Must
Have's For a Home-Based Business
Website
Setting up your own home based affiliate or network marketing
website need not be a difficult operation nowadays because there are so
many re-sources available such as turnkey websites, website templates,
easy website creation and editing software and a whole library of
how-to books and websites.
So what are the key elements that should be included on home-based
business website?
1. People like to know who they are dealing with so it makes sense to
create a friendly atmosphere on your website, so include a photograph
of yourself, your name, and some details about your business background
or speciality. If you have a story to tell about yourself and your
business, then by all means set up an "About Me" page and link to it
from your homepage. The brief intro you place on your homepage can
either be in a sidebar somewhere "above the fold" (i.e. in the top part
of the webpage that the visitor will see as soon as the page opens,
without having to scroll down the screen), or you could incorporate it
into the first paragraph of your web copy (see point 3, below).
2. Be clear about what you are offering your visitors otherwise they
will quickly leave your site. You can do that by writing a clear,
strong headline and placing it right at the top of your website
homepage. Guide the reader into the main body of your homepage with a
call to action such as "Read On For Full Details" or "Here's How..." or
something similar that will encourage the visitor to read on.
3. Write your main copy in a friendly and informative "editorial"
style. Do not try to sell your visitor on your product because it won't
work. At this stage in the relationship your visitor is seeking
information not a sales pitch. So avoid sales jargon, hype, technical
terminology and non-communicative bureaucratic language. For example,
don't waffle on about "implementing e-commerce solutions provision for
online enterprises..." Instead, say something like "my company designs
and builds website stores so that small business owners can sell their
goods on the Internet".
4. Turn every feature of your business into a benefit for your
potential clients. Again, you don't need to hype this up, simply offer
the benefits as part of an editorial style review or overview of your
business products or services.
5. Keep your paragraphs short and to the point, and don't be afraid to
use a lot of white space.
6. Add a couple of photos or screenshots of your product or service in
action if at all possible. The Internet is essentially a visual medium
so photographs always add strength to website editorial.
7. Conclude your editorial with a clear call to action. Tell your
visitors how they can get more information by filling in a simple form
with their name and e-mail address.
8. You will need some form of auto responder service so that you can
collect the names and addresses of the people who fill in the form, and
build a business relationship with them via an e-mail newsletter. As
well is placing this form at the end of your editorial, it is also a
good idea to have a signup form somewhere above the fold. Encourage
people to sign up by offering a free report related to your business
niche.
9. You might want to strengthen your message by posting a video on your
homepage. Video offers a good opportunity for website owners to present
themselves as friendly and helpful experts in their field and nowadays
it is not difficult for anybody to make an upload a video. Also, videos
can easily be imported to your website from YouTube or an equivalent
video sharing site simply by copying a snippet of HTML code and
inserting it into your web page.
10. Last, but not least, provide your visitors with a way to contact
you if they have any questions or comments to make. The more open you
are to dialogue with your visitors, the more likely it is that you will
get their business. If you don't want to post your e-mail address on
your website, you can easily set up a web form. If you're web hosting
service does not provide Web forms, you can use a free service such as
Bravenet.com
Above all, give your website a clear purpose, and make it easy for the
visitor to navigate and use a font style and size that is easy to read.
Don't add too much clutter and definitely leave out high-tech Flash
introductions or anything else which will slow down the visitors access
to your main message. A home-based business website that includes all
of these features will be streets ahead of about 90% of the opposition
- an important consideration in a highly competitive and potentially
rewarding market such as the Internet.
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