Case Of The Free No Sale Web Site

You got a fantastic deal on web site, you got it for free. You have heard all the hype about all the millions that are to be made on the Internet and you are sitting there waiting to get your fair share. But in six months you haven't sold a thing. If this sounds familiar to you read on, you have been hit by The Free NO SALE web site.

First let me say that you are not alone. I get about ten queries a week from people that have been snagged by the free web site and are alarmed that they have not sold a thing. They want to know: Where's the money? Often these people will fire off an e-mail to their Webmaster's or domain master's wanting to know why their product or service is not selling. Most are greeted with wall of silence. A few might get a fast e-mail that says something to the nature of, perhaps your product is not right for the web? or , A presence web site is designed for exposure only, did you want to sell something? In your frustration you go seeking answers. Here are those answers topic by topic.

IS YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE RIGHT FOR THE WEB

One thing that most web site builders fail to ask questions about is if their product or service is right for the world wide market of Internet trade. To see if your product or service is right for the web answer the questions below. For every "no" answer then it is more likely that you do not need a web site. For every "yes" answer it more likely that you have an item that will sell well on the Internet.

1. Can your product or service be shipped, used or bought world wide?
2. Is your product or service targeted to world wide exposure?
3. Is your product or service generated to increase exposure or knowledge about you?

Let's look at this. Let's say that you own a local Snowcone Shop. This product would NOT sell on the Internet. First your product cannot be shipped without terrible expense and who is going to buy a $2.00 snowcone and pay $25.00 for refrigerated shipping? On the other hand if you are selling conecone shop franchises , recipes or flavor formula's then this may very well sell. If your business depends on the customer actually being there then to purchase your product or service then this is most likely not a good thing to put on the Internet. In a few cases however, local promotions can be used to enhance you business. For example, we have a local tavern that uses a web site to advertise what entertainers or events be going on any given weekend. With careful online and off line promotion this tavener has tripled his business. The best products or services for Internet use are those products or services that have a mass appeal, products that can be shipped anywhere or used by anyone or by a specialized clientele.

THE WEB SITE ACCESS

Another stumbling block to the free web site is location and access. Imagine for a moment that some one gave you commercial building. You spend time and money redoing the building, move in all your stock and put up your business sign. Then you discover that about 80% of the time you cannot even get into your business. The traffic is so heavy at your location, that not only are you having trouble getting in, but your clients can't get into your parking lot at all due to the heavy street traffic. Web site locations can be the same. Often traffic in these free locations is so brisk that your potential clients cannot get to your address and all they get is error messages. This is NOT good for business. Another problem is exclusive access. Free web sites that begin with something like http://membersyournetserver.com/website34/1856/you.html are sites that are NOT accessible to people outside your server. This limits your customers to "members only" on your internet server only. All persons on other servers will NOT be able to access you site. If you have a specialized product or service you are shooting your business in the foot and maybe right out of the water IF YOUR SITE IS NOT ACCESSIBLE TO THE MASSES.

WEB SITE CONSTRUCTION

Constructing a web site that is geared for sales or promotion has become a specialized business. The days of the "data only black and white" web site has passed. With all the new technology out there, web sites of today are getting more and more like television commercials, with color, animation, and sound. Why? Television and Web TV is why. We are a generation that has been raised with television and the closer you can get your web site to look like Television the better your chances of selling your product or service. There are also many accepted taboo's in web site construction the more taboo's you break the less sales you will have. Let's look at few.

1. Web pages that take more than 2 and a half minutes to download (with graphics)
2. Web pages that take more than 1 minute to download without graphics.
3. Web sites that use #16 size or higher print throughout the reading text.
4. Web sites that are set in Frames (60% of your audience cannot read them)
5. Web sites that are longer than two legal pages long with graphics.
6. Web sites that have confusing or dead links.
7. Web sites that use tunneling pages without return links.
8. Web sites that give price and or order forms on the home page.
9. Web sites that give no e-mail or phone access for client response.
10.Web sites that have no order forms or customer ordering information pages.
11.Web sites that are not set up for Web TV viewing.
12.Web sites that are static without color or movement or well organized data.

WEB SITE PROMOTION

I have seen many free web sites that allow clients to construct their own sites and add simple graphics. Some offer "support" which is usually at their convenience and NOT yours. Ask a "how to" question that has you stuck dead in the water and it may take days or weeks to get back an answer back - if ever. Or you may get a "form letter" referring you to a data source that has nothing to do with your problem. When it comes to promoting your site you might get a single page that gives you out-dated links and lengthy list of under penalty of disconnection , but you will seldom get any thing usable here for promotion. Without this extremely critical part of promoting your web site, your site is dead. Without ongoing promotion your web site might as well be posted on Pluto...no one is going to see it, no one is going to order, no one is going to care..least of all your free web site provider. With a free web site you are on your own.

What can be done about this? If you are one of the brave and bold that exercises your right to view all spam in your mail box (I do because I don't like anyone telling me what I can and cannot read) then you will discover that there are many options available to you for promotion. With millions of places to advertise and promote your site you may have a devil of a time deciding. Or worse many of you have read some of the media hype and bought some promotional advertising and your counter didn't even hiccup. The bottom line here, is that you need an advertising professional that knows where to put your time and money so that your product or service will sell. Many of today's advertising specialist keep up with trends and promotional patterns on and off the Internet. They know where to get the biggest boost for the buck, where you can post advertising for free that gets real results and real sales. This data as you might suspect does not come cheap or free. But then again if you have a free web site and you have invested 40 hours of your time to build it and you think your time is worth the minimum wage of lets say $5.00 an hour, then you have already spent $1000.00 on your free web site. If you have made no sales then you are a $1000.00 in the hole. Worse you could have bought a professional commercial web site with an advertising pro for a fraction of that and be making sales now. That, is the Case of the FREE No Sale Web Site.

Debbora is a 25 veteran of the international advertising trade and is webmaster to the award winning Integrity Tech City. To ask questions e-mail her at: Debbora