sales page

Types of WebSites

Many site owners don’t think far enough ahead before building an online presence. They often throw up a web site that doesn’t have enough flexibility for growth then waste money getting it redesigned.

Types of websites

1. Informational

This is where you just want to convey information about a product or service without selling anything. It could only be a few pages or contain hundreds of pages. For a small site of 5-10 pages I recommend building a static html website. This means the pages mostly remain unchanged because they are evergreen (timeless content). To build a large content website I recommend a content management system that uses software such as WordPress or Joomla. It enables you to add as many pages as you like (stored in a database) plus they can easily be updated by logging into a backend administration panel.

Affiliate website
This type of site sells products for other companies. Typically you sign up as an affiliate who provides an affiliate link to place on your website. When a visitor clicks on that link they get redirected to the company website to make their purchase. You receive a commission every time someone buys from your site. With your affiliate website your goal is to provide enough valuable content to pre-sell the visitor so they are motivated to purchase from you.

2. E-commerce

If you wish to sell something online you need an e-commerce website. This type of site is much more involved. You’ll need a shopping cart, payment gateway, SSL certificate for secure transactions and a merchant account. You’ll also need to calculate the tax and shipping fees for each item you’re selling. One of the easiest methods for accepting online payments is using the PayPal Shopping Cart.

PayPal Shopping Cart
PayPal takes care of the whole transaction process without purchasing each of the services separately. You simply pay a small fee to them for each transaction. Read more at: How to Build an Ecommerce Web Site Using the PayPal Shopping Cart

If you’re only selling an ebook or a few items I suggest using PayPal. You can easily create “Buy Now” buttons. For a large number of items use the PayPal Shopping Cart.

Large online store
If you’re selling 100s or 1000s of items I suggest hiring a professional to build it. Zen Cart is one of the best free shopping carts for building your online store. It enables you to create search engine friendly pages, use PayPal or any of the main payment processing companies such Authorize.net and it’s free. Your main costs will only be to hire a professional web designer that is familiar with Zen Cart.

Sales page or landing page
A sales page is usually reserved for selling ebooks or software. It consists of a long web page with payment links scattered throughout the page. A landing page is primarily used for selling items with Pay Per Click Ads such as Google Ads. It usually is a one page site that contains affiliate links or your own product. Read Landing Page Design – 7 essential elements

Tip
Brainstorm what types of products or services you’ll be selling or information you’ll be conveying before deciding on the type of website you want to build. It will make the process much easier and faster to finish.

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Need to design an informational or e-commerce website? Please visit:
Portfolio of Web Sites Designed by iSiteBuild.com

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of http://www.iSiteBuild.com

I highly recommend creating your own sales page so you can make the necessary changes for producing higher conversion rates. Often one small change to your page will result in converting more visitors into buyers.

Once you create your first sales page you can use this skill for writing sales letters, landing pages and web page content or offer it as a service to others.

I outlined the structure for writing a sales page in this article…

How to Write an Effective Sales Letter for Your eBook

How to Increase Conversion Rates With An Attractive Design

Your sales page must look professional. If you can’t create/design one yourself get a professional designer to create one for you or find a sharp looking template.

Background and text colors
Use dark text on a light background e.g. black text on white or a dark background with light text e.g. black background with white text.

Header graphic
Create a professional header graphic that includes the main benefit of your ebook. Visitors usually see this first because it appears so prominently on the page. Some sales pages don’t have a header graphic because the owner believes it distracts the reader from the content. They use a large heading instead. You will only know what works best if you test with and without the header graphic. I use an attractive header graphic with the top benefit written on it so make a strong impression when the visitor first sees the page.

Headlines
Your main headline your stand out from the rest of the page. It should have the largest font. The teaser headline (headline before main headline) should be small..12 pixels. The headline after your main headline should be a little smaller than the main one.

White Space
This is the space you create around elements on your sales page. It makes your content easier to read. Use lots of white space around your ebook image (or other images) and between paragraphs. Create CSS boxes with borders for customer testimonials.

Text
Use different colors to attract attention for the text. e.g. the main headline could be bright blue and the main text black if using a white background. Testimonial text could be light blue on a yellow background to contrast it from the rest of the page. Bold your main keyword phrases to make them stand out.

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If you want to attract a continuous stream of NEW visitors to
your website without spending a dime on advertising pick up a copy of
my new ebook”Article Marketing Strategies“…
to receive immediate and long-term traffic.

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Site Design, Web Hosting, SEO

Types of WebSites: How Do You Decide?

Conversion Rates – How to Increase the Conversion Rate of Your Sales Page

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