What’s a poor webmaster to do?

Following are five suggestions that will keep mouse clicks within your site.

COPY

The first area to look at is your copy. What are first 30 to 50 words that a visitor reads (if they read it at all). Is it compelling? Does it tickle readers fancy enough for them to keep exploring?

You need to learn and apply art of copy writing. If you can not write an effective presentation for your site you really should consider hiring someone who can. After all, what’s point of doing all marketing only to lose them on first paragraph.

DESIGN

Yes, we've all read that you can have a terrible looking site but still make money with effective copy. While there may be some truth to that, it is certainly no excuse to get sloppy in design and presentation of your site.

When meeting new people you always want to look your best. Likewise on web, that first impression is extremely important. This static collection of pixels on monitor is all that they have to go by. Make it a good one.

I am competent enough at using html and software programs to build ‘a decent web site’. But, my objective is not ‘a decent web site’. It is to have a GREAT web site. So I have chosen to work with one of best designers on Internet. If you are serious about presenting best possible site to world then I encourage you to find a skilled, artistic designer too.

CONTENT

How can you discover what it is that your visitors are truly looking for?

For starters, do a reverse search at Search Engines. Some of bigger Search Engines like Excite have a search voyeur http://www.excite.com/voyeur_xt that shows you actual words and phrases that are being used at that moment.

Visit busiest sites that are in your industry. Look at what they are offering and how it is presented.

And unless you are a master copywriter with expertise in forcing sale down your visitor's throats, chances are that you will need to figure out how to get them back to your site for another visit, or two, or three.

Of course, with right targeting you can throw yourself in path of those that are ready to buy, and get sale. But what about converting those casual surfers into lifetime customers?

The best way to carry out this task is to figure out how to get your visitors to stay on your site longer, and hopefully return often. If they come back for future visits there will be a greater chance that they will actually purchase from you, or from affiliate programs that you are promoting.

This requires a different set of skills. Skills that usually point to that dreaded four-letter word that we all hate...WORK!

Its work because one of items required to bring users back is fresh, frequently updated content such as articles, reports, and tips. Finding and keeping updated content on your site can quickly become a dreaded chore.

In addition to fresh content on your site, you should produce a newsletter for your visitors. A newsletter can be a very powerful way to get your visitors to return to your site, and view your offers again. But, this also can be a time consuming venture.

How do you accomplish these tasks if you fall into "no time" category?

You familiarize yourself with a concept known as "syndicated content!"

This has become a very popular means for website owners to offer fresh, up-to-date information for their visitors...with minimal effort.