If Amazon Can't Make This Happen, Can You?

No way. If you have a site which lacks focus, begin cutting stuff left and right. Amazon's only hope of survival is to drop all products except books. While content of your site may not lead to such a clear cut conclusion, begin searching now for deadwood, stuff of interest only to off-target visitors. Find it, then cut it, for benefit of entire site.

What To Look For

Ah, hah. There's a piece of stuff. That Amazon.Com button. Unless you are determined to support a losing battle, you are likely hoping to make bucks with this. How much did you make off that button last month? Five bucks would be unusually high. But regardless of income, trash that button and narrow your site focus by at least this much.

A valid purpose to link to Amazon would be to make it easy for your visitors to check out a book you are certain they would love to know about. In making such a link, make it directly to book. I surely don't want anybody thinking even for an instant that a buck in profit off a book means anything to me.

Over Crowded Sites Abound

You see lots of sites overstuffed with all sorts of things. You can probably see in seconds several things that should go. That banner exchange. That listing of affiliate programs. And you can probably see a need for a clearer statement of what site is all about, right up top.

It's far more difficult to look at your own site with objectivity you have when looking at that of a stranger for we tend to fall in love with our creations. And we become accustomed to things we have seen often, even if we had reservations when we put them up.

Get around this by asking others to take a hard look at your site. Friends are hesitant to knock, but give it a try. Ask each to find three things (three to keep it simple) that should go, be improved or added. Further, as you surf, look for people offering a free site evaluation. Take up every offer you can find.

Be Tops In A Niche And Ignore All Else

It's impossible to be king of all hills. Amazon is learning this. Hopefully you already see futility of this approach, that it is doomed to failure. If you have not yet realized this, your site may need a serious overhaul. Whatever case, see how much deadwood you can cut from your site. A little bit of pruning can bring about solid improvement.

This allows you to test different ad copy, headlines, prices or whatever and to gauge results just by viewing responses you receive to each approach.

You must stress your:

1. Product or Service.

2. Focus on Benefit.

3. Keep it Simple.

What might work great for your competitor, may very well be completely wrong for your own project.

Make your project a personal extension of what you need to accomplish with it.

Set aside a consistent amount of time that you can afford to invest daily.

And, test, test, test until you find just right combination of elements to make your project a HUGE success