Google and BT have teamed up to enable British based businesses gain a free internet presence.

An opportunity not to be missed for new online businesses.

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In addition to the search engines an increasing source for website traffic are the social networking sites. I don’t intend to go through the details of particular sites on this article, but will do so on other articles.

Social Media

Visibility is the key objective on generating traffic on to your website. Without that traffic you are wasting you time running a website.

There are  a myriad of social networking sites out there and of course you could spend enormous amounts of time engaging with all the social media platforms, but far more efficient is targeting you efforts.

You know your business best and by taking some time to research the social media sites, you will will be able to judge the appropriateness of that website.

I started out by joining hundreds of these social networks and very quickly realised that my traffic was being driven by a limited number of sites. Sites where people with similar interests were engaged and social sites in which I was able to make contact with both potential customers and other people in the industry.

Social networking is not just about ’selling your message’ but also in engaging with real people and using the benefits fo their experience and opinions to help develop your knowledge.

By focusing on the sites which are most relevant to your business, you can establish genuine relationships with other people involved in your industry and talk with them about related issues. You can of course also engage with potential customers, who may then take an interest in having a look at your website.

Always consider, with Social sites, they are in the main, first and foremost just that. I don’t know anyone who has a facebook account who wants to be sold to constantly, or be always talking about business, so use the networks in a way that makes sense to the environment.

Linkedin on the other hand is a business networking site, but potential customers are more difficult to identify.

Social media is a superb way to generate traffic for your site, but only if you do it sensibly.

Choosing a carefully targeted domain name really does matter when starting out on the Internet.

choosing a domain name

One of the biggest mistakes people make in starting out on the internet, is to imagine that by simply having a website, they will automatically generate traffic, which will in turn generate sales. I guess something could be further from the truth, but I am not sure of what analogy to choose.

To understand the basics of Internet marketing, which isn’t as difficult as many gurus like to make out, it is important to get in to the mindset of people who use search engines.

That generally means most of us.

If I am looking for advice on fly fishing, I don’t type in John Smith and Sons Anglers est. 1897. I may type in tips on fly fishing.

The problem is working out what exactly people do really type in for any type of business and how to properly choose a domain name that will drive traffic to my website.

There are thousands of tools that you can use individually to get some answers, google offer their own ‘popular searches’, but there is far more to it than well if 2 000 000 people a month type in fly fishing, then I must have the domain name flyfishing.com, it wont work and it wont help you develop a web profile.

You need to consider variables, such as, how many people type a particular term against how many sites use that particular term. You need to think about how you can get yourself on to the front page of the search engines and using a myriad of tools to do so, not only takes for ever, but also leads to loss of focus and a feeling that the world of the internet really is too difficult.

Your business name is paramount of course, it is who you are, but to the world as a whole, almost no business names really count when they are in a search engine. People are doing exactly as you do, they are looking for a search term that relates to their area of business.

Aagh. I bought a domain name which is my business name, all is lost —- No not at all, it is now important to learn how to make the search engines understand what you are about and Market Samurai, an answer to the conundrum can make sense of it all with a few clicks of the mouse. Join our newsletter to keep in touch with Search engine optimisation

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New online business ideas takes a look at new online business and questions

why do businesses fail

More prosaically, it isn’t just that the business fails, more importantly it is that people set themselves up to fail.

As with an off-line business, not setting a plan or objective will lead to the early demise of the business.

Many people are attracted to starting an online business, as the entry cost is extremely low and there are so many ‘experts’ claiming they are now earning millions on the web, offering get rich ‘automated’ schemes to make every one else rich. Would that be enough to make you start an off-line business?

8 reasons why businesses fail…

Before you start out you need to think… Why am I going to do this?

The answer needs to be far more comprehensive than ‘make money’. With an off-line job, there may be an objective to make money, but the motivations are far broader than just that, your online business needs to be faced with the same approach.

Information overload

On the internet it is easy to become overloaded with information and this leads to confusion and procrastination.

By having an objective of why you are developing an online business, you can focus on obtaining relevant information to achieving those objectives.

Lack of planning

I am sure you will have heard, ‘act now’, ‘do it immediately’, ‘don’t hesitate’. Those pieces of advice are exactly right, but they are only right if they fit your plan and objective.

Procrastination

You know why you are in business and you have a plan to achieve your

objective, there is no reason to procrastinate. As you would do in an offline job, make your decision and act.

Being standalone

When you are running an internet business, it is very easy to become isolated, which is a bad idea. Seek networks and contacts with whom you can discuss business ideas and try to find a mentor with who to work. Keep yourself up to date with the constantly evolving internet and make sure you don’t stop learning.

In the same way, that you would for an off-line business, be prepared to pay for your business needs.

If you are a twitter user, please follow me on twitter to keep in contact Twitter

Failure to gain traction

The internet may be an information super highway, but it is all too easy to be by-passed. You need people to find your site and you need to learn how to market your site.

It is essential to learn internet marketing skills, to be maximising your traffic flow. You don’t need to become a guru, unless that is your business, but you need to know how to get people to visit your site.

Failure to learn how to close a sale

Much emphasis is put on marketing and getting people to visit your site, but without actively selling, the visitors will just browse and move on. Learn how to not only ‘sell’ but more importantly how to close a sale online.

Failure to capture visitor information

You will hear it many times over; the money is in the list. You need to ensure you capture your visitors’ attention and get them to sign up with your site. This enables you to market to them when you add more information, or have a new product to sell and as importantly serves as a way to tap their brains for feedback on what you are doing.

The classic ‘email list’ is still an important tool in the internet business armoury, but there are also many other ways to engage your visitors to keep in touch with them.

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