Vincent Sparreboom

Posted on September 01, 2009

Nothing is achieved instantly and that is also true in an online business. I don’t have any ‘hidden secrets’; however I do have a few tried and trusted tips to start you off. There are 5 golden rules that can point you in the right direction when you take those vital first steps in establishing your online business.

 

1. Enjoy what you are doing
It makes a tremendous difference if you are enthusiastic about what you are doing and take pleasure in providing a good service to your customers. Many online businesses are started and run purely for profit. This is usually evident in their business practice. You will provide a far better service to your customers if you enjoy what you are doing. Whether you are running an Internet business or a high street business, you should always have an interest in the product or service you are providing.

 

2. Visual impact of your website
The design of your website is the first thing that a prospective customer sees, so it is important that the site is attractive and not based on a generic template that will make it look the same as thousands of others. The effort you put into creating a well designed, professional homepage should be well rewarded. Potential new customers will not consider buying from you if you look like an amateur, no matter how cheap your products.

 

3. Total package
Your site must be developed as a complete package. By offering additional services such as tutorials, articles, support forums etc, you will generate extra traffic for your site which may lead to more sales.

 

4. Find your niche
It is far easier to develop a niche market than it is to muscle in on a market that is already intensely competitive and dominated by established companies. Concentrate on being a big fish in a small pool.

 

5. Search engine optimization
It is vital that you understand how search engines operate. More than 90% of your site traffic is likely to be referred by search engines. Your website MUST be optimized for the search engines. You might have the best deals in the entire universe, but if no-one is aware of them, your efforts have been wasted. Do a search on Google for search engine optimization (SEO). You will find a massive amount of information on producing a website that is friendly for both users and search engines. There are innumerable companies offering SEO services, so it is important that you do your groundwork. Don’t believe all the claims that are made. It’s impossible to guarantee top search engine placement, no matter what claims are made.

In the early 90s, building a site based on the idea that "if you build it they will come" may have worked, but that period in time has long since passed . The Internet today is an extremely competitive and complex arena. To succeed, you need a business plan that works from every angle. If you develop an online business that you enjoy operating, which has a professional, , search engine optimized website containing additional content and which targets a specific niche, you are far more likely to succeed. Obviously, there are many other factors that also need to be taken into consideration, but if you start with these five main areas, the rest should follow.