--------------------------
Web site design to hook a customer is very like fishing. Try
these seven tips to make money.
--------------------------
Step 1. Research.
----------------------
What - you don't think a fisherman starts with research? How
does he know not to fish in the bathtub? How does he know not to
fish for dorado in USA? How does he know that his favorite lemon
meringue pie on a sardine hook won't catch sharks?
Imagine you've invented a 100% cure for Paraguayan piques. You
pay a graphic designer to make your web site design. After a year
you still haven't been able to make money. Your host tells you
that the few visitors that you had only stayed for ten seconds.
Research would have told you that
*Your prospects speak Guaran?not English
*Most of them can't read Guaran?
*Even fewer speak English
*Most of them don't have computers
A little research at Overture would have told you that only
3791 people looked for pique in a month, but most of them were
interested in polo, not in an insect. Does your potion kill
Jiggers? 1432 people searched on that word, and they were mostly
North Americans. Perhaps you could make money from them?
If your web site design could inspire 10% of these searchers to
visit your sales page and 10% of these bought from you that would
give you 14 clients per month. Would that make money enough to pay
for your web site design? You've been fishing in your bathtub!
-----------------------
Step 2 Preparation
-----------------------
As a fisherman you've discovered what fish are in your area,
what will attract them to where you are, and found a spot where
you won't get your line tangled up with other fisherman's lines.
My research for this article showed that 'web site' had half a
million searches but people could be totally uninterested in web
site design. 'Web site design' had only a third of a million
searches, but readers were more targeted. There were 239
advertisers on Overture, which shows that it is popular, and there
are only 24 million competitors.
'Build a website' had less than 50 thousand searchers, but 337
million competitors. Ouch! I think my lines would get tangled!
So the rule is: find what people want then design your web site
with pages filled with the information that they want. If nobody
is interested in your subject, advertise offline or find another
subject for your web site design.
-----------------------
Step 3 Get crowds
-----------------------
You sprinkle oatmeal soaked in your secret ingredient on the
water, and soon fish are following the scent back to where you
are.
Your first task is to make your web site design attractive to
visitors.
Tuna fishermen throw un-baited hooks into the mass of fish and
pull them out in a sort of rhythm. The hook, which has no barb,
snags a fish which falls off into the hold, and the hook is thrown
out again, with the whole process taking a few seconds.
Google Adsense is excellent to make money from this kind of web
site design.
--------------------
Step 4 Research
--------------------
But that was in step 1 you object? Your research should never
end. Talk to the other fishermen. Visit fishermen's forums. Search
Google for information. Your oatmeal has attracted fish, but when
you put it on the hook it washes off.
You must find what bait will stay on the hook long enough for
hungry fish to bite. This will vary from season to season.
Experiment and record your results.
Research for your web site design should never stop. Try
different ideas to make money and record your results.
-----------------
Step 5 Pre-sell
-----------------
OK. Your fish are crowding round you. Your bait has some
colorful feathers disguising the hook. You want to persuade the
fish that your bait is more attractive than the scraps of oatmeal.
Your web site design should start to describe your experience
with whatever it is that you are selling to make money. You should
try to communicate in all your web site design just how
interesting you find what you are offering.
---------------------------------
Step 6 Arouse Enthusiasm
---------------------------------
Keep pulling your bait through the water so that fish will
think
*I'd better act while the food is there!
*It's heading towards the other fish. I'd better be quick!
*I may get a better offer, but what if I don't?
If your web site design is aimed at affiliate income, don't try
to sell yet. You strike only after the bait is in the fish's
mouth. Let the vendor handle the last step.
-----------------------
Step 7 Hook Them
-----------------------
Once the fish has the bait in it's mouth you strike to drive
the barbs home, then the fish can't leave go. Then you pull the
fish in, and eat it.
Oops! I'm not advocating cannibalism! Once your web site design
has hooked a customer the same rules no longer apply.
------------
Bonus Tip
------------
To succeed, your web site design must have ways to keep your
customers so happy that they will keep coming back again and
again.
Your web site design must obviously have a contact page. You
should have a frequently asked questions page. You should offer
further sales of related products to make money for you. If you
eat your client you won't have her returning again and again.
