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One Stop Web Support Newsletter #11

September 4, 2005

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One Stop Web Support Newsletter # 11

Jeff Baas - One Stop Web Support

http://www.OneStopWebSupport.com/

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In this newsletter:

Converting Your Visitors into Buyers (part 4 of 4)
Personal recommendations -

Website - Wordtracker

Auctions - Hot Item Finder

Special guest corner - thoughts from top marketers
Learn How You Can Actively Control, Direct, And Guarantee The Success Of Your Internet Business With This One Simple Strategy
by Derek Gehl
Success quote

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IN BRIEF

I've long been sold on Wordtracker; there's so much you can do with it to find the best keywords to use for your site. As a matter of fact, there's so much you can do with it, that most people don't even scratch the surface when they use it.

So I was pleased when Wordtracker announced that it had put together a free ebook in which it had gotten nine top seo and marketing experts to share some of the advanced tricks they use to research with Wordtracker.

In the ebook, these experts each received a fictional product to research using Wordtracker. They then let you watch over their shoulder as they use Wordtracker's versatile interface to mine valuable info that they've learned to find from working with Wordtracker day in and day out.

There are tons of new ideas for getting the most out of Wordtracker, and, being free, there's no reason not to check it out.

And if you're not familiar with Wordtracker, I have a review of it below, in my personal recommendations below.

Click here to download the Wordtracker Keyword Research Guide.

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1. Converting Your Visitors into Buyers (part 4 of 4)

This four-part series looks at increasing conversions on your site, which is basically what's involved in getting your visitors to buy.

Step 4: Guide them through a simple, yet planned, buying process

The idea that you can just throw products up on the web and have them sell is a major flaw that causes many web businesses to fail. You need to lead people to the sale.

PLAN their path to the sale. Where are they coming from? What brought them to that page? Make sure the page reaffirms the implied promise you made in bringing them there. Make sure that page provides the help they expect it will.

And then make sure that page moves them along to the next step in the buying process. Avoid distracting them. Don't offer them a multitude of choices; focus the links only on those choices that lead them toward the sale.

Give them links that allow them to reassure themselves of any nagging questions they still might have--but then bring them quickly back to your sales funnel. DON'T LET THEM GET DISTRACTED.

And don't expect them to follow your sales path on their own initiative; encourage them to take the path you want them to. The simple words,"Click here to see your options in..." or "Put this product in your shopping cart" make a HUGE difference in getting people to go where you want them to go.

For all their assertions that they want to make their own decisions, people are surprisingly reluctant to take initiative. But a gentle and
well-placed encouragement to take the next step can and does get many people past that reluctance.

Final thoughts

Converting visitors into buyers is not just a matter of luck. It involves understanding your target audience and guiding them in their thinking. But it can make a tremendous difference that is well worth the extra effort.

(Click here to see the complete article on website sales conversions).

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2. Personal recommendations -

Websites - "Wordtracker"

Auctions - "Hot Item Finder"

"WordTracker"

I've learned not to rely on my own opinions of what words people are using to search for products. I can't tell you how many times I've expected to see that a term was highly searched only to find that it receives little to no attention at all.

I've used Wordtracker for websites since I first started and never finalize keywords for a site until I've tested them there.

Wordtracker tracks search activity on meta search engines and then translates that into estimates of the number of times the keywords you choose will be searched on each major search engine.

It also shows you how many other websites are competing for those terms on each search engine and determines for you the keywords that have the most promising combination of high searches and low competition.

I consider Wordtracker a must-use tool when building or expanding any website. Check out the free trial to get a feel for it. Then up for a day, a week, or whatever length of time you think you'll use it.

You don't necessarily need an ongoing subscription to it unless you do keyword research frequently. But with subscriptions available for as little as a day or a week, there's no reason not to sign up when you're researching.

Try Wordtracker's free trial or sign up for a short period.

I rate it 10 out of 10

"Hot Item Finder"

Hot Item Finder is designed to do much the same thing for your auction business that WordTracker does for websites.

It lets you see what people are searching for and what they are bidding on so you can be sure you put your products in their path. Plus, it can actually help you pull more traffic to your auctions by identifying the best keywords to draw searchers to them.

I rate it a 9 out of 10

Click here to find out more about Hot Item Finder.

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3. Special guest corner - thoughts from top marketers

Each newsletter I like to give you another marketer's perspective with guest articles from well-known marketing experts. This one is from Derek Gehl.

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Learn How You Can Actively Control, Direct, And Guarantee The Success Of Your Internet Business With This One Simple Strategy

By Derek Gehl

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Motivational speaker Anthony Robbins once said, "If you want to be successful, find someone who achieved the results you want and copy what they do, and you'll achieve the same results."

It's an idea I became familiar with many years ago:

When I was first getting started online, I made a lot of mistakes. Not because I wasn't trying to model successful businesses, but because there simply weren't businesses online to model.(In 1996, I was among the first handful of people to actually start selling products over the Internet.)

So I gathered as much information as I could from successful offline marketing experts like Jay Abraham; however, the challenge was adjusting their techniques to work in the online world. I'm sure it will come as no surprise to you that many of the techniques used to market and sell in the "real world" either:

a) Didn't work at all on the Internet.

b) Needed to be seriously adjusted, tested, tweaked, and adjusted some more to really get results online.

The point that I'm trying to make here is that it literally took me years of testing and hundreds of thousands of dollars to discover the same techniques that you'll now see commonly used online today.

Fortunately, there is no reason for things to be nearly this difficult for you. Today, modeling the Internet "successes" is relatively easy. (Though, be careful that you separate the phonies and fakes from the "true experts" -- look for those who honestly practice what they preach and who can prove it!)

The biggest investment that you'll need to make is your time.

If you're interested in long-term, life-changing success, then a few extra days of reading and researching shouldn't matter. It's the success of your business that we're talking about here, so don't make the fatal mistake of thinking that you're "wasting time." Remember that what you learn today could be the technique or strategy that saves you not only wasted time and effort, but thousands of dollars in "could have been" profits.

It's an extremely simple concept, but it's really one of the key ideas I teach.

Guarantee Your Success By Modeling The Successful

1) What Should My Web Site Look Like?

Why spend thousands of dollars having a flashy site designed that’s loaded with theme music and spinning graphics? Some of the most successful web sites online today have extremely sleek, simple designs.

Of course, before I tell you to model proven successful web sites, I want you to be aware of "the catch:"

When researching web sites to model, the ones you should be paying closest attention to are your competitors' and sites that have a profit model similar to your own (i.e. look for sites that
make money in a similar way).

For example, if you sell cotton balls on your web site, you shouldn’t be modeling your site design after Amazon.com. First off, they sell books (among other things). You sell cotton balls. They offer a wide variety of titles and choices. You offer one product -- cotton balls. Finally, let's face it -- their advertising budget is out of this world! If you're a small or home-based business, you likely don't have the same kind of luxury to experiment and make expensive mistakes.

So think practical -- be realistic -- and start looking for other sites that are successfully selling their cotton balls online (or one, similar
product), and model your site after theirs. Your site doesn't need to be the next Yahoo! or eBay for you to be earning a significant 6 figure income.

2) How Do I Write Sales Copy That Really Sells?

Writing sales copy that really sells takes practice -- and education! I have yet to meet someone who just has a "natural gift" for writing award-winning copy without any education whatsoever.

Sure, some people might get "lucky" and stumble onto bits and pieces of the proven approach -- but I can guarantee you that anyone who hasn't studied the "art and science of sales copy" is missing key elements that could increase their sales by 400% - 1,200%. I'm not kidding here!

So rather than playing a "hit or miss" guessing game with your copy, I highly recommend looking for sales copy that makes YOU want to buy and studying it. After you've read enough quality copy, you'll start to notice a distinct pattern that you can apply to
your own writing.

3) How Do I Rank At The Top Of The Search Engines?

If you plan on ranking at the top of the search engines, then I can’t stress enough the importance of educating yourself. The search engines are a highly competitive arena where only those who have taken the time to "learn the rules" claim a top 10 spot.

Very rarely these days will you hear of someone "getting lucky" and just magically sliding into a top ranking.

So if you want a top 10 listing under your best keywords and phrases (i.e. you want your site to appear in the top 10 listings when someone searches the key phrase "cotton balls" in Alta Vista, Yahoo!, Google, Excite, HotBot, etc.), then you need to do two things:

a) Examine the web sites that already rank in the top 10 under your best keywords and phrases -- and look for patterns.

b) Use the proven know-how of the search engine experts to learn the ropes. If you want a top ranking, then you'll want the experience and advice of someone who makes it their mission to keep up with the constantly changing rules of each search engine and directory.

In fact, before you spend a lot of time examining the sites of your competition for clues as to why they are listed among the top 10, I recommend seeking out these search engine gurus. With their advice, you’ll be better prepared to critically examine your competitors' web sites for clues that explain why they’re at the top of the ranks.

4) How Do I Drive Targeted Traffic To My Web Site?

If you want to increase the number of targeted potential customers who are arriving at your web site each day, then a listing in the search engines is a good start, but it's also exactly that -- a start.

Again, take some time to research your competition. How are they attracting their visitors? Do they have a lot of links on other sites? Do they have their own Affiliate Program? Do they participate heavily in newsgroups? Do they have an established viral marketing campaign?

Use the experience of your competition to your advantage by learning their secrets -- and then tweaking and improving on their approach to do them one better!

Work Smarter -- Not Harder -- And See Bigger Rewards And Profits

Even now, I still scour the Web to see how others are creating their own success. I analyze my competition: I read everything that I can get my hands on; and I remain open to new ideas and new approaches.

Today, it's relatively cheap and easy to get a solid education in what Internet marketing techniques work, which to avoid, and how to build guaranteed success the first time around! So why would you waste your valuable (and limited) time and money by stubbornly insisting on making mistakes that you could easily avoid with a little education?

Model the success of others and you'll not only guarantee your success, you'll achieve your goals in less time with less expense than you could on your own.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Derek Gehl specializes in teaching real people how to start profitable Internet businesses that make $100,000 to $2.5 Million (or more) per year. To get instant access to all his most profitable marketing campaigns, strategies, tools, and resources that he's
used to grow $25 into over $40 Million in online sales, visit:

http://www.OneStopWebSupport.com/insidersecrets

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