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There are a few secrets that I’d like to share with you. You may have been privy to a few of them before. Actually you may have heard of all 4, but I can promise that you will finish each article with a fresh perspective. I will show you how 4 simple secrets can create a powerhouse web business. This is the second part of the 4 article series.

Before I divulge the vault of successful web business secrets I must warn you of one thing. All the information in the world will not take the place of determination and persistence. A web business is just like an offline business. It takes hard work and resolve to succeed. However working smart is heads and tails better than plain old working. These 4 secrets will turn any smart working, dedicated average Joe or Jane into a successful web business owner.

Web Success Secret #2) Without Traffic- What’s the Point?

Part 1 of this series really got down and dirty about content. Content’s main focus is twofold- make your visitors happy and make search engines happy. This article is all about making you happy! Think of this as your starter guide to increasing traffic and building a profitable business.

Traffic can be summed up in 2 words- free and paid. I consider all PPC (pay-per-click), ezine advertising, offline advertising, and paid directory submissions a form of paying for your traffic. I also consider any project that takes up your time to be paid advertising. After all in the business world time is money. Paid advertising is not bad. It just means that you are paying to receive traffic.

Free traffic is harder to attract, but it costs you absolutely no money. Almost all free traffic is the result of surfers finding your site on the search engines. We talked about using content as your ultimate search engine ranking booster in the last article.

Here are several ways to increase traffic. Some are paid advertising options and others are totally free.

- Write articles and submit them to several niche websites. Manually submitting articles to many websites can take a long time. I use a submission service to do all my hard work. Contact me for more info.

- Post in forums. Many forums will not allow you to market your product or services. That’s totally understandable. What I recommend doing is finding a really great forum that you can participant in. When people have questions, provide top notch and comprehensive answers. No selling. Almost all forums allow you to post your website in your sig file. Take advantage of that.

- Submit each page of your website to all major search engines. Also submit each page to all major search engines whenever you make a change on that page. Be careful with this one. Each engine has very specific directions and rules about submission rules. Be sure you do not spam! Submit pages according to each engine’s guidelines. I also use a submission service that does this for me at no additional cost.

- Create joint ventures with non-competing websites. Work with a company that compliments your product or service. Also be sure the joint venture is a win-win-win for you, the other company and your customers. Joint ventures can be a pain to set up and complete, but well worth it if done correctly.

- Look into ezine advertising, web advertising and/or PPC. Each method takes an initial investment and some time to learn, but can bring back traffic. Personally I do not prefer this method to increase traffic because it’s “iffy” at best.

- Print your website name on all business correspondences. This is a simple task, but one that is simple to do. Add it to your email sig line, forum sig lines, letterhead and business cards.

- Create an atmosphere of amazing customer service. This always leads to referrals from current clients. The more referrals the more traffic!

The bottom line is without traffic your site is floating in a sea of doom. No one is seeing your content or services. Traffic is the lifeline of any business, and the rule of thumb is more traffic means more income.

This brings me to my last and final point about traffic. Once you develop a nice flow of visitors you need to know specifics. Where did those visitors come from? How did they find you? What pages are the most popular on your site? What page did they enter into your site? What page did they leave your site? What keywords did they use to find you? You must know your visitor inside and out!

As I mentioned earlier, it is best to work smarter and not harder. Traffic analysis and search engine submissions can be very time consuming, but your hosting company should be providing most of these services to you free of charge. There are a small few that do this, but it is well worth the investigation. Contact me for further resources and information. Having a successful web business starts with effective content. Stay tuned for parts 3 and 4! If you missed Part 1 and would like a complimentary copy please contact me and I will forward it to you immediately.

There are a few secrets that I’d like to share with you. You may have been privy to a few of them before. Actually you may have heard of all 4, but I can promise that you will finish each article with a fresh perspective. I will show you how 4 simple secrets can create a powerhouse web business. This is the fourth and final part of the 4 article series.

Before I divulge the vault of successful web business secrets I must warn you of one thing. All the information in the world will not take the place of determination and persistence. A web business is just like an offline business. It takes hard work and resolve to succeed. However working smart is heads and tails better than plain old working. These 4 secrets will turn any smart working, dedicated average Joe or Jane into a successful web business owner.

Web Success Secret #4) Monetization Will Flow When All Steps Have Been Followed.

You may be a bit surprised to learn that monetization is the last of the 4 steps. Many business owners position monetization as their first goal. Everything they do from conception of the business is geared towards making money. After all, that is the point of owning your own web business, right?

When I first learned of the four step approach to making successful web businesses, I was a bit skeptical. I have never heard of such a risky business idea- think of making money as the last goal. That sounded absurd to me! In all of my small business education the emphasis was on profit charts and balance sheets and projected annual returns. Being online does change some things. One of those things is how you start and run a long term and profitable business.

Following the process of starting a web business often involved very little capital. The risk is typically much lower and the return on investment arrives in a shorter time span. Because of this you have a unique advantage to allow the natural progression of your site visitors come into play.

Let’s back up a bit and review. People search for information, not products, online. They are not looking to spend money. They type in their search query at the search engines. Your site should be on the first page. You should know how to provide a killer title and description that makes the potential visitor want to click on your site.

Once they are on your site, their objective has not changed. They still want information. So give it to them. As you provide valuable content that satisfies your visitors, you should be developing trust and positioning yourself as the expert. Make recommendations to your products or services. This is the natural progression of an online visitor. They want information, they find you, they receive answers from you, they develop trust in you and think of you as an expert. It is only when those criteria have been met that you gain customers.

Let me repeat that last line because it is the most important line in the entire 4 part series: it is only when the first three steps have been met that you earn income. The goods news is once you finish the first three steps (content, traffic, and pre-selling) you will continue to pull in hot, targeted traffic from the search engines month after month. All of this traffic is totally free! No advertising costs! Monetization naturally occurs.

There are a few things you can do to help increase your conversion rates:

- Only recommend 2-3 services or products. Having more than this makes it difficult for your visitor to decide which is best for them. It is also very difficult for you to recommend them all.

- Place graphics of your product or service on each page of your content website. This allows visitors to see your offerings more than once.

- Write a monthly newsletter and provide excellent content. Also provide a special on one of your services/products.

- Test everything- price points, graphics, sales page, etc.

As I mentioned earlier, it is best to work smarter and not harder. If you would like additional guidance on how to effectively pre-sell on the Internet, contact me for a free ebook. Having a successful web business starts with effective content and ends naturally with monetization. If you missed any of the first three parts and would like a complimentary copy please contact me and I will forward it to you immediately.