First Impressions

First impressions do count. Is your website professional? On the internet you only have a few seconds to catch the visitors Interest then if they don't see a professional site they are gone, clicking away to another site. Building trust online is essential if your web marketing efforts are

going to pay off. Attracting visitors is great, but to convert them to customers, you have to firmly establish your credibility.

1.Use a good color scheme on your website.
2. Check and recheck links, spelling, grammar.
3. Make the website easy to navigate.
4. Forget the hype and jargon. Watch for typos.
5.Keep your site regularly updated with useful content including your own articles.

Introducing Yourself
Pictures are important on the internet since you are not meeting this person face to face like you would in a brick and mortar setting.

1.Put up a picture of you and your staff.
2. Tell people how long you have been in business
Do you have a brick and mortar business off line if
so put up pictures of the store.
3. Pictures of your family and pets are good.

Contact Information
How can the visitor reach you?
1. A physical address
2. A phone number preferably an 800 number
3. A fax number
4. An email address
5. Live Help is always a good thing to have.

A Terms of Use and A privacy policy should be easily reached by the visitor
1. Have a good privacy policy spend some money on this to have someone write you one if you don't know how it is one of the most important things to visitors who might become buyers.
2. Have a good terms of use policy spell out how you will usetheir information. It should also spell out your return policy,things like what name will show up on their credit cards.
3. Have several ways the customer can pay using a secure server.
4. Have the choice of an a check.
5. Have the choice of ordering by phone and talking to a real person.

Testimonials
It is always good to have some unsolicited testimonials from people who have already ordered from you.
1. Set up a testimonial page separately from your main page link it to the main page.
2. Set up a blog that tells specials, upcoming events.

Giving free trials or samples
1. People are more apt to buy from a business that gives them a free trial or sample of what they are buying.

Open a Line of Communication

1.Provide polls and surveys for your visitors to partake in. Your visitors will come back to see the results.
2.Create a chat room where your visitors can discuss different topics and network with each other.
3. Start a forum on several subjects that your visitors can comment on.
4. Have a Faq page that answers commonly asked questions.

You must do everything in your power to make your visitors feel as comfortable with you as possible. Your success depends on it.

About the Author: Judi Singleton publishes Jassmine's

Journal and the paid Jassmine's Journal every week.Get your ads in front of an audience that can't wait to read them.Subscribe to her ezines today at http://www.motherearthpublishing.com