If you want to do business online, you need a web site.

Your web site will be your advertisement, your storefront, your salesperson, and your cash register! That’s why it is so important to pay careful attention to every aspect of your web site’s development.

1. It has its own domain name.

Having your own domain makes your web site easier to find and more likely to come up in search engines.

It also demonstrates an image of stability and that your business is a serious one. Make sure the domain name is catchy, easy to remember, and suitable for your business.

Forget about .net, .org, or .biz! Everyone remembers .com more than .net. It’s that simple. It’s positioning!

A good .com domain name is going to pay for itself a thousand times over…faster than any .net or .org address ever could.

I know that all of the good .com domain names are gone; however, just get creative with your .com name. Register your domain name now. You should not pay more than $10 for a domain name. Shop around. I use godaddy.com.

2. It has fast loading web pages.

If your web site loads slowly, your prospective clients may not be willing to wait and may never come back to your site. Web surfers are extremely impatient.

Remember that not everyone is using cable or DSL.

There are still a lot of people out there using 28.8K, 33.6K, or 56.6K modems. Just look at how many people are using AOL’s dial-up service - 35 million members!

Unless you don’t want to do business with those 35 million people, don’t overload your web site with fancy graphics that are slow to load. Get out a timer and stare at your screen for 10 seconds.

It seems like forever, doesn’t it?

How long does it take for your home page to load? What can you do to make it load faster? Bottom line: You cannot have a home page that loads too fast.

3. It includes an opt-in email list.

Do this as quickly as possible.

From your home page, give your visitors a good reason to give you their email addresses. Offer them a free report, a free sample, a free newsletter, or free information updates.

Get their email addresses and their permission to contact them. What do you do after you capture their email addresses?

Regularly send them valuable information, offers, sales, ads, and more! If subscribers don’t buy from you now, they might do so eventually. It’s common to hear from new customers: “I’ve been getting your newsletter for years and figured it was time to buy.”

A good email list collected by your web site is priceless. I know a consultant who generates six figures in sales every year with her home-grown email list.

She simply attracts people who are interested in getting the information, puts them on her list, and sends them good information on a regular basis.

Your email list becomes a continuous source of sales for you. Do you want to know how successful online businesses stay profitable year after year?

They have a good list.

Do you want to know why so many online businesses fold within months of starting?

They don’t have a list. It’s often as simple as that.

4. It targets a specific niche.

Don’t try to be a jack-of-all-trades, or else you will end up being a master of none.

The most ineffective sites try to put together a hodgepodge of information on many different subjects and topics.

The key to success online is to focus.

You need to make sure that your whole web site only focuses on one niche market.

Don’t sell computer software and Dragon Ball trading cards on the same site! Don’t try to mix up 20 different affiliate programs on your site.

It simply won’t work.

Don’t confuse your visitors. The confused mind always says NO.

Sell one lead-generating product and get them into your marketing funnel so that you can offer them additional products afterwards.

Don’t buy into Internet offers. Just because someone else made $100,000 last month with a specific product doesn’t mean YOU should be selling it.

You can make money with anything online if you position it correctly.

You just have to find a product that is fun for you and whose market you know how to target.

The most successful people are almost always the ones who have chosen the product they LOVE selling.

5. The pages are easy to navigate.

Your web site should be easy to navigate.

Don’t make your visitors jump through hoops before you give them the information they need.

Make it easy for your visitors to move through your site. They’ll stick around longer and will be more likely to visit your site again.

Provide text links or icons on each page so that people can easily click back and forth through your site without having to use the “back” and “forward” buttons on their browsers. Include well-labeled navigation buttons along the top, bottom, or side of each page to allow visitors to easily return to your home page.

The same goes for making it easy for them to find your order forms or other product information. That’s because some visitors may arrive at your web site at a page other than your home page.

Are you making it easy for them to find their way around the rest of your web site?

Check out Seth Godin’s book The Big Red Fez. It is a great book on how to make any web site better and an excellent place for anyone to start.

6. It lets visitors know who the business owner is.

Include your name, company information, email address, complete address (not P.O. box), phone, and fax numbers.

Remember, people tend to be skeptical on the Internet. You can boost your credibility instantly by letting people know exactly who you are and how they can contact you. Real phone numbers, real names, and real addresses make a HUGE difference!

7. It offers a simple way to make a purchase.

Do you have a merchant account?

Do you accept all major credit cards online?

Do you have a secure ordering method?

By accepting credit cards online, you can dramatically increase the number of orders you receive.

I am amazed at how many web sites make it tough to order from them.

You have to sign up first before you can order.

They don’t accept all major credit cards. You have to go through 10 steps to place your order. And this is at the point when you are trying to give them money!

You should be ready to take money from your customers in any form whether it is by phone, fax, online, or money orders or checks in the mail.

Why say no to a sale? Make it easy and fast for your customers to order from you. You may have heard that it’s tough to get a merchant account. Forget about getting a merchant account from your local bank. They don’t understand e-commerce.

If you want to know which one I use or recommend, send me an email. I can point you to one of the nation’s largest issuers of merchant accounts.

Their approval rate is 99 percent. Their accounts are very easy to set up and very inexpensive, usually less than $100.

Spend some time and do some planning. Make sure your web site will deliver results!

Don’t overlook these simple habits. Don’t lose sight of why you developed your site in the first place.

Every aspect of your site should somehow contribute to your goal—be it to sell, inform, or simply entertain.