These are six surefire tricks of the trade that too many webmasters seem to ignore:

1. Professional Web Design

You’ve heard this before? That’s because it really matters. New visitors form their opinion of your services instantly based on your site design. If you are a legitimate business or service-provider, people assume you can afford to pay a professional designer to make your site purr like it’s 2010, not 2001.

2. “As Seen In”

Positioning yourself alongside trusted brands or news outlets gives credibility by association. More simply put, your new site visitor might not know your brand or name, but they do know The New York Times or the Better Business Bureau. Take advantage of any press or awards you’re received by placing the logos of those organizations on your main page. The more the merrier. Aaron Wall’s SEOBook.com does a great job of this.
3. Customer Testimonials (with pictures!)

Finding satisfied clients or customers should not be difficult. After all, you’re crushing it out there! Take the time to compile the nice notes and emails they’ve sent into a page on your site. Prominently display a few of the best examples on your main page or landing pages.

Be sure to provide the person’s name and location or title along with the testimonial. And here’s an extra tip — post real pictures of your happy customers next to the testimonials. Sites like VA Mortgage Center.com and a lot of universities do this well.

4. This is a Secure Place

Conveying that your website is a secure place to conduct business and exchange personal information is integral to turning a visitor into a conversion, especially in e-commerce.

Most Internet users will not scour the address bar for an “https” designation. You need to put blatant language on your site that says “Your information is secure” and show the logo of the security provider. Examples include Verisign and Truste. Also, have highly visible links to policies on shipping and how you will use customer information once it’s submitted.

5. Showcase Your Physical Assets

Another nuance that many web visitors notice is when you provide a physical address for your business. There is an entire checklist of one-off signals that most “legitimate” web businesses display — physical address, picture of your business, updated copyright date, phone number, business hours and the like. Don’t overlook the benefits these simple inclusions can add up to. Credibility goes a long, long way with consumers.

6. Embrace Interactivity

It may seem almost unoriginal to toss up some visible links to your Twitter and Facebook pages (or your RSS feed if you’re a blog), with even the local ice cream shop asking you to follow them on Twitter. Welcome to the new mainstream, delicious Gelateria.
Thank you

Good tips. Have to totally agree on the "As seen on" trick, totally increases conversions and I have tested this myself. Depending on the niche and what product you are doing (if it isn't something that has been in USA Today or TV) you can always still do as "seen on Google, Yahoo, MSN" etc. It works...

Email marketing has the power to help you sell products and services but you can't get any results if your emails aren't read, and your emails can't be read if they aren't opened. Ergo, your open rate is incredibly important. It's the first step in the journey to email marketing success. If people don't even open your emails, you?ll never accomplish your goal, whether that goal is to stimulate a conversation, to educate, to create brand awareness, to sell, to invite or to complain. Open rate may be calculated differently, depending on the system doing the math. It could be the number of emails opened divided by the number of emails sent, or it could be the number of emails opened divided by the number of emails received. These formulas will give different results.

Hi


These are six surefire tricks of the trade that too many webmasters seem to ignore:

1. Professional Web Design

You’ve heard this before? That’s because it really matters. New visitors form their opinion of your services instantly based on your site design. If you are a legitimate business or service-provider, people assume you can afford to pay a professional designer to make your site purr like it’s 2010, not 2001.

2. “As Seen In”

Positioning yourself alongside trusted brands or news outlets gives credibility by association. More simply put, your new site visitor might not know your brand or name, but they do know The New York Times or the Better Business Bureau. Take advantage of any press or awards you’re received by placing the logos of those organizations on your main page. The more the merrier. Aaron Wall’s SEOBook.com does a great job of this.
3. Customer Testimonials (with pictures!)

Finding satisfied clients or customers should not be difficult. After all, you’re crushing it out there! Take the time to compile the nice notes and emails they’ve sent into a page on your site. Prominently display a few of the best examples on your main page or landing pages.

Be sure to provide the person’s name and location or title along with the testimonial. And here’s an extra tip — post real pictures of your happy customers next to the testimonials. Sites like VA Mortgage Center.com and a lot of universities do this well.

4. This is a Secure Place

Conveying that your website is a secure place to conduct business and exchange personal information is integral to turning a visitor into a conversion, especially in e-commerce.

Most Internet users will not scour the address bar for an “https” designation. You need to put blatant language on your site that says “Your information is secure” and show the logo of the security provider. Examples include Verisign and Truste. Also, have highly visible links to policies on shipping and how you will use customer information once it’s submitted.

5. Showcase Your Physical Assets

Another nuance that many web visitors notice is when you provide a physical address for your business. There is an entire checklist of one-off signals that most “legitimate” web businesses display — physical address, picture of your business, updated copyright date, phone number, business hours and the like. Don’t overlook the benefits these simple inclusions can add up to. Credibility goes a long, long way with consumers.

6. Embrace Interactivity

It may seem almost unoriginal to toss up some visible links to your Twitter and Facebook pages (or your RSS feed if you’re a blog), with even the local ice cream shop asking you to follow them on Twitter. Welcome to the new mainstream, delicious Gelateria.



Thanks