Creating an effective web site that sells your products or services will be less daunting if you follow these simple steps:

1. If you want to create a web site that sells then your first investment should be in your web site content. Your web site is a marketing tool and your web site content should reflect this. If possible, consider hiring a professional copywriter to produce your web content. If you are writing your own content, remember to appeal to the emotions of your web site visitors. Always highlight the benefits of your products or services and show what value added features your product or services offer. Remember to use terminology the general public will understand; dont get caught up using industry jargon and abbreviations. A well written web site should entice sales and improve your search engine rankings.

2. The layout of your web site is critical to your online success. Understand your web site Real Estate. Always keep your most important marketing messages at the top of your website and dont fill up the top of your page with huge graphics and logos. If your web site visitors have to scroll down to find your sales pitch, you might be losing customers before they even see the message. (You will often hear this practice referred to as keeping the message above the fold.) Keep your site easy to navigate; include two navigation systems and a sitemap when possible. Potential customers will get turned off if they cant find what they are looking for.

3. Eliminate apprehensions about buying online. Many web shoppers are cautious (and rightfully so) about purchasing online, so you need to alleviate their fears. You need to ensure you have a privacy policy in place and that your website visitors can easily access it. The top right hand corner of your website or very bottom of site are common places web visitors will look for a privacy policy. Always display your complete contact information (including postal address) on your web site. This easy step will lend credibility and reassure potential buyers that you are a legitimate business. Consider having a phone or fax in option for those weary consumers; just one more way to make a sale!

4. Show satisfaction with your products or services with testimonials from past clients. Great reviews about your products and services are an excellent marketing tool, but make sure your testimonials are legitimate (and verifiable). There are great audio tools that allow you to implement audio testimonials on your website, but even written testimonials will have a big impact on your potential buyers. Highlight elements of the testimonial for maximum impact and be sure to legitimize the testimonial by including the persons title, business name and website address if appropriate.

5. The most important thing to do to create a website that sells, is to ask for the sale. Make the entire purchase process painless. Purchase buttons should be easy to identify and at some point, during the order process, buyers should be made aware of the link to your privacy policy. Use action wording like buy now on your buttons. Sometimes even the colour of your buttons can make a difference. There is a reason retailers use red to advertise sales: Red is a call to action colour and works really well for buy now buttons.