-- Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. =================================================================

A few days back a client was sitting with me when I connected to Internet and launched my browser. He was precariously surprised to see that default page of browser was not my web site, but a general purpose portal.

When I asked him why I should have my own web site as my default page, he said, "In this way, at least you'll be generating hits for your site if nobody else does so."

And then, after a philosophical cogitation, he raised an ominous doubt rapt with alarm, "If you are not making an effort to generate hits for your own site, how will you do it for mine?"

Luckily I was able to explain to him that a tsunami of hits on web site does not in anyway bespeaks of a flourishing online business. Me visiting my own site 6-7 times a day does not make sense because I'm not doing business with myself. What matters is, those people should visit my web site who can make use of my services - people who can be my prospective clients, and subsequently, clients.

Generating hits is one of major concerns of newbie web site owners. They want to see numbers increasing exponentially - 200 hits per day, 500 hits per day, ... 10,00,000 hits per day. And then they get depression attacks when these hits do not generate a single sale.

Thousands of random hits, or in a refined manner, visits, are important for those web sites who want to earn advertisement revenue. Ok, even for those, just hits don't work out. They have to be "Targeted Hits". Accidental arrivals have zero value, or if you are very optimistic, a little more than zero value.

50 targeted hits are more precious than 5,000 untargeted hits, because there is greater probability of them turning into business. Targeted visitors visit your site because they are actually looking for a site like yours, and once they are on your site, it's up to presentation of your site whether they do business with you or not. Even if targeted visitor doesn't do business on first visit, there is a big chance that she/he would bookmark your page, and subscribe to your product information publication or newsletter.

Untargeted visitors, on other hand, needlessly consume precious bandwidth. They stumble upon your site through some ill-conceived banner or wrongly defined keyword, or due to their own state of confusion. They are not looking for your sort of service or product. They are just giving you false notions and hope by swelling up your counter.

The primordial step towards attracting a target audience is, defining goal of your web site. Is web site a general information source for your existing clients/customers/employees/suppliers/relatives/friends/enemies.. . , or you plan to attract new people?. Once this is realized, put yourself in place of your prospective user. How would you find your sort of service on Net? How would you like to use a web site similar to yours? Talk to your friends, accumulate and analyze their feedback. Let your existing clients use a prototype of your web site, and encourage them to give some constructive feedback, in lieu of some incentive if necessary.

Maslow was a psychologist that came up with a theory dealing with hierarchy of human needs. No, marketing is not essential to human survival, and chances are your product or service is not either. However, whatever you are offering, it will fall into one of categories Maslow has listed in his hierarchy of needs. And if you know which need you should appeal to, it will be that much easier to market to your prospects.

The first level on Maslow's hierarchy deals with physiological needs. These are most basic necessities that humans require to survive. Food, water, shelter, and oxygen all fall into this category, along with sleep, activity and other inevitable human functions.

If your product or service has to do with a basic need, your main problem is getting customer to buy from you instead of your competitors. Everybody needs food, so why would potential customers be more inclined to buy lunch at your restaurant instead of taco shack across street? Perhaps you have lower prices, better quality, faster service, or a more comfortable environment than they do. It is important to stress that what YOU offer holds certain advantages over customers' other choices.