By Ron Robinson, General Manager of Oakland Group
[August 8th, 2001]

See Also   Want A Sticky Website That Sells? Forget Content!   Giving Customers What They Want   Rule Busters Lose   Building Your Web Site's Sales   Abandoned Shopping Carts: Enigma or Sloppy E-Commerce?   The Only Visitor That Counts Is A Repeat Visitor   Three Steps to Get More Customers   Your Web Site - Do It Yourself? or Get Serious!   How To Make Them Buy Now   The Future of E-Commerce Stinks!   Beware Overload   Does Your Site Have Stopping Power?   Online Sales Psychology That Works   And the Broadband Played on, and on...   How Your Web Site Can Learn From Newspapers   Promise Not to Tell   Where's Your Community?   Understanding Your Visitors   The Seven Deadly Web Site Sins   The Good, The Bad and the Ugly - Part 2   The Good, The Bad and the Ugly - Part 1

[This is the second part of a two part article. The first part can be read here].

Provide Links to Manufacturers' or Alliances' Web Sites
Webmaster can easily create links that will open a new window that lets them look elsewhere, but assures they stay within your site. Visitors will appreciate the additional information on the products and services. They will remember that you helped them beyond what they were expecting. When they are finished browsing your manufacturer's site, they can close that window, and your store is still there in the original window waiting for them to continue shopping.

Minimize Logins, Prompts and Questions
The Web has so many logins and passwords for a surfer to remember (or forget) that if you burden them further with multiple marketing and demographic questions, or require user IDs and passwords, you will lose many frustrated shoppers. Good e-commerce software can remember customers without requiring logins, or by asking for an easily remembered e-mail address. Bombard them with too many checkout questions and they will quickly conclude your site is too difficult to work with and they will surf off to another, less intrusive site. Once a visitor has purchased from you, you'll have all the demographic information you need. By definition, you don't need the demographic info on those who don't buy! After that, limit ancillary questions to one or two items. Good shopping-cart software (much of which is free) will help you track associates, referrers and search engines transparently, providing you with valuable marketing information without bothering your shoppers with unending questions.

Offer Reminder Services
A simple, short Web form that allows a visitor to set up reminder e-mail about a perfect gift for a future birthday or anniversary does several things. It builds goodwill, establishes you as a solid business presence and reminds the shopper to visit your site again. Many free or inexpensive resources exist on the Web that allow you to add this to your site quickly and easily. Some even integrate with your shopping cart to allow your visitors who have received a reminder to make their purchase directly from the e-mail.

Offer an Opt-in Mailing List.
And don't forget a way to opt-out. Many people will not automatically opt-in to be included on your mailing list. However, when they see that you genuinely try to keep in touch with your visitors and customers, they are reassured. Be sure to actually send out regular newsletters (giving out valuable product information and saving the sales pitch for last). Many free resources exist on the Web that allow you to add this to your site. Some even integrate with your shopping cart to allow you to e-mail customers and prospects at one whack.

Offer a Good Associates' or Affiliates' Program
Provide an easy way for new associates and Webmasters to link to your site and to receive a commission for helping you sell. Be sure to put a link to a simple sign-up form on nearly every Web page on your site (make it a part of your main menu). You don't need to pay a lot to really build sales. Many good free banner programs are available, and most integrate easily with shopping carts.

Carefully Select Links, Logos and Banner Programs
Nothing tells a visitor that you will do anything for a few pennies, or haven't figured out how to make money on the Internet yet, faster than a confusing rash of banners and logos. Show some integrity about your offerings and limit banners to only one, or better yet, none.

Offer Privacy, Security and Disclosure Pages
These will explain your policies and practices to your visitors. They may never read these documents, but seeing the links to these documents reassures visitors that you know how to take care of them. Many online resources will help you compose credible documents that will completely explain your policies and practices to your visitors.

Offer Online Help- or Video-Chat
These resources are free or inexpensive to add to your site, but make it look like you spent a lot of money to provide them. Even if you are only periodically available for real-time help, by providing these resources you reassure your customers.

The "Perfect" is the Enemy of the "Merely Good"
Don't wait until your Web site is "perfect" before you open it up for sales. Put your very first product up for sale today. Your visitors and shoppers don't know what your concept of perfect is and most won't notice if you deploy a "less than perfect" Web site. Their idea of perfect is probably different from yours, anyway. Don't put the income you deserve today in escrow to certain ideas in your head. Build regularly toward those ideas and goals, but don't allow your idea of perfection to turn today's (or this week's) income into a big fat goose egg!

Touch All Bases
There is one thing about the other marketing guru's ideas about building your Web traffic that I'd like to touch on. You DO need to touch the bases of developing rational meta-tags for your Web pages, registering with search engines, etc. However, don't spend more than a couple of hours each month on these activities.

The truth is, continuous activity to improve search engine ranking is largely wasted unless you are willing to pay cash for that high ranking.

The fact is, yes, the Internet really is that competitive. Fortunately, even with a low $20- or $40-per-month ad budget, you can be top ranked in your categories on 50% to 70% of the search engines for at least a few days each month-and never go over-budget! Thanks to the wonder of Web server/ database automation, you can automate this with a limited budget, while building sales and increasing your ad budget from rising sales-and you are paying for performance (clicks to your site) and not just exposure. In addition, you only get the clicks from the people who are actively searching for you. After all, they went to a search engine looking for you. This is where the smart ad money goes on the Internet. Check out www.goto.com and similar pay-for performance search engines. Your competitors are probably already there-and prospering!

If you display an attitude that exudes the desire to be of service to your visitors' needs (which is what all the above is really about) you'll enjoy immense success, and better yet, you'll enjoy that success knowing you've accomplished that success by truly serving your customers' needs.

Ron Robinson is founder and General Manager of Oakland Group, Inc. and @Retail Corporation. He's been developing e-commerce solutions for over seven years and has been in IT for over 17 years. His Web e-commerce solutions have helped companies, such as The Los Angeles Times, Vivendi/Universal Studios and Wedbush-Morgan Securities. His marketing efforts helped one firm reach the "Inc. 500" list of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S., increasing from under $8 million to over $68 million in just under five years. Ron can be reached at mailto:rsr@oaklnd.com.