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[H888]How To Build A Website Free

by Ankur Bhardwaj, Ank

Web development is quite complex, because there are so many disciplines involved. It takes some skills to build a web site that delivers exactly what you want, with a good layout and with community building and you need to know technical aspects as well as research and marketing, promotion, writing, etc. Web development also means hard work. It's an ever-ongoing effort as you will see below and if you don't have enough (human) resources for it it's going to be hard. It's not the money that count so much (the site will be a reflection of your budget, but lots of small budgets already have been very successful) as well as time, energy, persistence and a great will.

Let's try to break it down to the basic elements.

Why?

A very popular reason to create a web presence is ... to have a web presence. "Competitors have it, so should we" is often heard. A defensive strategy. That is definitely the wrong way. Companies or small businesses should have a better reason to be on the Internet. You should plan that carefully. Most of the time it starts with an idea, a product or a service. And unless you want a personal home page, you better find out first if there's a market for that idea, product or service. Internet presence comes down to three things: marketing, promotion and (fresh) valuable content.

Step 1

So, if you have an idea, product or service suited for the Internet, first find out if there's a market that wants to pay for it. Just use the Search Engines and Directories to find similar ideas or similar markets. If you do not have an idea, product or service yet try to find a (common) need or dissatisfaction in a certain group of people that want to spend money to solve their problems (niche, target market). Lurk in Discussion Groups and Forums. Post some questions about what is needed most. Develop a solution to fill a need, relieve a pain or satisfy a desire.

Step 2

Develop a USP, a Unique Selling Proposition. It should be a unique aspect of your business, something that separates you from your competitors. And locate where your customers are, what they do, what they read, what interests them, in short: how you can reach them and where. Define your keywords and keyphrases. This may seem trivial, but if they can't find you, there's no business! This is crucial for the concept. Target your audience!

Step 3: Build It!

Sounds easy. It is when you exactly know how to do that. And even than it's quite complex. Develop a site that sells with deadly precision, build content, write sales letters, the technical stuff (CGI, Java, etc.), prepare Auto responders, make articles, get references and so on. Try to automate as much as possible. It gives you more time for the actions in the next steps. And make sure that you can stay in touch with prospects. Your newsletter can do that. Have the content ready.

Step 4: Get traffic!

Here's the promotion part of the process. Search Engines and Directories are great to get targeted traffic. Despite of all remarks regarding constant changes of algorithms it's still worth while. Press releases, articles, forums and if you want to banners and advertising are all in place here. Select your resources with care by using the information from Step 2.

Step 5: Test, test, test!

Check the results. Does the system work the way you planned? Can you improve it? You will not know unless you test it. Try different sales letters, prices, guarantees, other layouts or navigation (only change one thing at the time) and check the results again. If nothing works, go back to Step 1 and start all over again. If it works, go back to Step 2 and refine the whole system. After that go back to Step 1 and develop the next product, because now you are well situated for back end products.

Here is a closer look at each of these pages:

1 - The sales page.

The sales page is the page where you need to get inside the customers head and give them what they want. When customers come to your sales page they will only have two options - leave or buy. Obviously, you want them to stay and buy.

Now that we know what we want to accomplish lets see how we will do this.

The headline is where you need to state a strong and compelling benefit that your customers will receive from purchasing your product or service.

Next the introduction needs to explain how your product or service will solve the customer's problem. No need to mention your product or service at this time, you are doing this to make the customer feel comfortable as they see you are willing to help them with their problem.

Now it is time to introduce your product or service which can be done in one of two ways or both. The first being a visual representation of your product or service and the second a description of your product or service and how it solves the problems that you have mentioned earlier.

The visual representation is especially important if you are selling an electronic downloadable product. The visual representation can be a picture created to look like a physical book (e-book) or a box shot that the physical software product would be packaged in.

Customer testimonials are also a very important and a strong motivator to somebody who is unsure about the product or service. After you have introduced your product or service you should display any testimonials you might have received from your customers.

When you first start promoting the product or service, it is very likely that you won't have any testimonials to put on the sales page, leaving you with two options. First - Don't include a testimonial section in the beginning. Or offer your product for free or a reduced price in exchange for a customer testimonial.

Next, create desire for your product by listing how your customers will benefit by owning it.

Remember to include a "Call to Action". In this section you will ask your customer to buy your product or service. You might want to include a few free bonuses, make your offer the best deal in town. Many individuals also like to include a deadline which could motivate some undecided customers to buy the product.

Buying on the internet is still very new to a lot of people, so always offer a good guarantee to put your customers at ease.

In the last part of your sales page you need to summarize your offer and state your major benefit once more.

2 - The payment processing page

In many cases the design and function of the payment processing page is usually out of your control and in the hands of a third party like Paypal, Click Bank etc.

Most payment processors have their own processing pages and will give you a code to use on your sales page. When a customer clicks the payment button they will automatically be taken to the third party payment processor's page. However, many third party processors and shopping carts do allow you to customize this page so it can better match your web site.

3 - The thank you/download page

After the payment, the customer will be sent to the download or fulfillment page. If the customer has never purchased anything online before, it's possible that this was a hectic experience. So you'll need to put their mind at rest and complete the transaction.

It is very important that you inform your customer that their payment has been verified before giving them any other information. You will need to tell them what to expect on their credit/debit card statement such as the name of the charge that they will see and the total dollar amount.

Explain to your customer, exactly how their order is going to be fulfilled. You need to give very good details so the customer completely understands what to expect.

Always include links to programs that will help the customer handle the product, such as an un-zipping program to unzip downloaded files that are compress and a link to a PDF reader so they can read any downloaded PDF files.

Creating a niche web site doesn't have to be a hundred pages, it really can be done with only three pages. Many niche marketers are now focusing on mini sites as they have proven to work well and are easier to build.

Article Source : Tips For Using Computers

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Both Ankur Bhardwaj & Smith, Jay are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Ankur Bhardwaj has sinced written about articles on various topics from Joint Venture, Computers and The Internet and SEO Search Engine Optimization. Did you find this article useful? For more useful tips & hints, Points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques & insights pertaining to Web Designing, Do please browse for more information at our website :-. Ankur Bhardwaj's top article generates over 60500 views. to your Favourites.

Smith, Jay has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, Site Promotion and Computers and The Internet. Visit today to see just how easy it can be to build your own website. While you're there be sure to pick up your free copy of Se. Smith, Jay's top article generates over 9900 views. to your Favourites.