How to Sell Products and Services effectively online!

The Internet has revolutionized selling for small businesses and individuals with home businesses. You no longer need a physical store to sell your products and you can reach many more interested buyers online.
 

Here is a step by step guide on how to achieve this:

Step 1

Go to sites like Kalahari.net and Amazon.com to get an idea of what can be achieved through the web, it’s important to do your research.

Step 2

Set up your online store. A small investment is required for start-up costs, which include domain name registration, site hosting, e-commerce software, site development and maintenance, marketing, credit card transaction fees, Internet access and customer service. There's also the time spent on design, taking photos of inventory and updating the site.

Step 3

Find a Content Management System that is easy to use, you will also need a reliable online shopping cart that has a support system, ie someone you can call if you have any problems. One that does tick all the boxes is store.co.za. Once that’s completed look at into how you want your site to look, Design an easy-to-navigate site that loads quickly at both dial-up and broadband speeds (this can become an issue in areas around South Africa).

Step 4

Include relevant, informative copy that talks to your clientele, copy is often more important to your site than imagery, getting the right balance will bring traffic to your site. Update it frequently and keep the content relevant to your sector.

Step 5

Register your URL on all the major search engines (including Google.com and Yahoo.com) to make sure your site shows up in relevant searches. Include keywords in meta tags in HTML files to increase the chances of getting hits from search engines. If this all go’s over your head hire an SEO specialist and make sure you ask plenty of questions.

Step 6

Advertise and Market your Web site on heavily trafficked sites, Look at websites that are in a similar market than yours but don’t sell the same products, reciprocal linking can be of use here.

Step 7

Trust is a big factor of any website. Post your privacy policy prominently. Have customer service information clearly displayed, including third-party recommendations. Set up a secure server to handle credit card transactions. Have a customer queries phone line or an e-mail line that will reply promptly.

Once you have covered all bases mentioned, your good to go and maybe you will be the next Jeffrey P. Bezos - Owner of Amazon