Half of start-ups fail within five years and online failure rates run even higher at 97 percent, notes WebVantage Technologies. What is the survivors’ secret? The rules governing traditional business success also apply online, with appropriate adaptations. These include avoiding some of the most common e-commerce errors. Your Website Isn’t an Island A typical e-commerce failure story goes like this: a business owner decides he needs to get online. He pays for a website, expecting that once launched, it will automatically generate inquiries. A year later, after seeing no results, he prematurely concludes online marketing doesn’t work. Of course, websites can make money, as proven by Amazon and other success stories. The problem here is not the Internet, but a bad marketing strategy which treats websites as islands isolated from overall business planning. Effective online campaigns reflect comprehensive strategies, including smart pricing options based on comparative shopping, such as that provided by WebHostingBlueBook.com and similar services. They Can’t Buy If They Don’t Visit Some traditional businesses fail because they pick a bad location. The same restaurant could wither in one place, and thrive in another, simply because more people visit the latter locale. Similarly, a website without traffic is doomed [...]
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