Are You Showing Potential Customers the Exit Before they've Even Started Shopping?

by Marc Goldman

How many times have you been to a website that had so many programs and so
many banner ads that you couldn't wait to click on the back button of your browser?

Do you realize that many websites display banners from banner exchanges on their
home page only to lose potential customers before they have even settled in?

Your objective on a website should be to encourage visitors to not only visit once but
to return again and again. Some of the best websites with the highest traffic have
something that attracts visitors over and over. They have a traffic magnet. Do you?

Some traffic magnets include: Discussion Boards. One of my friends has a discussion
board that attracts close to a million page views a month! These discussion boards are
fantastic traffic magnets because people become almost addicted and check back
day in and day out to see what everyone is talking about.

I know other people who have an article library that attracts tons of repeat traffic. They
offer free articles and relevant tips that their audience would have a particularly strong
interest in knowing about. The key is to offer something useful that people want to visit
and refer to again and again.

Once you have developed a traffic magnet, the key is to sell. You should never
become so obsessed with getting visitors that you forget to sell to them! You don't
have to do that right from your website. One of the keys is to get people to opt-in to
your list. Offer a newsletter or tell visitors that they can sign up for your mailing list to
receive notice by email when the site changes or gets updated.

Once you have captured their name and email address you can always send product
offers and special deals to your list. Since they know you and feel comfortable with
you, they will be more receptive to your sales attempts.

If you have the discussion board magnet, you can set up a rotating banner script that
displays banner ads for your products not for the banner exchanges.

What can you do to build your traffic magnet now?

1.Start Your Own Discussion Board:
You can find the software at http://www.cgi-resources.com or at other cgi sites.
If you don't have experience installing CGI scripts, I suggest that you hire
someone who does. If you do this, I suggest that you have them install rotating
banner software as well and then begin to design or have someone design
banners for you.
2.Build Your Own Article Library:
You can find many free and useful articles in which your target market would be
interested by scouring the web, collecting and posting them on your site.

Once you have a traffic magnet set up, remember to sell to your audience. Set up an
opt-in list and sell to it.

Remember, people on the net are skeptical and quick to click away. When you
provide a traffic magnet they will return again and again instead of never at all.

About the Author

Marc Goldman, Goldbar Enterprises
subscribe to The Marketers Resource Weekly:
The Free Internet Marketing Resource for the New
Millennium. Subscribe at http://www.goldbar.net
Discover the exclusive members only website that
will propel your business to dizzying heights.
The Ultimate Marketers Resource