How long is it since you last spent time driving traffic to your web site? Do not be left behind. Traffic does not come to your site automatically, search engines and directories send it. And if you do not optimise your site to convince Search Engines such as Google that you have relevant content, then your site will be largely ignored.

Consider taking a combined strategy:

• Set up reciprocal links from other sites with a higher Google PageRank than yours. One way to do this is to find web sites, forums or blogs that are related to your market segment, without directly competing with you, and submit articles to them with a link back to your own web site. It is these incoming links that search engines love and your PageRank will rise accordingly. Business and trade directories are another good source of potential traffic. The more relevant you can find the better.


• An example of this approach could be a small business specialising in a particular form of natural healing. A useful strategy here would be to submit quality articles to an industry site that covered all forms of natural healing, outlining the benefits of your particular specialty. People visiting this high profile site already have an interest in natural healing in general, and may well be interested in your specialty when guided by an informative article. The benefit to the site accepting your submission of course is that your article, and others like it, help to broaden their appeal. If done well this really is a win -- win situation.
• Dedicate specific pages on your web site to focus on particular themes. Do not make the mistake of trying to cover a grab-bag of topics on the one page in the hope that one of them will stick. An experienced web developer or Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) specialist will be able to help with this process by analyzing your visitor statistics and suggesting themes based on key words and phrases that people are actively searching for. After you write an article based on their suggestions they will then edit it to maximise its appeal to Search Engines.
• Consider paid advertising on a "cost per click basis". Google and Yahoo are good places to start, but there are many others. Many of these systems are based on a bidding model where the more an advertiser is prepared to pay for a click, the more prominently the advertisement will be featured. When used carefully they can be a good way of generating a quick response. This can be important for owners of new web sites while they are waiting for their natural search engine traffic to gain momentum.

Develop a marketing strategy for the next three months
The reason marketing activities should be planned well in advance is to give yourself plenty of time to get in the necessary stock, or if you have a service based business, assemble the relevant resources. For example, if new stock is involved then you will need time to source it and upload the details to your web site. On the other hand if you are launching a new service you may need to add an extra page to your web site outlining its benefits and engage additional staff to perform the service. All these things take time. The good news is that by planning well in advance you will save yourself a lot of stress.

Detailed planning
This is the 3Ps -- only this time they are Plan, Plan & Plan. Look at your marketing campaigns collectively, and then individually. What do you really want to achieve? Consider planning ahead for the next three campaigns and write a sentence for each one that clearly spells out its main purpose. These are your core propositions. For example, the first could be to clear stock or promote an older service, the second could be designed to tie in with an event such as Easter, while the third could be used to launch a new service or product range. Whatever they are I suggest that you keep them simple and only have one core proposition per campaign. Much more than that and you will run the risk of confusing yourself and your customers! Newsletters It is very common for an online marketing campaign to revolve around a newsletter. If this is the case then all aspects of the mail-out needs to be very carefully planned, drafted and tested.

• There are many sorts of newsletters, however those promoting e-commerce ventures usually have one primary purpose: to drive traffic to an online shop selling products or services. The question is, how best to achieve this. Detailed coverage of the core proposition in the actual newsletter may not be the best approach to take. Rather, write the copy in such a way that it provides just enough information to whet your customers appetite, coupled with a clear link to the remainder of the article stored on you web site. In this way you stand a good chance of achieving additional sales when customers click through and become re-acquainted with your complete range of offerings.
• In drafting your copy do not waste time singing your own praises. You or your business may have done some really great things, but sadly customers are not interested. What they want to know is what is in it for them. Keep this as your focus and you will not go far wrong.
• Pay particular attention to the subject line of the email newsletter. Remember, with many customers this may be all they read before they look for the delete button. Try and make it compelling but avoid any hype that may trigger junk mail filters.
• HTML email newsletters are acceptable to most customers these days. They present well and of course can feature images, but do make sure that they are correctly constructed. If you are creating your own HTML newsletters view them in Internet Explorer and Firefox as a minimum before you send them out. You may be surprised how differently the common web browsers can present the same HTML document. Sometimes with unfortunate consequences. If you are not confident in this area then seek help.
• Ensure that you comply with all relevant anti-SPAM regulations. If you are not familiar with them, make it your business to find out. In many cases the penalties for ignoring such regulations are high. At the very least you should always include details outlining who you are, why the person is receiving your email newsletter, and how they can unsubscribe should they wish to do so.
• Before you send out an email newsletter to your whole mailing list, test it, and test it again! That means checking that the content is correct, links work, images display correctly, personalised information is merging correctly and unsubscribe links are fully operational.

Your mailing list
Mailing lists must to be maintained. And I do not use the word "must" lightly. With legislation in place to prosecute those who play fast and loose with their mailing lists this is an area that requires careful attention by all e-Commerce operators. The technical aspects of list maintenance and email campaigns are beyond the scope of this article but if you have any doubts you may be better to consider a hosted solution with comprehensive campaign creation, management and tracking. TOSD have an excellent Email Newsletter Marketing solution that provides you with complete control over your campaigns while also providing your subscribers with automated sign up and opt out facilities that allow you to comply with the regulatory requirements.

In general it is safer to avoid purchasing lists unless you are very sure that they are genuine opt-in permission based lists directly relevant to your market segment. Build your own. It may take longer but the result is a list of customers who are genuinely interested in your products or services. Needless to say conversion rates with your own list are always going to be higher than you will achieve with a purchased list.

Your online shop
So far the focus has been on getting customers to your online shop. Now it is time to make sure that when they do, they have a pleasant experience that encourages them to make a purchase.

• Do the advertised products or services as featured on your web site match up exactly with what you have in stock? If not, take steps to correct this. If the product is not currently available then delete it, or just disable it if your software will allow. That way you will only have to enable the entry when the item returns to stock. On the other hand it may be that your published information does not accurately describe the product or service, or the image shows the wrong model or colour. If any of these examples apply to your web site then make a point of correcting the detail prior to a mail-out.
• As I have mentioned above, do not be tempted to leave items on display that are out of stock. You may know that they are coming back in, but your customers do not and deliveries can often be late. Online customers have every right to expect that what they see lines up with reality, so it is not surprising that they become very upset when their firm order suddenly becomes a "virtual" one.
• Check the navigation of your site to make sure that all links are operational. Customers quickly find poor navigation frustrating ... and frustrated customers leave.
• Review your terms, conditions, FAQs and freight. Hopefully there will be first time customers as a result of your mail-out who will want to check these things. I know this can be boring but do not gloss over it. Try putting your customer hat on and pretend that you are reading the information for the first time.
• If you have a contact form on your site, test it. You should also place test orders using all the available payment methods your site offers. The last thing you (or your customer) wants is a dysfunctional checkout system. In fact nothing erodes buyer confidence faster.

Finally, good luck with your e-commerce ventures. E-commerce is not rocket science, it is just another form of business. And like all forms of business it is constant attention to detail that counts.