Having been a web designer for 6 years and working with small businesses for over 7 years, I’ve heard this a lot. “I have my web site, how do I get traffic and sales?” A lot of people think that once you have a web site, that’s it, work done. Nope! It is a never ending process to keep your site listed properly and make sure your potential clients can find you. Even more important, turn your visits into sales! Don’t have a site yet? Start here: I want a web site!

First of all, there are a few things that should be done even before you get to this point that I will touch on briefly.

1. Have a professional looking web site. Make sure your graphics look nice, your colors all flow, your coding is clean and you have good navigation and content. This first step is the most important step to keep visitors on your site. Web Design Rules According to Web Savvy Mama.

2. Know your market. You should already have browsed the web and found out who your direct competition is. What is working for them? What can you do to set yourself apart from them? Don’t rely on cheaper prices to get you a sale, this only works for physical products with professional looking websites. If you sell digital materials or a service, you are going to have to solely rely on word of mouth, portfolio and the impression your website gives. Why? You get what you pay for. While your cheaper item/service might be just as great as a competitors, potential customers may not look at it that way. Be competitive in pricing, don’t low ball your worth. Also know what your customers are wanting, not just what you want to give them. How can you convince them you have what they need?

Now on to the nitty gritty. You have a web site, you’ve done your research, now what?

1. Work on your SEO! Search Engine Optimization is super important. I’d say that the majority of my clients have found me through Google. This means you have to know what your keywords and phrases are and how to promote yourself in the search engines. It is such a big topic that I can’t get into it here, but I did write an article in 2007 that still has a lot of good information in it to get you started. Web Site Optimization, SEO.

2. Advertising, how and where. This falls back on knowing your target market. For me, mine is small business and specifically work at home parents. I first researched where those people tend to hang out on the web and focused my advertising there. For some this may be a large web forum or web site. Find out what it takes to do various advertising on those sites. Signature links on forums have worked well for me in the past. Again, keep in mind the keywords you want to benefit from the SEO! You can also try Google adsense but unless you have a larger budget or very specialized keywords, chances are its not going to be much bang for your buck. Participate in popular blog giveaways, get featured on other web sites and get friends to talk about you. Word of mouth advertising is the best advertising! Do Facebook and Twitter help? Most likely not, unless you already have a big following on your personal accounts and can piggy back from there. You can use these social network sites to help with SEO though!

3. Get a blog! This goes back, again, to SEO. It also generates something that visitors may want to come back to read and gets them onto your site again. I’ve written about this as well so read more at Add a blog? Yes Please!

You have the traffic, lets turn those visitors into sales!

1. Have a product that will sell!
2. Professional site with a cart.
3. Competitive prices.
4. No dead links!
5. Clear navigation.
6. Your visitors need to be very clear on what you are selling.
7. Clear form of contact method. They need to know they can reach you.
8. Offer something that no one else has. (Product, service, atmosphere, this could be anything!)