? Keep search engines in mind when designing your site. Include ALT tags in your images. Search engines can't read images. Alt tags tell them what the image is about. Use your main keyword in your ALT tags.

? Design your Web site based on your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). Why should prospects buy from you instead of your competition? What sets you apart? What makes your products and services unique, better, and more desirable? Do you provide hard-to-find expertise, the best customer service, lowest prices, highest quality, fastest service, or strongest guarantee? Back up your claims with testimonials, statistics, results of studies, and other data. Stand out from your competition. Offer more. Make your offers unique. Be original.

? Put the benefits of your site and your USP right on top of your home page. Many Web visitors never scroll down past the first screen of information. Give your potential buyers the information they need as quickly as possible.

? Include an "Opt-in" form to collect your visitors' email addresses. An opt-in form captures the email addresses of interested prospects and gives you permission to email them. Getting your visitors' e-mail addresses and building opt-in email lists is essential to staying in touch with your prospects and turning your visitors into buyers. Offer something valuable to get your potential buyers' email addresses such as a free report, newsletter, consultation, discount, or special offer.

? Stay in touch. Visitors rarely purchase the first time they visit a site. They want to get to know you before they are willing to spend money. Communicate consistently with your prospects through online newsletters and email messages. Give potential buyers reasons to return. Provide valuable information in your ezine. Mention what's new on your site. Provide special offers and discounts to your subscribers. Invite them to visit your Web site again and again. These techniques work. Try them and watch your prospects become buyers.

? Ask for feedback. Find out what potential buyers want. Use feedback forms and email surveys to conduct market research. Ask what products and information they're interested in. What benefits are most appealing. What price they would pay. Analyze the feedback and adapt your site as needed.

? Include keywords and META tags in your Web pages to improve your ranking with search engines.

Take a look at your Web site and see how many of these elements are missing. Implement these proven direct marketing strategies now to increase your online sales.