7 Unconventional (and Sneaky) Ways To Generate More Traffic For Your Website

I remember when I first got started in online marketing I read a stat that blew my mind. 

At the time, your average American internet user was visiting 50 different websites every day. To me, this stat meant that there are 50 ways to get your message in front of the right people every single day.

Now, we all know that marketing is about more than finding the right market, it is about bridging the right message with the right media at the right time.

How many different ways do you currently drive traffic to your website?

Or, for that matter, how many different ways do you market yourself to find new customers? If you are using more than 3 unique strategies, than you are in the minority. Most businesses depend on 1-3 sources of traffic and customers.

The truth is though, there are probably close to 15 unique ways you can be finding customers, and easily as many if not more ways to generate targeted traffic for your website.

Previously I shared with you somegreat strategies in this post about Insurance Library.  Where I discussed using Q&A sites to find prospects.

You no doubt read my big list of ways to generate traffic for your website, but in  this post I want to focus on some unconventional strategies.

There is a clever traffic generation click that sneaks up on prospects in a friendly, yet unassuming way.

Basically, you need to come up with an excuse to engage someone in conversation, and than leave breadcrumbs for them to follow to reach and click on the site you want them to.

A classic example is to engage with someone in a blog comment, or on a social post they made. Odds are, they will likely notice you and click through to see who you are. I know I do this all the time.

But, you can take this a step further with some clever sneak attack strategies.

1. User Testing - Sometimes user testing can cost $30+ each, but there are much cheaper options, some even free, like asking in a forum or on reddit for a site review and critique. More importantly though, asking people for feedback is the perfect way to get noticed. A couple years ago, I was consulting for a new user testing company and my recommendation to them was to run user tests to acquire customers. Basically, they would pay a user testing service to have their users test the website, and since the website was targeted to user testers, he was able to reach very targeted traffic. Nowadays, with user testing you can set all sorts of requirements and criteria, which help you reach the right people at the right time. This strategy actually works for many other industries as well. After all, someone running user tests to make a few bucks online is probably also interested in making money online opportunities, ,many might even be willing to be affiliate marketers or social ambassadors, etc…

2. Design contests - Sites like 99Designs let you create a design content where hundreds if not thousands of designers will notice your ad and many will compete to win the contest you post. If you were launching a freelancer website, this would be a great way to get noticed by your target market. If you are launching a marketplace for designs like CreativeMarket, this would be a great strategy to reach your audience. This also works for other freelancer networks.

3.  Linking to sites you want exposure from. I notice any new links that point to my blog. In fact, the moment I see referral traffic from a new source, I will spend 5-10 minutes researching exactly who is linking to me and not only do I discover new products and services, I also discover people worth building a relationship with. Even without a link, I have Google Alerts set up for my name, and my different company names, clients names, etc… In fact many people have social media listening/monitoring tools setup as well looking for brand or name mentions. These are great strategies for reaching influencers. Trust me, most of them will notice.

4. Job Websites - If you are trying to reach prospects, one of the best ways to get noticed is to post a job online. Thousands will see it, and the posting cost will easily be covered.

5. Classifieds websites - Post a gig or a job, or even an item for sale. Just think about which sections will reach your audience and post something related. For example, if you do landscaping, maybe sell a used lawnmower on craigslist and nextdoor.com and you will reach local prospects who will now know you exist. Don’t forget that there are literally hundreds of niche websites that offer classifieds for specific industries and verticals. I sometimes browse the job board on problogger looking for writing opportunities, but I’ll often discover other marketing blogs or websites that are relevant to me.

I think its important to note that you still need to be authentic with your engagement. Most people can sniff out a sales pitch from a mile away.

As Dan Kennedy says, never underestimate the skepticism of your market. You can assume whatever you want about them and their intelligence level, but…NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THEIR SKEPTICISM! This is the reason you should be forthcoming about any flaws in your business and possible objections your prospects may have.

What are some other websites you can think of to sneak up on your audience without screaming for attention?

However, my personal favorite sneak attack traffic strategy is “Consumer Surveys.”

For about 10 cents an answer, I can ask anyone a question through Google Consumer Surveys

You can do something simple like which of two logos do you prefer. This will not only give great insights, but will help you reach your audience in an indirect way.

In fact, for fifty cents an answer, you can ask a qualifying question first. For example, you can first ask, do you own a website, and than ask your survey question. Just make sure to include details about your business in the question, so they are exposed to your brand in an authentically engaging way.

Think about all the websites your targeted persona’s visit and think about all the different ways you get in front of them inconspicuously. I bet you can come up with a dozen ways, many of them free, that you can sneak up on your audience and engaged them authentically.

Now, for the best strategy of them all… Numero Seven…

7. Integration partners with other websites.

The most valuable traffic I have ever found online is getting traffic from an industry peer who gives out your content to their audience. Guest posting is a simple version of this, a much more effective version is giving away free bonuses of your content with the purchase of a related product from an industry peer. Not only do you reach your audience for just the cost of content, and not only do you get instant credibility by having them share your content, but you reach people who are actively demonstrating a willingness and ability to buy a related product. There is no other way I know to actually reach prospects who demonstrated and ability to pay and a willingness to buy.

With that in mind, you should know that I discover new companies all the time by browsing zapier, ifttt and other sites that connect API’s to see who they integrate with. Same goes for Marketo. They list all sorts of marketing apps that integrate with their system. It’s called Launchpoint, and it is full of excellent marketing tools. So, if you have some sort of software, integrate with Zapier, Integrate with other platforms, especially universal ones, and you will see it drive all sorts of targeted traffic your way.

I have easily spent over $10,000 over the years with companies I discovered by browsing the directory of services that integrate with the services and apps I currently use and many that I don’t even use, but may want to in the future. Integrate and you will not only add a new access point to your system, but you will get lots of free marketing and exposure to extremely qualified prospects.

Good Luck!

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11 Ways To Boost Your Blog Readership

Starting a blog is an exciting venture. Whether you’re doing it to help promote your business or just as a personal enrichment activity, it’s your chance to broadcast your ideas to the world. But, as excited as you are about your posts, it will take some time before you build up a significant reader base that is also excited about your posts.

Here are eleven easy tips you can utilize to help boost your blog readership from the beginning of your online writing adventure. Follow these tactics and you’re likely to see a boost in stats in the days and weeks that follow.

1. Network

Get involved in the blogging community and network with other bloggers. If they start to mention your blog in their posts, their readers will be intrigued and will check out your blog. There are forums and special events that you can participate in to meet with the other bloggers. You can also network by reaching out to other bloggers whose blogs you respect.

2. Promote it in your email signature

Think of your email signature as a digital business card. This is where you can provide your contacts with your pertinent contact information. By including your blog URL in your signature, those who you communicate with will have easy, instant access to your site.

3. Add to forum signatures

Online forums are another fantastic place to promote your blog. There are forums about every subject, so it will be easy for you to find one or more with people who have similar interests to what are discussed in your blog. By adding it to your forum signature, your blog URL will appear in every thread in which you post. It’s a subtle way to gain readers and will look less self-promoting than just adding posts that are asking people to read your blog.

4. Give something valuable for free

No, you are not going to loose money in the process. Something valuable could be in the form of an eBook, a report, audio file, screencast etc that you made. You can offer this as a bonus to users who subscribe to your blog. This technique is usually used with an email signup tied to an autoresponder.

5. Build a landing page for subscribers

This option can go really well with the “giving something away for free” option. You can build a squeeze page whose soul purpose is to convert the visitor into a reader by giving them something valuable for free then you drive traffic to this landing page.

6. Engage your readers by encouraging commenting

It’s not only important to gain new readers but also to ensure that they will keep visiting your blog. That’s why it’s important to get them engaged.One way to engage your readers is to pose questions to them; ask them for their opinions, advice and experiences as they relate to your blog post. After all, who doesn’t love to provide others with their advice and opinions?!

7. Put it on business cards

Business cards are inexpensive and easy to have made. Business people have been publishing their website information on their business cards for years, so why not include information about a blog? Even if your blog isn’t connected directly to a business, you can have business cards made with your blog information.

8. Submit your URL to search engines

Search engines don’t automatically detect every single website that is ever created. Sometimes you need to speed up the cataloging process by submitting your URL to the search engines. The popular engines often will have a “submit” link that you can utilize to add your blog. Keep in mind, just because you submit your URL doesn’t mean it’s going to appear on the first page of results. Nonetheless, getting your blog listed with Google, Yahoo, and the likes, is a great first step.

9. Utilize tags

Once you have your blog listed with the search engines, tags will help ensure that it appears more frequently in search results. With each posting, pick three to five main subjects to tag. The tags that are often most searched are people’s names.

10. Set up an RSS feed

Readers who utilize your feed will easily be able to access your new posts as they are published. This is a great tool to retain your current readership! If you use WordPress as your blogging platform then you get this by default.

11. Make it easy to subscribe

Offer an email subscription option as well as the RSS subscription. Some readers just like the good old email subscription method. Make sure the subscription option is easily visible to your site’s visitors (some people have a tendency to go out of their way to make it hard to find).

I am sure I haven’t covered all the easy ways to boost your blog readership techniques so please feel free to share your tips in the comment area below.

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Website Traffic Generation: Practical Secrets To Getting A Lot Of Traffic

Nothing is new under the sun. Nothing is new in website traffic generation.

There’s no traffic generation strategy that one can claim as a “new breakthrough” that someone else hasn’t used years ago. That’s just the way it is.

So where does it leave us?

We need to learn how to use what we have to the fullest, and that’s what this post is all about.

Website Traffic Generation Secret #1: “Diversification“

You and I chose to build a business in an immature online world.

Why is it immature?

Take direct mail marketing, for instance. It’s been tested and proven and it works. If you can make it work for your business, you are as good as golden.

Online marketing, however, never stands still. It constantly changes and evolves, keeping us all on our toes, to say the least.

Remember what happened with Adwords? A few changes sent thousands of businesses down the drain; all because they chosen to put all their eggs in one basket.

I don’t know about you, but I want to sleep well at night – whenever I get to sleep, that is.

So I make a point to use as MANY website traffic generation ways as possible: 20-30 different sources at a time.

If any one of these traffic sources goes away for any reason, sure it might hurt a little, but my business will keep running.

Don’t ever think that this one brand NEW website traffic generation source will become the KEY to your future wealth.

Website Traffic Generation Secret #2: “Systemization”

So now that you have 10 or more unique traffic sources bringing you new visitors daily like clockwork, how do you keep track of it all?

Here are 3 simple steps I use to make sense of it all; start with one traffic source at a time:

1.   Study: study the new website traffic generation strategy from a trusted authority on the subject, i.e. online course, ebook, training software, etc. Then put what you learned in theory into practice. After all, you’ll never know it works until you try it.

See what I use to master traffic generation:

• Best Internet Marketing Tools Best Marketers Use

2.   Master: now that you know the new strategy works, you need to test it, tweak it, work on it until it becomes profitable. By “profitable” I mean until you can make one cent more than what you put into it.

3.   Autopilot: once you are making one more cent than you invest into it, you need to figure out how to put this strategy on autopilot. That might mean getting automated software or outsourcing the task altogether.

After you complete all three steps, all you need to do is monitor the progress and more on to the next strategy.

Overtime, your sources will continue to grow and your business will start working as a well-oiled machine.

But remember, it all starts with ONE strategy and 3 simple steps to follow to make it work for you.

Website Traffic Generation Secret #3: “Set Goals”

If I were to ask you “What is your purpose of driving traffic to your website?”, would you be able to give me a clear and definite answer?

Let’s dig a bit deeper on this one.

When new visitors come to your website, what do you want them to do?

Subscribe to your RSS feed?

Opt in to your email list?

Check out the affiliate products you offer?

Buy into a membership site you have?

Whatever your goals are, you need to make sure you focus on ONE of them at a time and drive your traffic to fulfill that one specific goal.

Traffic that doesn’t take ACTION is useless and it’s your job to make sure you work on yourtraffic conversion goals even BEFORE you start driving traffic to your site.

Website Traffic Generation Secret #4: “Track Everything”

I am sure we are talking about something you already know here.

However, you and I both know that there’s a vast difference between knowing and doing.

Tracking your website traffic generation may be your single most money and time saving habit you can acquire.

I am often asked what is my single best secret to traffic generation, as if I were hiding something and as if there were such a thing.

The biggest secret here is you test everything until you find the BEST website traffic generation secret that works for YOU and YOUR business.

One size doesn’t fit all when it comes down to traffic.

Marketing Takeaway

You can’t play an NFL football team, unless you are one yourself.

You can’t create a successful business without knowing the basics.

And what you just read are the basics of website traffic generation. Period.

But I wont’ leave you hanging here, you know that. For the rest of this week, we’ll be learning more about some “less traveled” traffic generation strategies and how to apply them to your business, so STAY TUNED!

Love it or hate it? Comment to show me that you’re alive!

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5 Ways to Increase Your Brand's Online Visibility

Increasing online marketing efforts is criticalfor businesses trying to reach more customers. Credit: Online Marketing image viaShutterstock View full size image

An easy way to increase your company's visibility is to boost your online marketing efforts.

Online marketing opens up a business's doors to customersthey wouldn't be able to reach otherwise, said Joe Palko, chief marketing officer for eCommerce platform provider3dcart.

"Implementing a strong, multifaceted online marketing plan can help your business stand out," Palko told Business News Daily.

Businesses that aren't promoting themselves online are missing out on a simple way to gain new customers,  Palko said.

"You want to build a strong customer base, who ultimately become ambassadors for your brand," he said. "Having an online marketing plan and publishing compelling online content allows customers and fans of your product to find your business as well as spread the word through their social networks."

To help small businesses increase their online visibility, Palko offers these five tips.

• Get busy blogging. Setting up a blog on your website can be a great way to drive more traffic to your site from potential and current customers. For blogs to be a successful tool, though, you need post frequently and use custom-written content that shows you're an expert in your field.
• Make it hot. Do your research, and find out which keywords for your market are "hot" and frequently used on search engines. Websites like Wordtracker.com allow you to see the amount of times a keyword has been searched in the last 24 hours. Once you've figured out what those "hot" keywords are, incorporate them into your posts.
• Go off-topic. Your articles and contributions to social medianeed to be interesting, and not sales- oriented.  You want the posts to be something that people share with their friends, such as tips or photos. For example, the 3dcart blog features everything from Valentine's Day ideas to tips on how to improve your online store.

[For a side-by-side comparison of the best online marketing services visit our sister site Top Ten Reviews.]

• Get authorized. Google Authorship is a free and easy way to claim all the content you've written and cultivate an online presence. To set it up, you'll need to go to your Google+ profile and fill out details about your background, experiences, and the websites where you are a contributor. Once you become a verified author, people will believe that your website is legit and in turn, view you as more of an authority figure.
• Spread the message. Use social media platforms likeFacebook, Twitter and Pinterest to share the content you've written. All you have to do is write a brief description about the post and then include a link to it. I highly recommend taking advantage of promoted posts on Twitter and Facebook because they can work for anyone no matter your budget. It's also a great tool to really reach out to and hit your target audience since you can be very specific in the reach for who should see the post.

Palko said businesses that aren't using online marketing to grow are losing ground to their competitors, who most likely are, each and every day.

"You want to grow your online following and improve your search engine rankings," Palko said. "The sooner you begin to effectively market your business online, the more dominance you will establish."

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10 Ways to Increase Your Business Blog Traffic by 227 Percent

The goal of any professional blog is to get people to click, read, engage and share -- in that order. Enticing them to do so can vastly increase your business visibility and drive exponential future sales. While there is no substitute for writing quality, human, dynamic content, knowing how to maximize blog traffic can make all the difference between attracting a big crowd online... or just hearing crickets.

I've worked with multiple companies as content marketer, measuring the traffic to their company's blog posts before and after I took over, and here's what I came up with: these 10 tips increased their blog traffic by at least 227 percent. Of course a specific percentage of growth can't be guaranteed, I assure you that instituting these practices into your blogging will help your business, too.

Drop me a line if you need help!

1. It's all in the title. 

The title of your blog is THE most important factor in getting your blog opened. Since it's the first thing a potential reader sees, a good title catches the viewers attention, creates some controversy, plays off a common saying, mentions newsworthy keywords or names, hints at conflict, delineates action, and maybe proposes a question that the reader now wants answered. Oh, and it has to be short! Remember that it should fit well within 140 characters (for Twitter, with room for it to be retweeted and the link.)

Be clear, concise, and direct, but also propose a new angle or creative take on a topic in order for your title to get clicked. Remember that people are bombarded with choices, so choose a title that jumps out at them!

2013-09-04-7WaveValue.jpg2. Add value. 

A blog should have a purpose, a main directive. It could be just to entertain (I love "fluff" pieces every once and a while), provide education, tell a story, or to solve a problem. But the information should always add some sort of value to the greater Internet conversation, never just recycling exactly what's been covered before. Keep the reader in mind when writing your blog, addressing an issue, challenge, or universal experience they have. Remember to keep it super simple - blogs that try to do too much or are hard to follow don't get read or shared.

3. Shorten your website URL. 

Make sure you have a short URL that's easy to spell and remember! I've made that mistake before with my website URL, NormSchriever.com. The problem was that no one on earth could spell 'Schriever' properly (including me before I've had coffee in the morning.) I suspect I lost a lot of people to Maria Shriver and Justin Beiber's websites when they were really looking for my last name. So I added the domain URL NormWrites.com, which is easy to remembered when I'm reciting it on a radio show, via social media, or yelling it at someone before I've had my coffee.

You can also shorten your long blog link to a shorter URL through TinyUrl.com, Hootsuite, etc. which makes it easier to share and retweet.

4. Photos.

Let's do a little test. Are you more likely to read this version...

2013-09-04-photos.gif4. Photos.

...Or this one? Use photos with every blog you write, without fail. They catch our eye, anchor our attention as we process what's in the photo (see mind mapping below) and blog links are far more likely to be clicked if they have an engaging photo. The same concept applies for sharing your work on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook to attract an audience. Remember what they say, a picture is worth 1,000 words!

5. Stamp your photos. 

Subtly stamp your name, company name, website, etc. in the bottom corner of your photos. No matter where that photo appears it will serve as a mini billboard for you and your company, and help sites like Instagram and Pinterest market for you. There are plenty of cheap or free photo stamping apps that work from your laptop or phone.

6. Give something away.

Offer the readers something for free in your blog, but don't be afraid to surrender control of your content without asking for an email or any other strings attached. People are savvy. If you give people quality content that provides value, they'll reach out to you, spread the word, or come back to order more in the future. If they don't like what you have to offer, then having their email address doesn't do you any good. Give 'em the good stuff and leave 'em wanting more - the first rule of show biz.

2013-09-04-7waveevergreen.jpg7. Write evergreen information.

Sometimes you want to be on the cutting edge of breaking news but don't neglect writing blogs with "evergreen information" that isn't based on current events so it won't become irrelevant quickly. Blogs with evergreen information never become outdated so they can be read, shared, and grow an audience over time without limitation.

8. Post around notable dates. 

Timing is everything when writing your business blogs, so keep informed of notable dates, events, and holidays. There are also plenty of whacky days (National Peanut Butter Day) and months to raise support for a cause (Breast Cancer Awareness Month.) Planning a blog around an upcoming holiday or season change (like back to school, spring cleaning, etc.) gives you plenty of time to get it posted and gain exposure with readers as the date approaches. The media also starts looking for these stories on short notice and may pick up your blog.

9. Write content rich in links and key words.

Incorporate plenty of key words into your blog, the same ones a reader might type into a search engine like Google. Mix it up with some quotes from notable people, clickable links to other articles (or blogs you've written) and mentions of famous people, organizations, companies, etc. But don't go overboard until your blog is no longer organic and easily readable -- "Do it, but don't over do it," is the general consensus of social media and SEO experts.

10. Utilize mind mapping.

Mind mapping is a concept that tracks how our eyes and then our brain views, perceives, and processes information, and assigns it context. In the field of blogging, mind mapping will help you incorporates physical cues to keep your audience engaged, like photos, headers, sub headers, bullet points, indents, and even changes in color or font. Remember that a blog of just text is less likely to be read and shared than a blog anchored by a photo and broken into clear, logical sections of information, easy for the brain to follow and process.

***

I hope that helps! For more good business blogging tips, check out 7 Wave Media!

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5 Reasons You Are Not Getting Website Traffic

It has become critical for all businesses to have a thriving online presence, and, for businesses who conduct themselves exclusively online, driving traffic to your website is the lifeblood on which your livelihood depends for survival. Many business owners struggle with figuring out which strategies for marketing and driving traffic to your website are the most dependable and will yield long-term results that will sustain their business for the future. In my many years of experience in building successful online companies and helping other business owners build their own online presence, I have tested and perfected the most dependable and sustainable marketing strategies for creating a successful online presence. Below, I am about to share with you how to implement the strategies that have brought me the greatest success.

1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Compliance -- Due to the radically changing nature of the search engine algorithms, it is likely that your website has either fallen out of current standards or never was in compliance. Most website designers and programmers "think" they understand search engines, but most of them design websites for display and often miss the vital components to achieve search engine recognition and placement. While it is critical to develop a website for usability and high visitor retention, it's also important to structure and engineer your website with search engines in mind. Elements like the internal navigation, content organization, content quality and image uniqueness and originality are major factors the search engines consider when measuring a website's trust and relevance for a given search query. Furthermore, they are also checking for elements that indicate a website can be trusted. For example, business contact information, privacy policies, terms and conditions and overall visitor safety are factors they consider -- because, after all, they have a challenging task of serving not only the highest quality, but "trusted" resources on the web for a given search.

2. Social Media Optimization -- Social platforms are a widely used and embraced medium for sharing information and resources. While most people don't actively seek business resources and services through social media, many businesses are successfully capitalizing on these mediums for gaining website visitors. Establishing social media presence for a brand is a very important initiative for many businesses largely because their competitors have a presence, but also because most consumers now review a company's social media presence before deciding to contact or do business with them. Because social media platforms contain every type of demographic imaginable, it is critical to determine the exact demographic of your ideal customer, visitor or fan and formulate a social media marketing strategy that specifically targets that user community. There are many resources available for paid social media advertising and promotion, and most social media sites (at least the major ones) support paid placement of ads that can drive a huge amount of qualified visitors to a website or offer.

3. Paid Search Marketing (PPC, Pay-Per-Click, CPM) -- Search engines offer paid placement for businesses who need to capture an audience quickly. Google and the Adwords platform is one of many that allow you to created targeted advertisements to be displayed for specific searches performed on the search engine portal. Bing provides the Bing Ad Center which is basically a clone of the Adwords platform and serves ads to both Bing and Yahoo search engine users. These platforms allow anyone to create advertising campaigns and can be extremely powerful, but they can also be a waste of valuable advertising dollars if the campaigns are not budgeted, optimized and targeted correctly. Most businesses do not correctly choose keywords that will grow their business and craft advertisements ad copy that doesn't convert. Match that with poor targeting, and you have a failing advertising campaign that drains the marketing budget, and it results in zero or very few qualified visitors to a website.

4. Lack of Clarity/Focus/Precision in Digital Marketing Priorities -- Most companies make the incorrect assumption that they should be using all mediums for driving traffic. More often than not, only a couple of mediums for online marketing makes sense for a business. For example, social media might be a great platform for a musician looking to promote new music, but an accountant might not get great results. Establishing very clear goals and doing so with a professional that has a history of running successful digital marketing campaigns for a variety of businesses would be a good place to start. Without precision in your online marketing efforts and isolated, tightly controlled, monitored and measured campaigns, you're likely to waste money on advertising that doesn't work, or you just plain never get any results.

5. Maybe You Have Traffic, But No Sales -- Sometimes a website will have great visitor traffic, but nobody seems to be calling, buying or signing up for anything. Savvy internet users (and that's most people nowadays) expect a lot from a website or business. People are conditioned by reflex to avoid giving you their time, attention and, especially, their email address or money. Your website needs a swath of essential ingredients in order to persuade people to do business with you let alone stay on your website. Without knowing what these web design and aesthetic elements are, it's rather difficult to understand what the critical factors are that keep people on a website vs. cause them to leave.

Most websites are plagued with problems (unseen by the average web designer or marketer) that result in people not trusting the site or business behind it. Sometimes, it's a matter of the website "missing" critical elements that increase trust, build rapport and persuade people to take the next step. Working with an experienced professional in website conversion optimization is highly recommended so that they can bring their experience in testing various site conversion elements to the equation while you worry about running your business. After all, your website should be powering your success, increasing sales and customers, not limiting or holding you back from your goals.

By keeping these five ideas in mind and implementing one or more of them, you are significantly putting yourself ahead of much of your online competition and greatly increasing your chances of success.

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