.

If you remember to incorporate these basic marketing principles into your website you'll not only have a site that looks good, but actually does what you intended it to do all along: Sell!



Merle's Cyber Promotions http://www.mcpromotions.com/ "Creating Visibility Online for Small Businesses" Subscribe to MC Promotions Press by sending mailto:subscribe@mcpromotions.com New Service just added "Get Ready to Market Package" For details go to http://www.mcpromotions.com/getreadytomarket.htm To find out more about the products and services offered by MC Promotions send mailto:mcservices-ar@automagical.net


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