Community & Networking

Dear Mila, Please Help My Website  
By Mila Sidman  

Dear Mila – I’m writing to you today because my poor website is in dire need of help. I was so excited when I first built it but now that excitement is gone and nothing’s happening… no traffic, no sales, no nothing – what should I do?

Sincerely,

My Website is Really Suffering in Seattle  

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Dear Suffering,

Oh do I know what you’re going through.  Yes, I really do… you see my first website was suffering too. It had a terrible case of lonelyitis.  It’s sad because I actually built it in good faith thinking “If I build it, they will come.”  I had images of hundreds of people rushing in and clicking on my products and oh the money would just roll in… of course that just wasn’t the case.

But this isn’t about me, but about you – so I’ll share how to truly help your website and change this terrible situation!  Here are my easy-to-digest website cures…

Get Targeted Traffic -  Here’s the thing, you don’t want just traffic you need targeted traffic. Honestly, what good does it do you if you get a surge of visitors that don’t buy anything? Your traffic should be targeted. This means you’ll need to start with good keyword research. You can also write articles that are directly related to your business. If you like to read blogs and visit forums, make sure they’re related to your business.

Also speak directly to your target customer as soon as they land on your site. Don’t be too general and try to reach everyone… that’s pretty near impossible to do. Instead have an image of your target visitor in mind and speak to them and only them.

Don’t Copy People – Please don’t look at someone’s website and think oh I’ll try that… you know why? Because apart from it being not very nice, you don’t actually really know if that

person knows what they’re doing. Put a stop to that nonsense and don’t worry about other websites… instead start thinking about your target market, what do they really, really want? Then give it to them – be unique and people will really appreciate you for it.

Offer Something Different – There are many, many websites online -- to stand out you really do need to offer something different.  Whether you have a parenting website or sell a service, think about ways you can stand out and be unique… can you provide the best customer service? Can you provide unique content and information that can’t be found anywhere else? Always offer special value to your visitors.

Be Proactive – If you had an offline business chances are you would open shop and go out and look for customers… you would probably have flyers printed and sent out, place an ad in the paper, talk to other business owners, etc. Online it really shouldn’t be so different. I’m not saying you should use offline marketing tactics but you really do need to treat your website like a REAL business. That means go out there and get traffic, get sales, do something. Write and submit an article a day, advertise your site, have a contest, write a press release or try something totally outside the box – just do something to start moving forwards.

Get An Honest Opinion – If I had a penny for every time I’ve visited a forum and seen people leading other people the wrong way, I would be rich… or close to it anyways. The truth is most people will not tell you that your website really sucks. Your friends and family may give you feedback (good or bad) but that may not matter because in order to know whether a website works or not you first need to understand how marketing works. 

This one may take a little time but when you ask for opinions tell people “please be honest, I really can take it” and then they may not be so worried about stepping on your toes but really look to see where the advice is coming from because the person may think it’s good or bad and be totally wrong. I can’t promise anything but if you’d like me to look at your website in detail go ahead and PM me at the forum and I will give you my honest view – but please know that means I’ll say what I need to say – good or bad okay? http://www.internetbasedmoms.com/bb

Dear suffering, these are only bite-sized tips as curing a website can unfortunately be a lengthy ordeal but I do hope this helps. If you need help, I have few other suggestions… as I mentioned already stop by my forum at http://www.internetbasedmoms.com/bb and drop me a PM (yes I really do exist and am there daily!) –

Good luck to you!

* Please Note – Really Suffering in Seattle is NOT a real person and yes I made her (or him) up! but you knew that right ;-) 

Mila Sidman is the owner and editor of the popular website Internet Based Moms. She's a copywriter, marketer and mom with a passion for helping women succeed in business. Get personal business advice and daily job leads over at the Internet Based Moms Forums - http://www.Internetbasedmoms.com/bb