You’ve seen why your local business simply must have a website to stay competitive in today’s digital, online world. And now you also know that simply putting up a website isn’t enough; your company’s website has got to show up very high in Google’s search results, or you’re just spinning your wheels and throwing money down the drain. So how do you get a website that’s going to rank high in Google?
OK, so you’re convinced that your local business has got to get a website up on the internet if you’re going to remain competitive. You realize that fewer and fewer people use the Yellow Pages every day to look for local goods and services, and that most of them now use the internet to find local businesses. And that trend is only increasing. So you’ll just hire someone to make you a website and you’ll be good to go, right?
Do you own a local business? If you do, then your business absolutely must have a website if you’re hoping to remain competitive in your marketplace. Many business owners don’t realize this. They think, “sure, if you’re doing business online like Amazon or eBay then obviously you need a website. But I’m not selling my products or services online, just locally, so I don’t have any need for a website.” That sounds sensible at first glance, but they couldn’t be more wrong.
Split testing is the process of testing conversion rates by sending traffic to multiple versions of a sales page or squeeze page. This can be done manually, or it can be automated with software. The important thing is to have a very good tracking system in place.
To increase sales on your website, you must accept credit cards. To process credit cards, you could apply for a merchant account through your bank or other financial institution.
Sometimes, though, you would be further ahead to use the services of a credit card processor. This is especially true when you are first starting out and have more limited resources. In this way, you may process credit card transactions without the high front-end costs and requirements of a merchant account.
Here, then, are just a few ways of accepting credit cards without a merchant account. I personally use all of these vendors and can recommend them wholeheartedly.
If you’ve surfed the net at all, you’ll see program after program that will promise you millions of hits to your website for one low price. You’ll find sites that will promise you plenty of traffic, but is it really worth it?
Usually, no.