Gregory submitted a question to our survey:

What is the best way to get people to my site?

This is a pretty broad question. So I took a look at his website to see if I could tell what marketing methods he was already using. And that’s when I discovered several problems, that I actually just talked about a few weeks ago at Winning Sisters.

I would like to recommend SEO (Search Engine Optimization), which is the most cost effective method of of driving people to your website who actually want what you are selling. Do-it-yourself SEO is free, and if done properly, will grow your business by leaps and bounds.

When done right, SEO enables your site to rank within the top 10 search engine results for the terms people type into the search engines when they are looking for your products.

Of course, the key is “done right.” For this reason, I believe it’s wise to invest in learning the proper methods of SEO. And I recommend SEO Power Up as the place to go to receive that training. It’s very affordable at $10 a month for 12 months.

What I noticed on Gregory’s site is the use of frames, session IDs and javascript navigation. Each of these website elements alone will prevent the search engines from properly indexing your site. This means that when the search engine visits your site, it can’t access your information, so it can’t store your web page content. This means that when people search for terms that are related to your products, your website will not appear in the listing.

My solution:  What Gregory needs to do is find a shopping cart, like the Shop Kit Plus, that does not use frames, session IDs or javascript navigation.

Once he has removed those elements from his website, he needs to invest in SEO training, such as SEO Power Up, and learn how to properly optimize his site. Once he has done that, he can look into other marketing methods, such as press releases, article marketing, email marketing, etc.

Popularity: 36% [?]

Not only does Alice Seba teach us to be nice in our businesses — she is nice too. I mean, how much nicer can you be than to give away such an awesome product as Internet Marketing Sweetie?!

Internet Marketing Sweetie is (Starting today!) a free course that teaches people, just like you and me, to get ahead in the cutthroat world of online business – all by being nice to people. This isn’t just some flimsy ebook. This course includes audio, transcripts, workbooks and step-by-step instructions to:

• Allow you to help as many people at a time as possible…and increase your profits at the same time.
• Generate plenty of great content that your website visitors want and search engines will send free traffic to.
• Building a responsive list that really likes to buy from you.
• How freebie seekers can actually HELP your business.
• How to build your network to connect with people you’ve been dying to meet.…and of course, there’s more.

Get all the details and sign up for completely free Internet Marketing Sweetie access, go to Michelle Waters Recommends Internet Marketing Sweetie.

Popularity: 40% [?]

I am completely flabbergasted.

Just finished reading a post at a mothering forum I frequent about a WAHM who has hired three nuts to design her websites.

Normally, I’d just chalk this up to to the original poster not knowing what to look for in a web designer. An isolated case. But I have just finished teaching a web design class at my local technology center and the sites my students had paid people to build were just as nuts as what you’re describing. Apparently, there are a lot of people out there that have been hoodwinked by a web designer who knew less about building websites than their clients … who at least know that what the web designer is doing isn’t working!

One of my students had a web site that was nothing but a huge graphic with two little bitty frames in which the designer quite literally hid the content and navigation.

Another student had a site in which every page was completely different and the content looked like it had been puked up on the page by a toddler.

Yet another student had a fairly decently organized site — but you were too busy playing with the flash bubbles in the header to notice what the site said.

ARGH. Where are these people learning web design?!

Before you hire a web designer, you need to follow the advice below to make sure you don’t pay for a website that will do your business more harm than good.

How To Avoid Bad Web Designers

1. Ask the designer you’re going to hire what methods they’ll be using to build your site, and then look through their portfolio. Go to the sites and see how those sites are ranking for their keyword phrases.
2. Run far away from designers who are more interested in building a pretty site than a site that works — in other words, sells your products.
3. Finally, I’d like to suggest that you read my SEO friendly website special report* that I’m offering at SEO Power Up (or sign up for the course, once we go live with the site).

*This report is no longer available for free. But you can receive it as part of your membership in SEO Power Up.

Popularity: 60% [?]

One of my clients asked if she should purchase a directory submitter, which is software that will submit her site link to hundreds of online directories. Some submitters even claim to submit to thousands of directories.

Claims like this are dubious at best.

So, before you drop any money or time on software that claims to handle your directory submissions for you, you need to ask yourself these questions:

Which directories is this software submitting to? If you can’t find that answer, then you need to run far, far away from it. You can have thousands of backlinks from thousands of directories, but if they are low quality sites — they are worthless.

Do the members of my target market use this directory? If you’re a jewelry seller and you want to submit your site to dozens of popular jewelry directories, you’ll get the SEO benefits AND the traffic sent your way by the directory itself. But if you’re submitting your site to thousands of unknown directories that no one, much less your target market, uses, you’re wasting your time.

Will submitting my site to this directory have any benefit at all? Submitting to an obscure directory is not going to help you. If your target market uses it and you will get traffic from it directly, then it is worth it. One of my clients has listed her site in a directory of natural products and she receives hundreds of visitors per month from it. Definitely worth the submission!

However, if the directory isn’t going to send anyone your way, you’re better off, in my opinion writing articles and submitting them to niche and popular article directories, like Lady Pens. Not only will people go to your site from the article directory, website owners will reprint your article, sending their website traffic to you. Mutually beneficial!

Not sure how article marketing works? Take a peek at Easy Article Marketing.

Note: Am I saying that you shouldn’t submit your site to directories? No! I’m just saying that you should be very careful where you submit. Finding the specific directories that your target market uses to find your products is an excellent idea. Submitting blindly to thousands of directories? Not so much.

Popularity: 87% [?]

A Shop Kit Plus license with one year of free hosting will be given away during the free Grassroots Product Seller’s Conference hosted by Michelle Waters at 1 p.m. July 30 and 31.

The two-day conference, held on Monday and Tuesday, will feature two work at home moms who will share the stories of their success.

Click here to register for this free event.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Your mailing list is a great way to promote your products and stay in touch with your customers. You may not realize it, but it also serves another purpose. You can use your mailing list as a test market for new products and services you may be thinking about offering.

A test market is a limited group of people you offer a product to in order to receive feed back before you put the product up for sale to the general population. Using a test market will allow you to get feedback on your product. Your test market may suggest adding a feature you hadn’t thought of or offer other advice which will be helpful in fine tuning your product.

Your mailing list is a natural choice for a test market, as they have already expressed interest in the type of products you offer. For example, if you have sold cloth diapers made out of organic fabric before, perhaps you can use your mailing list of people who have bought that product as a test market for a cloth diaper made with a new blend of organic fabric. You already know they are interested in organic cloth diapers; therefore, they would probably appreciate a chance to test your new product.

You can choose to offer your test products at a normal rate, a reduced rate, or even for free. Let them know that you are still working out the “bugs” and that the product you are offering may be different from the finished product you are going to sell to the general public. Letting them know this in advance can ward off any ill feelings; if one of the people on your mailing list buys a test product and later sees a similar product with slightly different features for sale, they may feel they got ripped off.

If you are going to offer the product at a reduced rate or give it away for free, let them know you would appreciate their feedback in exchange. Have a form set up online where the customer can fill out their opinions and advice. Ask them to leave a recommendation that you can use on the landing page once the product is finished.

You can also use your mailing list to get feedback when you are in the development stages of creating a product. For instance, you can send out an email with a link to a questionnaire form and ask them to fill it out. If you know the general features of the product you are creating, you can ask your test market what are their three biggest concerns are related to the product. If you end up receiving a bunch of questions in the same general areas, you know that is the area you would like to focus your product on.

Popularity: 13% [?]

A mailing list is a list of people who signed up to receive your mailings, such as newsletters, ecourses, ebooks, and other emails. There are many benefits to having a huge mailing list. Here are a few reasons why you will want to start building one today.

There is an old saying that says, “The money is in the follow up”, and that holds true for your list. Your mailing list provides you a way of staying in touch with people who have visited your website. Maybe they didn’t buy anything the first time they visited your site. However, if you stay in touch with them on a regular basis, they may turn into a loyal customer.

There are several types of mailing list formats to choose from. You may want to include each kind on your website.

You can offer a general newsletter that people can subscribe to. This is a great way to keep people informed on the updates you have made to your site. You can include excerpts from any articles you recently added with links to the full text. If you offer podcasts, you can include information about upcoming information you will be featuring, etc.

You can also choose to have a tips list or ecourse. People love numbers and are eager to sign up for a tips list, such as “15 ways to get organized today” or “50 ways to work from home”, etc. These tips can be small emails that are delivered daily to your mailing list. An ecourse is a great way to promote your information products. You can include a tiny bit of information and deliver a daily or weekly lesson to your mailing list.

The best way to manage a mailing list is through an autoresponder service. When you sign up for such a service, you can create a list and load email messages into it. When someone signs up for your list, they will automatically start to receive the messages you have already written. Each person will receive message 1, and the autoresponder will continue to send the messages in the order you selected.

While the main purpose of having a mailing list is to promote products, your visitors will be eager to sign up for them if you provide helpful information. With your mailing lists, you will want to include a “p.s” after the body of the message. These will grab your readers’ attention. You can use this space to include your affiliate links for other products you are promoting. Your mailing list will allow you to cross promote your products and services and turn “fence sitters” into customers.

Popularity: 29% [?]

Believe it or not, there are still many product sellers who do not have websites. The Internet has dramatically changed the way people communicate, send and receive information — and shop. If you do not have a website, you are hurting your business.

A website makes you look like a solid professional. If you wanted to do business with someone, especially if it was business done long distance, you would expect them to have some type of website that gave you information about the type of services they provide. The costs for registering a domain and building and hosting the website are very inexpensive. Without a website, your business can look second rate.

Another reason why you need a website is so people can find you. If someone is sitting at home trying to find a the perfect baby sling for their stature, they will more than likely turn on the Internet and perform a search. If you are a baby sling seller and you don’t have a website, they cannot find you. And if they cannot find you, they cannot buy your products.

Even if you decide to build your business locally, it helps to have a website. You can distribute pamphlets, business cards, and flyers with your phone number, and you may receive some phone calls. However, if you have a website where people can get a glimpse of what you sell, you will earn more business. Plus, some people would rather pop onto your website and email you versus picking up a phone and calling you.

Your website will also let people know exactly what type of products you offer and how much you charge. People do not want to wait for that information. They want to know things now. You can also include an online portfolio where prospective clients can view your customers using or wearing your products and read past customers’ testimonials. This can help them decide if your product is the right one for them.

Having a website will also allow for automated ordering. If you sell cosmetics and one of your clients is having a bout of insomnia and decides to surf the web at 2:00 in the morning, they can happily shop for your products at home. They do not need to wait until the next day to call an order in to you.

Websites also allow you to do business globally. Instead of focusing on your local area, people from all over the world can view your site and do business with you. This opens up a whole new base of clients and opportunities.

Having a website, even a simple one, will only help your business. Without one, you are going to be losing out on many prospective customers and sales.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Maybe you need to figure out why a plugin isn’t working? Or maybe you need to move your pmachine blog to wordpress? Or you just need to have some customized work done to it.

In any of these cases, I know just the person for you. One of my clients needed to have her blog moved from pmachine to wordpress. Now, there is not a good importer for doing this.

But, Kai, from The Blogging Coach took the extra time and care to make the import work — at least six hours worth. Wow!!!

My client is happy, I’m happy… hire Kai to work on your site, and you’ll be happy, too!

Popularity: 19% [?]

Everyone who has a blog will surely suffer a case of writer’s block from time to time. It can be difficult to constantly think of ideas for new blog posts, especially if you post on your blog regularly. Here are some ideas for finding things to write about when you feel like you have run out of ideas.

Keep your blog readers informed about the changes you have made to your website. If you have added a new article, create a blog post with an excerpt from the article. You can include a link to your website which will allow your blog readers to read the full text on your website. If you have made major changes to your site, let your blog readers know about them. You can also include posts on your blog about new products or services you are offering, specials you may be having, and any other news about your business.

You can use a service such as Google News to search for news stories that relate to your business. For instance, if you are a virtual assistant, perhaps you can find an article about the increasing number of companies that are using a VA’s services. If you are in direct sales, you may find a news article explaining the benefits that a career in direct sales offers (which would make a great recruiting tool). You can post your thoughts or feelings on the news item and include a link to the original article.

Perhaps there is something going on in your local area that your readers may be interested in. When you watch the local news or read the local paper, think about how the story might affect your customers. If you think they would be interested in it, create a blog post about it. If you can find a way to tie it into something about your business,

If you are a regular reader of a blog and the author recently posted something you found very interesting, let your readers know. Some of them may be readers of the other blog as well. This can stir up a lot of discussion and traffic on your own blog.

One of the main reasons to have a blog is to give your readers a glimpse of yourself. Every post doesn’t have to relate directly to your business. You can blog about a particularly busy day you had and include your favorite crock pot recipe. The people who read your blog may be very busy business people as well and can appreciate the fact that you too are struggling to get everything done.

You can also give reviews of products and services that you have personally used. This is a great way to monetize your blog as well. For instance, if you recently tried a product and loved it, find out if they have an affiliate program. If so, sign up for it and write a blog post about how much you loved the product, including your affiliate link.

Popularity: 28% [?]