Remembering this can both make you a lot of money and save you a lot of money.

Here’s an important fact; most people on the web are not looking to buy something but are mostly expecting to find something for free. So to sell something you have to really peak their interest.

In addition, almost all of us seem to find our attention span reduced when we are on the web and we tend to act accordingly skipping from site to site looking for the information we need. So when selling on the web, you have to interrupt this behavior if you are to be successful.

As a result of not understanding this, many business owners build web sites that only yield modest results, despite having spent money on Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click advertising and all kinds of joint ventures.

When visitors arrive at your site as a result of a search, there are two questions that require immediate answers if you are to be successful in selling to them:

  • Have I landed in the right place?
  • What’s in it for me to stay?

If you don’t answer these within 5-10 seconds it’s likely that your visitors will leave for more interesting pages; usually on your competitors’ site.

The most important task is to ensure that visitors don’t have to search for what they can expect to find on your site.

This needs to be stated in a clear and compelling headline in a very prominent position on the page and in a font that makes it clear that this is the most important item on the page.

Don’t confuse or lose visitors with too many fonts, too many colors and unfamiliar backgrounds. Unnecessary graphics and images can have the same effect.

Don’t put links in places where you’ll drive traffic to other sites before visitors have time to buy.

The next task is to make it clear why it’s worth it for the visitor to stay on your site.

Unless they are looking explicitly for your site, they will have come from a search engine, pay per click ad or affiliate site. This means they will probably have used key words to find you. Make sure that your site delivers on those key words before the bottom of the screen on your landing page.

The copy is what sells, not fancy graphics or flash. So invest in good sales copy that makes the visitor want to buy. So provide a headline and first paragraph, packed with benefits that make visitors want to buy.

Make sure your USP is clear and answers why visitors should choose you over the competition.

Also it’s unlikely that many visitors will buy on their first visit to your site, so make sure you have a mechanism for capturing their names and addresses. The easiest way to do this is to offer an e-book or a newsletter with value added content.