Increasing Website Income

by Terry Plank

Introduction

The Web has become a necessary part of the marketing and sales effort for most companies

The purpose of this article is to explain the Components of Website Income Generation as the first step for a Website evaluation to improve a company's Website business plan.

The lack of a complete Website business plan was one of the contributing factors to Nasdaq crash in April 2000. When considering the components discussed below, keep in mind the following:

• Each component employs unique strategies for generating traffic and converting that traffic into sales.
• ROI is the result of traffic and conversion of traffic to sales.
• Few professional Web Positioning and Promotion companies are proficient in all the Components. Unless the Positioning and Promotion is handled in house, a combination of professional companies is needed to include all the following Components in a Website business plan.

The Components of Website Income Generation

1. Search Engine Marketing.
   Generating Website traffic by positioning in Search Engines (Google, Alta Vista, etc.) and Directories includes strategies like keyword phrase development, competitive analysis, creation and optimization for search engine friendliness, inclusion in Search Engines and Directories, position monitoring, ongoing evaluation, and maintenance. An analysis of your basic Search Engine Marketing will discover ways to improve traffic to your site and away from your competitors. Doing so, will enhance your opportunities to convert these "visitors" into sales.
2. Link Analysis and Development.
   Strategic link alliances bring targeted, pre-qualified traffic from partners and improve search engine ranking when there are closely themed sites linked to a domain. Ensuring you are effectively cross-linked to your business partners, customers and professional associations will help to drive traffic from their sites to yours. An analysis of your website for this purpose will determine the strength and effectiveness of your linking, and suggest additional methods to derive visitors to your website from theirs
3. Site Evaluation and Web Development.
   The architecture and design of a Website directly affects traffic generation and conversion to sales. There are special challenges created by elements that make sites unfriendly to search engines and/or to visitors. Guarding against the kinds of mistakes that cause internet "spiders" and "crawlers" to avoid your site is critical to an effective web presence. Evaluation of your website to determine if your site is compatible with their requirements will help give you the opportunity to maximize your presence and to attract visitors. A site that is attractive and easy to navigate will retain visitors long enough for them to "do business".
4. Copywriting.
   Web copywriting targets keyword phrases for search engine find ability, encourages sales through a natural flow of navigation, and delivers order-pulling, sales generating copy. Both traffic generation and conversion are affected by the quality of the copy.
5. Pay-Per-Click Marketing. The pay-per-click system drives traffic by establishing a fixed position for keyword phrases through a bidding system at each search engine. This ensures top sponsoring positions at key search engines by maintaining the highest bid for each targeted keyword phrase.
6. Log Analysis & Relationship Marketing.
   Log files are kept for each domain. A detailed online visitor analysis of clickstream and Web site traffic will determine how much traffic a site receives, where the traffic is coming from, which engines are sending traffic, the keywords used to find the site, which pages are the most popular, where traffic is being lost, which pages are the least popular, and more. This analysis will allow you to adjust your website content and keyword phrases to attract the most visitors and to retain them on your site long enough to conduct business.
7. E-Commerce & Online Transactions.
   Electronic commerce is the paperless exchange of business. It refers to business-to-business transactions, the downloading and selling of "soft merchandise" (software, documents, graphics, music, etc.), product sales, and online stock and bond transactions. An evaluation of the quality of your E-Commerce will assist you in improving your online business.
8. Internet Advertising.
   Top search engines, portals, directory sites, and relevant content sites offer advertising space to target keyphrases and categories. Buying and strategically planning Internet Advertising can significantly increase traffic, resulting in increased sales.
9. Permission E-mail Marketing.
   Spamming is not an acceptable form of E-Mail Marketing. When a customer has purchased AND has requested that additional information be sent as it becomes available, a relationship is established which allows for an acceptable form of contact for additional sales. Other methods of developing a Permission E-mail list include offering an online or E-mail newsletter. Providing this and other online services improves your visibility and opportunities for sales.
10. Press Releases.
    Press releases generate traffic by sending direct company news, financial announcements, and other time-critical business communications to a worldwide audience of media, analysts and consumers. Attention to this component drives a "press-sensitive" and information hungry clientele to your website.
11. Competitive Analysis.
    A Competitive Website Analysis will show how a web site compares to major competitors' Websites. This provides information to establish a greater traffic and sales conversion by learning from successful competitors.
12. ROI Analysis.
    A detailed analysis of every Component of the Website performance, traffic, and conversion leads to development of a new road map for the improvement in ROI necessary for a successful online presence. By reviewing each element against your return on investment allows you the opportunity to ensure that you are getting the most "bang for the buck" possible.
13. Training.
    Programs are available for most of the components of Website Positioning and Promotion. These can include onsite training, online training, and E-Books. Becoming proficient in your understanding of the web and its ability to improve your business is essential to increasing sales and ultimately your return on investment. The Web is a dynamic and ever changing marketplace. To maximize sales and your return on your web investment, it is essential that your website remains current at all times.

Training has value in two ways. First, by training executive management in the basics they are equipped to oversee outsourced and in house production. Second, training in house staff in Web Positioning strategies and techniques will ensure Website profitability

If this article is the first step, what's the second step? Well, evaluating your Website business plan related to these Internet Marketing Components.

Happy Internet Marketing!