by David Tiefenthaler

“Work smarter, not harder,” is a line I have heard often. I like this philosophy part because it’s true, and part because I’m lazy. So many small business out there are working hard everyday to make some money, but they aren’t doing smart work. In my small town, five businesses on Main Street have shut their doors in the last year. It’s sad driving through because I bet every one of them could have survived if people knew that they were out there.

More and more, customers use the internet to find what they are looking for. I look online at what I want to buy before I even go to the store. I still am reluctant to buy products online, but I sure like finding out about them on a website before I make my purchase. Now if your small business isn’t on the web, you are losing customers like me everyday. To someone like me, a store that doesn’t have a website doesn’t exist.

Make yourself visible and viable again in the new information age. Make a website that can not only help you survive, but thrive! Here are seven stellar tips to make your small business website a success.

1. Use a web provider that will provide you with everything! That sounds confusing, but it is not. To make a website, you need a domain name, a web host, and a computer program to create your website. Their are companies out there that can provide you with all of these needs. I jumped headfirst into building my site with absolutely no website building skills. I found a great company that gives me all the tools to make my site without having to know any technical information.

2. Stick to your area of expertise. If your site is on cooking recipes, don’t sell earrings on it. Laugh if you want, but there are sites out there that do things like this. When you create a website, make sure you target a specific group of people. This will help you get found by the big search engines like Google and Yahoo.

3. Don’t pay very much if any for advertising on the web. If you make a great content rich site, you will show up on the search engines without paying for advertising. Besides, I hardly ever click on the advertised links when I just want information on the products I am interested in. I have a site on running, and the only thing I pay for is the site itself. Traffic comes to me through a free search from the search engines.

4. Provide great information. That is what most internet users are looking for anyway. Create numerous pages on your site about the products and services that you know so well about. Your internet customers will love your free information which builds some trust. Now when it is time to buy, they will go right to your website or store.

5. Make sure you know what your customers want. I originally planned on creating a website with information on running shoes and clothes. I didn’t know that runners were so interested in beginner running tips. When I made my site, I did a brainstorming search that helped me find out what keywords people are searching for on the internet. I now use those keywords to develop the specific pages on my website. This boosts my website’s traffic because I have information that customers are looking for.

6. Create your own opportunities to get customers. I write for ezinearticles.com because this website rules! Out of the millions and millions of sites, this one is ranked in the top 250 in the world. Write an article for a site like this on your area of expertise. The people who read it will then go to your site. More visitors means more chances to earn money.

7. Finally, be patient. Success doesn’t happen overnight. The web is a competitive place, but if your website has great information, people will find you. It might take some time. The search engines are getting smarter by the minute. Big companies like Google and Yahoo want to direct their visitors to great sites. If your site is useful, they will put you high on their lists. This makes for happy searchers who will like what you are selling.

It seems like a lot to do, but it really isn’t. When I wrote this, my site was only two months old. All I had was motivation and determination. I draw more and more visitors daily through free searches on Google and Yahoo. You can use the same company as I do to build your site and be successful even in this rough economy.