How does one increase one's probability of obtaining customers from the Internet?

In the recent history of commercial Internet sales what sort of "home Page" has the greater probability of being a success as defined in return for you advertising dollar?

Factors that are often quoted by people who have made sales on the net are:

1. The quality of the information offered to the consumer from your web site is critical to "hooking in" your customer to buy your product or service.

2. You should be aware of the characteristics of the people you are trying to "market to" While fun and entertainment seemed to be the popular measure of web success it doesn't lead to closing of sales. Graphics are nice, they can have flash, but many the veteran "netwise" consumer will turn off his/her graphics in order to allow the page to download more quickly. The effort put into graphics on many web sites is remarkable, but often the graphics are turned off. The Internet Consumer is an information hound, he or she is well educated and will shop for what they think offers the best value for their money.

The information you offer from your web page needs to be seen as relevant and of value to your customer. For example, a web site at seniors would be of more value to them if it also includes links to other material of interest to seniors. As a result of the value the seniors see in that additional information would enhance the value of any other products you are offering from your web site. (E.g. Plane Trip to Vegas for retired people)

2.A second aspect of selling consumer products on the net is the belief, by the potential buyer that your products and your information solves a problem for them.

3. The web site or its information should be able to overcome any objections a person might have to buying on the Internet. An open ended e-mail form, or request for further information might assist the seller in selling his/her product. Perhaps the customer might object to sending a credit card number over an unsecured server. This objection could be overcome by providing a secure server, a fax number, or an 800 number to obtain credit card sales. Perhaps the potential buyer needs some confidence that your company is reliable and reputable based on the information given through the web page.

If you want to increase the probability of your success you should be able to answer the following questions.

Who is my customer? Where do they live? What can I do to make specific customers aware of my service or products?

What motivates my customers to buy my products? Why is purchasing my specific product on the Internet superior to other shopping methods? What is uniquely different about my product or service?

A web site should be part of an overall marketing strategy. E-mail, user groups and mailing lists are all inexpensive ways to obtain new customers.

What should you do once you have a web site? Is your web site address on all of your marketing materials? Everything from your business should have your e-mail address and your web address. A web site that provides valuable information to your customers, continually updated with new material, and provides a steady list of potential customers to yourself is a successful endeavour.