Every eBay Seller Should Have a Website

Today there are plenty of programs and services that allow anyone with no technical experience to create a website. You no longer need to know HTML code or how to use web publishing software. If you can point and click you can develop a website.

Here are some of the popular tools I recommend:

1. If you want to set up an eCommerce website to sell products, take a look at a builder I use and recommend at www.PowerSellerBuilder.com. I currently have two websites operating that were built and are hosted by this system.
    
2. Another great system that comes with good support, training and wholesale sourcing help is the Be Biz Program from the Internet Marketing Center.
    
3. If you want to set up a site to make money from Google AdSense or Affiliate Marketing, there is a great system from a company called XsitePro.  I have not used their program, but I have looked at it carefully and received tons of email from users who love their system.

Once you set up your website, you have to get traffic. You can have the most beautiful website in the world, but if no one visits it you can't make money from it.  Building traffic to your website isn't really that hard and doesn't take that much time if you follow a steady routine.

Building a Marketing Routine

One of the Internet's major advantages over print media is that it can be updated constantly. A website that has not changed in months seems abandoned to those who frequent the site. So change is necessary for repeat business, and this change comes down to a daily marketing routine.

Content is King

When most people think about marketing, they think of advertising. Don't fall into that trap. Marketing also encompasses your design, your page copy, etc. According to MediaMetrix, 75% of all repeat visitors come back to a site due to the site's content. We have mentioned before that "Content is King" on the web. MediaMetrix also states that it is vital that the content be good, compelling, new, and free.

Your Daily Routine

Marketing your site on the Internet should be done on a daily basis. In fact, experts agree that you should get into a daily routine, even if it is only for 15 minutes at a time. Doing so will increase your traffic, your customer loyalty, your sales, and your profits. In other words, it will help you create a "sticky site."

Daily promotion activities include:

• Email: No, we are not referring to email marketing, but to responding to customer email in a timely manner. If this is overlooked, you could lose hard-won customers. Many Internet businesses have earned and kept business based on their ability to respond quickly to customer email. Customers appreciate a timely response.
   
• Newsgroups: This is not copying and pasting an advertisement in newsgroups, but rather it is finding an area of your expertise and being an "advisor" or "expert" online in that area. Answer questions and give advice freely. Ensure that you reference your website in the signature of your posts, so people who read your posts can find your site. If you gain a solid reputation, you will gain customers.
   
• Update Your Site: Keeping your site fresh with new content is vital, even if you are selling only one product. For example, you might expand your FAQ page or your product information page. By expanding your content, you are not only giving new content for your customers to read, but you are also expanding the number of pages listed in the search engines, which will increase your chances of appearing in the top of the search results.
   
• Link Popularity: This is an area that takes constant work. By contacting sites on a daily basis, your link popularity will increase, and if you do it right, your link reputation will increase as well.
   
• Guest Articles: Writing a guest article for publication in a newsletter or to post on another website is one of the best methods of promoting and marketing your website. First, the guest article can be posted on your own site as new content; second, the guest article will have a link back to your site which will increase your link popularity; third, if you select a site that has a good profile online, it also has a good reputation, which will increase your link reputation; fourth, you and your company will begin to be recognized as an expert in the field. Your "brand awareness" increases.
   
• Track the Competition: Go where your #1 competitor goes. Use the Google Alert system to track your top competitor. Wherever their company is mentioned in a page newly indexed by Google, you will be notified. This will uncover a gold mine of information for you and you can ride on the coattails of a successful company in your industry.

This article is copyrighted 2009 by Bright Builders Inc. and used with permission.