Make Money Online “How to”

Just about any type of business would benefit from having a
website. Consider it another tool that you can use to
increase sales, even if you don’t sell anything directly
from your site. Here are some reasons why having a presence
on the Internet makes good business sense

1. Your Website is Open 247

Even though your business may only be operating during the
regular business hours you have chosen, your website
doesn’t lock the door and go home at the end of the day.
Instead, it is always available to provide your customers
(existing and potential) with information about you and
your products or services.

2. Having a Website Gives You Credibility

Many people will go online to investigate a business before
deciding whether to buy. When you put up a well-designed
website that provides information your customers find
relevant and helpful, it goes a long way toward
establishing you and your business as one that consumers
can rely on.

There is a lot of competition for the Buying Public’s
dollars and people feel more comfortable dealing with
someone they feel that they know, even if it’s from the
tone of your websites. If you can successfully develop a
relationship with your customers, they will turn from
one-time buyers to regular customers, and that is key to
having a successful business that continues to grow with
time.

3. Your Site is Another Way to Generate Income for Your
Business

Once you go online, you are not restricted to selling
products and services from a physical location. You now
have the freedom to sell directly from your website. When
it comes to building a successful business, you want to
have as many sources of income as possible and selling
directly to customers online is a growing trend.

Many people find it quicker and easier to buy products or
order services from a website than to drive to a store
somewhere to get the items they need. Ordering online saves
them time and (possibly) money and they are free to do so
from anywhere that has an Internet connection. With time
being at a premium, you will want to demonstrate how
dealing with you can benefit your customers, and saving
time andor money is a great hook to make consumers want to
buy from you.

4. A Website Lets You Go After International Customers

Once you go online, you are no longer limited to local
customers only. You are free to attract business from
anyone who has an Internet connection, which means you have
the potential to increase sales substantially.

Keep in mind that when you decide to offer products and
services to a worldwide market, you are also going up
against more competition. Visit high-ranking sites from
companies that offer similar products or services to yours
to get an idea of what they are doing right. Armed with
this information, you can put your best (online) foot
forward and grow your business.

To your Success,
Harry

The short answer to the question of when you need to hire
an Internet Marketing SEO Consultant to help you achieve
success in the virtual marketplace is anytime you are
running a business that you want to see succeed. This may
not be feasible when you are in startup mode, but as soon
as you have the financial resources you should consider
getting some expert help in this area.

Many business owners get used to wearing many hats and
doing everything themselves, at least in the beginning. The
fact is that you can’t possibly do everything yourself;
there aren’t enough hours in the day. At some point, you
will need to bring in other people so you can focus on
building the business, as opposed to doing everyday things
that are necessary, but that don’t generate any income.

What a Consultant Can Do for You

Less than one-quarter of all businesses hire a consultant
to help them with their online presence. Those that do tend
to have higher search engine rankings, which is key to
driving traffic to a web site and increased sales. A
ranking in the Top 10 would be ideal, since most Internet
users don’t go through more than the first couple of pages
of search results to find the information they want.

If you don’t know how to use keywords, meta tags, and other
strategies to achieve a search engine ranking, hiring
someone with the expertise you need makes perfect sense.
You may already be working with an accountant, a lawyer,
and a business banker, so why don’t you bring in an
Internet Marketing expert, too This is another
professional who can help you achieve success.

How to Find the Right Consultant for Your Business

The Internet Marketing consultant you work with is going to
be acting as a guide and you may need to contact a few of
them before you find someone you are interested in working
with. In short, you want someone who shares your vision for
your business and who you click with. If there isn’t a
certain amount of chemistry, trust, and mutual respect, you
are not going to be able to work effectively as a team.

You will also want to find out about the person’s level of
experience. Find someone who has worked with companies that
are similar to yours in size and focus. A person who has
worked for large corporations only may not be the best fit
for a startup.

Ask for references and contact each one to find out more
about what working with that consultant is like. You will
also want to see if you can find other previous customers
who are not being given as references to see if they have a
different recollection of their experience working with
that person.

As always before working with someone new, take the time to
check them out with the Better Business Bureau online to
see if there are complaints and if they were resolved
satisfactorily.

Helping You Succeed,
Harry

Getting organic (free) traffic to your website is one of
the keys to having a successful Internet business. But how
are you going to let Internet users know that you are open
for business if they don’t know what your web address (URL)
is?

There are many strategies you can use to drive traffic to
your website, but the most basic one is to get your site
indexed by search engines. You can wait until your site is
visited by search engine bots, the web crawlers that go out
through the Internet to gather information on a regular
basis. Your site should be crawled in this manner
eventually, but it will take time; you may not want to wait
weeks before your site is indexed.

To give your site a boost, you do have the option of
submitting it to search engines yourself. You will want to
make sure that it appears on the three most popular ones,
since they account for the majority of traffic online.

The "Big Three"

The three search engines that account for the most web
traffic are:

• • Google
• • Yahoo
• • MSN

In addition, there are many other search engines, and it is
possible to get a high ranking on one of them even if you
don’t have a Top 10 ranking on one of the Big Three. This
may help you improve your site ranking on one of the more
well-known search engines, as well.

Submitting Your Site to Search Engines

You can submit your site to a number of search engines
yourself, but this option will be quite time-consuming.
Here’s how it works: Visit the search engine web site you
are interested in and look for the "Submit Your Site" page.
You will probably see an online form that will ask you for
the URL of your site and a brief description of its
contents. Be sure to include appropriate keywords in your
description. It may take a few weeks before your site
appears in the listings, so make a note on your calendar to
check to make sure it has been included at a later time.

If you don’t want to use time that would be better spent
building your business on this task, you have a couple of
options:

1. Use a free submission service
2. Hire a consultant to do it for you

Free Submission Service

A free submission service will submit your site information
to many different search engines, including the Big Three.
In return for the service, you will be asked for your
contact information. Be prepared to receive a number of
special offers from the submission service after it has
performed this task for you, though.

Hire a Consultant

You can also hire a company to submit your URL to search
engines on your behalf. They can advise you about ways to
get a better ranking, which is key to driving traffic to
your site. If you have the financial resources to pay the
fee, this method may be the most effective way to get your
site indexed sooner.

To Your Success,
Harry