5 Tips For Getting No Business From Your Website!

1. Use a free webhost - every new business wants to cut costs, I get this, but there are other ways to do it, like buying used store fixtures or not having a toll free number. In this electronic age, your website is your calling card. You need to present a professional image, not that of a kid trying to make a few bucks. Your website needs to convey the message that your business is doing really well and you can afford to go all out! Get yourself a domain at least that will mask where your site is actually hosted, but make sure you aren't hosted on a website that will put ads on your site, you're trying to GET business, not send it somewhere else!
2. Use clip art images - again, you want to portray yourself as a professional, using cartoon type clip art screams "I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!".
3. Publish an email address hosted by Yahoo or another free provider - If you listened to me in number 1, then you have your own domain, usually they set up an email address of your choice when you get your domain, USE IT!
4. Have a page for customer testimonials, with NO testimonials on it - What better way to broadcast to everyone "I haven't done enough business for anyone to care" or "I've only received negative feedback and won't publish it!". Wait until you've got a good amount of feedback before you decide to make a page like that public, otherwise it just makes you look bad!
5. Have incomplete pages - Nothing says "I could care less about my business" than a website that isn't even finished! There is another consignment store in the town I am located in, and up until a few weeks ago, half of their website pages said "put your information here". The website clearly uses a standard, pre-designed website template and is just a "fill in the blanks" website. It really did nothing for the image they were TRYING to portray.
 

 I could go on and on about this topic, I really could. It drives me crazy to see perfectly good businesses throwing their reputation down the drain because they aren't doing these few simple things to make sure their website THRIVES!