What Kind of Website Do You Need?

Not all websites are the same. But you've probably noticed that from the online surfing you've done.

There are the sales letter sites - the one-page, "long sales copy" web pages that offer essentially 2 choices - buy or leave.

Then there are the information or content sites that have multiple pages and buttons for navigation. You have multiple choices on what to read or do on a content site.

So which type of site you need?

That depends on your purpose in having a website. Here are ten options and the type of site you need for each.

Option #1: If you're selling one product or one service, you generally want a sales letter site.

Option #2: If your product or service requires some explanation or convincing in order to complete the sale, then you definitely need a sales site.

Option #3: If your product is commonly available in a retail outlet and the sale is based on price, you can use a content site.

Option #4: If you want to sell a printed book, you can use either a content site or a sales site. Most book sites are content sites.

Option #5: If you want to sell a digital product or a seminar, use a sales site.

Option #6: If you sell multiple products, decide first what type of product you're offering. Then choose from the options above. Don't try to sell multiple complex products from a single site - people get confused. And a confused mind makes no decision. Instead, they leave without buying *any* of your products.

Option #7: If you want to sell affiliate products, you don't necessarily need a site. Instead, your best sales will come from email follow up to the sales of your front-end product. But if you do decide to have a site, you can put affiliate links into articles on a content site or you can create a sales site to presell the affiliate products.

Option #8: If you're trying to build your reputation or provide information on a specific topic, you need a content site.

Option #9: If you want to generate leads for your bricks & mortar business, you generally need a content site.

Option #10: If you want to offer support for your prospects, customers and vendors, you need a content site.

While there are no hard and fast rules for choosing the appropriate type of site, these are proven guidelines, based on the principles of Online Success. Still can't decide which type of site to create? In many cases your best option is to create multiple sites. But that's another article!

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Dr. Jeanette Cates, The Technology Tamer, is the creator of the Online Success System and the author of the Sales Site QuickStart Her newly released 8-HourWebsite gets your content website up and running in 8 hours - or less!

(c) 2003 Permission is granted to reprint this article in print or on your web site so long as the paragraph above is included.