Michael Grosheim says:

Sarah’s points are right on. While it would certainly make moving around your site easier by streamlining the navigation bar, the color of your website may be a turn off. While younger parents may find your site easy to read, grandparents and parents who chose to have kids later in life may find it difficult to read. You can keep with your color scheme, but using soft colors with dark text is always the best option. White text in general can be very difficult to read on a computer screen.

A final observation is to connect, connect, connect. If you don’t have the time to engage with your target audience in person, distribute material about your products to places your audience will frequent. If you can’t be there in person, brochures and business cards are better than nothing. And, Facebook is a great marketing tool, but Twitter has an amazing potential for the small business and will allow you to connect as if it were a face-to-face conversation (and let’s not forget Twitter opens the communication channel and will let others join in conversation).

Sarah Baldwin says:

Great suggestions! I love this site. Sarah, is there a place where I can learn about making my FB company-page more professional and engaging to my customers. We can do so much better with this – but I don’t know where to begin!
thanks
SARAH
Goodnighties Recovery Sleepwear… for women who like to sleep!

Katrina says:

Great Article! I feel like I’ve done all of the above yet I still don’t seem to be able to draw customers. Could it be my web presence? Are people just not able to find me. I feel like I’ve made great strides on my website and I’m making more but still need to improve sales. Have any other tips for getting people to your site?

Lisa Chapman says:

Hi Sarah! Great ideas and suggestions. I have just launched my FB page and am wondering how to get people coming back. I know that I will like a page and then never remember to go back to it. What is the key here to have them come back and keep coming back?
Also, Yes this is my company afilliated website. Do I need to create my own and how do I draw people to it?
I am swamped like everyone else and I do not have a lot of time but I want to make the most out of it. I would appreciate your input and suggestions.
My FB page is (I have to shorten it 🙂 http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Best-in-Anti-Aging-for-Younger-Skin/138736242846561
Best,
Lisa

Britt Michaelian says:

Great suggestions, Sarah. You are so smart. 😉 I totally agree with you on all of these points, especially #3. The mistake that I see the most business owners make is forgetting to have the opt in box on the top right hand side, above the fold. Even if you have a product based business, you still need to collect names and email addresses so you can market to your audience.

Many entrepreneurs don’t realize that your email newsletter list is an ASSET to your business! If you ever plan to sell your company, your email newsletter list is something that can mean the difference between a 5 figure value and a 7 figure value! Seriously. Collect email addresses and send valuable information so you can connect with your audience and make more sales!

Great post! I am forwarding this on to a few people who will be your new best friends (and subscribers), Sarah. 😉

Heather says:

Great tips! I would change the black background 1st!

Jen says:

Thanks Sarah! Whew, looks like I got alot of work ahead of me 🙂 Thank You for all your wonderful points and ideas!!

El at Tantalizing Stitches says:

wonderful advice. i also suggest that the images in the center link to the item for sale.

also the images next to the paypal links are too small. I can’t see the item to purchase clearly.