How To Start A Web Business On A Really Small Budget

Starting an online web business is not that difficult, especially if you go the affiliate marketing route and promote another company's products or services. Actually, the most lucrative online business to create is where you have your own products and services since you will receive the majority of the profits. However, in the beginning, many people simply are not at this stage and will have to depend upon promoting affiliate products or earn revenue through selling advertising placed on their site or sites.

There are countless ways to start an online business but regardless of what topic you wish to tackle or which products you want to promote, your overall objective is to get targeted traffic or customers to your site. Therefore, everything you do and create, should be geared towards "keywords", which are the phrases surfers type into search engines to find what they're looking for on the web. This is assuming you're primarily going the "search engine" route in your online marketing.

First, you will need to find a whole list of keyword phrases people are using to find the products you're going to promote or sell. You will need to know how many searches are made each month for these phrases and what the competition will be like, so you will have some idea of what you're up against. Google's External Keyword tool or site is a good starting point and will supply you with most of the information you need to get started. Some marketers simply type their "keyword" with quotations into Google and it will give you the exact number of pages which contains this phrase or keyword.

Second, once you have done some keyword research, you're ready to buy a domain to start your online business or site. Try to get a short domain with the best overall keyword which sums up your topic or products, placed at the beginning of your domain name. Placing your most prominent keyword in your domain will go a long way in achieving high rankings for your site since all your backlinks and URLs will have this keyword phrase. You can purchase a domain and hosting really cheap through places like Yahoo Small business, GoDaddy or Bluehost - usually around $5 to $10 a month.

Third, if designing a site is difficult for you or just too costly, one route to take is to use a free blogging software platform like Wordpress to create your site. They have plenty of templates you can use but try to make your site look different and unique. Regardless, Wordpress is very SEO friendly and will be "keyworded" properly so you won't have to spend much time worrying about this whole SEO aspect of web marketing which many beginners find difficult. Just remember, the majority of your search engine traffic will come from Google so you must optimize your site for them. Google has about 200 ranking signals or factors which they use to rank your site or content. Don't become too bogged down with these factors, but Seomoz.org consulted with 132 SEO experts to find these factors and if you want to learn more go here: http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors

Fourth, once you have your domain and site/hosting all setup, you're ready to create some high quality content which your visitors will find helpful. Remember, Google is all about providing valuable relevant content to its users, so you have to fulfil this demand by creating useful informative content for your visitors. Keep this content strictly keyworded to the topic or products you're promoting. Try to keep all of your content unique and make sure you have it or your site completely tied into all the major social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, MySpace, Linkedin... and so on. Make sure you make it easy to subscribe to your newsletter or all of your social bookmarking sites like the ones mentioned above. Drawing repeat visitors and customers back to your site should be your main goal.

Fifth, your hardest battle will be getting targeted traffic to your site or business. If you're on a budget, one of the easiest ways is to create simple viral articles and videos to draw people onto your site. Do blog posts on related sites and forums, with keyworded anchor text links back to your site. Anchor text refers to the underlined part of a link - make sure your keywords are in this part of the link. If you don't have a ton of money to spend on marketing, just find the major competitors in your field, do a search in Yahoo by typing in this command in the search box:

link:www.competitorsite.com

Yahoo will give you a whole list of your competitor's links, starting with the most important first. Try to build/get the same links going back to your site or content.

Lastly, one of the biggest mistakes that beginners often make is creating a website or business that places too much emphasis on what YOU want, rather than what YOUR VISITOR wants. You must place yourself in your visitor's shoes and create your site and business from their perspective so place your main benefit or benefits your visitor will receive from using your site at the very top of the page. Display this benefit(s) in a bold headline so that any visitor can instantly see it within seconds of arriving at your site. In this regards, one of the biggest obstacles will be trust - how do you instantly build trust with your visitors? Displaying any type of Trust Seals or even credit card logos will help build that trust. Using or giving your full contact or company information upfront is also very vital. If you're selling a product or service make sure your have a telephone and/or fax number where visitors can reach you. Obtaining an online fax number is inexpensive and cheap; so too is getting a virtual PBX system to make all your communications run smoothly.

These are the most important steps to building an online site or business. They can be done cheaply and starting out, your expenses should run around $10 to $20 a month... about the cost of a pizza or a movie. Almost anyone can afford those prices and start an online site or business - why not you?


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The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous websites. For the latest web marketing tools try: how to build a business site. For more information on Internet Fax Services use this handy online fax Comparison Guide: online fax services. Copyright Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

7 Proven Internet Marketing Strategies To Increase Your Sales

I am constantly amazed by the number of people I meet on the web who have absolutely no marketing strategy whatsoever behind their site or online marketing.

I am even more amazed by the number of people who believe all they have to do is buy a domain, slap a few HTML pages together and place them on a web host somewhere. Then they expect everything else to just happen because their site or business is on the web!

It very rarely happens that way.

Creating an online business takes some planning and strategy if you want your site or business to succeed. You must have a plan of action, but most of all, you must have some fundamental marketing strategies behind your online site.

Now, I am speaking from experience here, because I also stumbled around on the web for 2 or 3 years like the people I described above. I foolishly thought just because I had a web site, I could do business on the web.

Well, not very much happened. I received very little traffic and very few sales. My site was going nowhere fast.

Fortunately, the theme I chose for my first site was Internet Marketing! I spent those first years studying all the online marketing material and information I could get my hands on. I gradually learned what to do and what not to do when it came to marketing online.

Mostly, I stumbled across some great Internet marketers like Marlon Sanders, Neil Shearing, Ken Evoy... true pioneers of online marketing. By studying those first class marketers and their marketing techniques I learned how it was all done.

Over time, I learned how to become very analytical with my sites and marketing. I started to create marketing strategies and put them into practice with my sites. This was all new to me because I have a background in education rather than marketing.

Now, I would like to share with you some of these marketing strategies and practices - just things I do and things I put into place which enable me to receive a modest but very comfortable online income.


So here are some things you can try:


1. Know Your Market Or Audience

First and foremost, you must know your market. Know who you will be targeting with your marketing? Know who will be buying your products or the affiliate products that you're promoting on the web?

I keep my eyes open for hot trends or products which everyone is buying. You can use programs like Google Trends to see which products are becoming hot. For example, in electronics, which products are on everyone's wish list? Is it laptops, PCs or netbooks? Are people buying smart phones, PDAs, Blu-ray Players or E-readers?

Just find out what products are hot? Find what products are being searched for in the search engines... do a check to see how many searches are made each month for your chosen product? Use WordTracker, or a free online site such as Seobook.com to see what products people are searching for on the web.

If there is a large demand/audience/market for your product or subject area, then you have a better chance of succeeding online. It is a simple marketing strategy that many first time marketers ignore - please don't. So choose your products to match the demand that is out there for them.



2. Buying Mindset

One of the key elements to selling stuff online is finding people at the exact moment they are ready to buy. What some marketers refer to as a "Buying Mindset". You find people who have their minds set on buying something when they reach your site.

This is much easier than you think!

A simple way I found to do this is to create sites which target keywords related to buying... such as gifts, coupons, bargains, deals and so on. For example, a site on wedding gifts will obviously attract customers who are interested in buying wedding gifts.

To give you a concrete example from my own site, I have a section on "Corporate Business Gifts" which offers special deals/coupons on corporate business gifts... someone searching for that phrase is more likely to purchase a gift. Just simple reasoning, but it works wonders for selling stuff online.

In the Info-Product market, many Gurus create a "Buying Mindset" by offering special bonuses and discounts if someone buys from their links. Another simple way to boost your sales.


3. Target Special Holidays

Along the same lines, I like targeting times when people feel obligated to buy. Using special holidays like Christmas, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day... in your marketing can be very effective.

There are occasions such as anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, graduations... when people feel they must buy something for a loved one or special friend. Targeting those occasions with your marketing can be extremely effective... people are looking for a birthday gift, a graduation gift or a wedding gift - you simply help them find what they're looking for.

On one of my sites, I target the "Back To School" market which has proven very lucrative since I market high-ticket affiliate items such as laptops, PCs and netbooks.


4. Place All Your Emphasis On Supplying Information

The majority of people searching on the web are looking for information - first and foremost - even those who are ready to buy. They want information on the subject or product they're searching for on the web. It should be your marketing strategy to give them this information.

All of my sites are based on supplying information to my visitors.

If you give solid information they will be pleased and take note of your site and a few will buy the products you recommend, but the information must come first.

Even popular selling sites like Amazon give loads of consumer information and feedback while selling their products on the web. Consumers want information on the products they're buying. Supply this information and you will sell more products.


5. Target Long Tail Keyword Phrases In Your SEO


If you're selling stuff on the web, it is extremely important that you have a SEO marketing strategy. You must use the search engines to bring in those quality visitors and potential customers to your site. You must rank high in the search engines for your chosen keywords.

I have found SEO is not easy but it is also not that hard to do. In order to rank high you must be persistent, have a six month or yearly plan... work at it over time, even years to build up your rankings. Most webmasters won't have the patience or resources to stick to a long-term strategy for months, even years before they start ranking for popular, well-searched for keywords.

However, there's another quicker and faster way to get quality traffic from the search engines. Instead of targeting highly competitive popular keywords, you target longer keyword phrases that have little competition. For example, someone searching for a particular brand and model is more likely to buy then someone searching for a general topic. Someone searching for "cars" compared to someone searching for "2007 Ford Mustang Shelby GT" - the last phrase will have very few searches but it can produce more targeted buyers.

6. Build Lists of Interested Buyers

One of my most effective marketing strategies is building simple lists of people who want to receive further information on the subject or product they're considering buying. The web is a very temporary process since most people spend less than a few seconds on most sites. So it is important that
you try and get them to opt-in to your mailing list, join your Twitter account or FaceBook group... and so on.

You must build lists of people who are interested in finding out more about your subject or product. This way you will have repeat visitors to your site and you will get the opportunity to sell to them again and again. If you build a trusting relationship with these contacts, they will respect your opinions and suggestions.

List building can have a very positive effect on your sales numbers so it is one marketing strategy you should definitely try if you're not already using lists.


7. Sell Things You Can ONLY Buy Online

This marketing strategy is so simple - it's almost laughable. But I quickly found selling stuff that can only be bought online do much better than selling stuff that can be bought at your local Walmart. If buyers can only find it online, then you will have a much better chance of selling it to them.

Therefore, marketing unique products or specialty items, which are only available online can prove very lucrative. This is a very simple marketing strategy but also a very effective one. Just try it.

There are no doubt, countless other marketing strategies you can use. But using some or all of the ones listed above will help increase your online sales. Again, just try them and see for yourself.





The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous websites. If you want to find out more marketing strategies and selling on the
web in general.
For the latest web marketing tools try: Internet Marketing Tools
Titus Hoskins Copyright © 2009.