Webmasters can easily whip up the most brilliant website, loaded with information, articles, links, and quality content. With this tool and that tool, they can create a website masterpiece, ready to display to the world. Then when the sales don't come in, they are left wondering what more they could possibly do to their site that they haven't already done. Well before throwing our arms up in the air, we must remember that the customer comes first, and that a website cannot just be a static, unchanging piece of work. Our websites have to engage the customer, entice them, and they must be interactive. Our web businesses are not mechanical slot machines, as much as we might like them to be!

Engaging our customers means that we are not only providing them with quality content, but we are giving them a chance to reply, respond, question, and comment on our site and what we have to offer. One way to do this is by including a feedback or email form that allows them to send their questions and comments back to you. If it is easy for them to contact you, and they receive quality assistance and replies from you, then they will feel more like you are someone they can trust. You can establish trust and credibility by providing your name, address, phone number, and email address, as well as posting your picture and some information about yourself. It also helps to offer a money-back guarantee.

There is software available that allows you to capture information about your customers. It will categorize them so that you know what they bought, and what other similar products or services you have that you can also entice them into purchasing. Keeping track of your website statistics and what your customers are doing on your site is crucial for you to know where your sales and visits are or are not coming from and why. Sometimes tweaking one small aspect of your wording or site layout can make a huge difference to your sales and may mean repeat customers for you. Also, if you know what your customers are looking at on your site, and what is passing them by, then you can adjust your page to their desires. Sometimes offering a survey to your customers and subscribers is a good way to find out exactly what they want.

Your subscriber list consists of your current or potential customers, so you also want to personalize your auto-responder and broadcast messages. Make sure you use the customer's name in your mailings, and be more personal than the typical auto-responder message to show that you care. Include links to your products and services but try to tailor your messages to your customers? personalities and preferences.

Paying attention to your customers also means following up with them consistently either by phone or email and building a relationship with them. Just getting to know who they are, and letting them know that you are a real person who cares about their needs and not just a website can mean the difference between making a sale and making nothing. As the saying goes, ?you don't know a man until you've walked a mile in his moccasins?, so find out who your customers are, what they want, and let them know how you can be of service to them.