For most of you the internet is somewhat a mystery. Your web site is your online business and you need to run it like a business.
Like any business, it takes time to build, don't be fooled that you can build a successful business overnight on the internet, it will not happen, but the good thing about the internet is it can be allot quicker than other businesses.

Each business has different successful promotional actions. The same holds true for any web site. You just need to find which promotional actions are successful for your web site and continue to do it.
Out of all of the people that have failed with their internet business, is most likely because they did not promote their site properly and regularly.
Like most people that come onto the web, they first think that if they build a web site they will come.
Then they find out this is not true and they don't know how people are going to find their web sites, it becomes a mystery. They surf around and get tons of information, some good, some not so good.
Most people think that  "Well I'm just going to go into these search engines and that's enough." They submit their site, their site goes in and then they sit back and wait. They might get a little trickle here and there but not enough to make it worth their while. So they throw their hands up in the air and say I guess the internet works for everyone but me.
Has this happened to you? If so you can still turn your web site around and make it successful.

The key - Run it like a business. Continue to promote your site every day, every week, every chance you get. Don't stop promoting- if you stopped promoting your business right now your business would disappear,   maybe not tomorrow But nevertheless it would die. So come hell or high-water those promotional actions get done every chance you get.
You wouldn't even think of not promoting or advertising your off-line business, so why would you think you do not have to do the same for your online business?

When it comes to the web,  Think in terms of a business. I know that coming on to the web can be  intimidating. But if you look at it from a business viewpoint, it gets very exciting. You will begin to see it grow.
Below is a breakdown on some good general tips on how to make your site more successful.

1) Your web site is your store:
It is not your billboard to advertise your business, it is not your print ad either, but it is your store.
Where people from all over the world can come and see your services and products and buy.

2) Your  Homepage:
This is your window display, do you have the content that will grab your public's attention and compel them to open the door and come inside?

3) Have you put in all the basic promotional actions for your site.  Have you submitted your site to the search engines? Newsgroup postings? Reciprocal linking? From these basic promotional actions, did you find out which works best for you?

4) Now that you know which is the most successful, are you doing this on a regular basis?

5) Have you looked around and put yourself into new search engines? There are new search engines that pop up all the time. One goes away and a new one pops up in it's place. Maybe you submitted your site automatically? But did you know that there are over 2500 search engines/directories that you have to submit manually to get your URL in there? Did you post to free classifieds ads?

6) Are you keeping track and monitoring your hits, (visitors from your site)? If you only keeping track of sales and your sales are low, you missed a few steps. Remember in an off-line business you would keep track of the number of visitors or inquires you were receiving and check that against your sales to get your closing ratio. You would know that if you were getting lots of people and little sales the sales closing ratio would be low and therefore get another salesperson or figure out why the sales are low and fix the problem. If the reverse is happening, a small portion of people are coming into your store or inquiring and you are closing 1 out of 2 - you have a high closing ratio, so you know that all you have to do to increase sales is increase the people that are coming into your store or increase your inquiries. Same thing holds true for a web site, but how can you find out which to increase or fix, promotion or sales? You can't if you don't monitor and track your hits and visitors. I'll break it down even further: Sales are down,    here's what you do: If hits/visitors are down- then promote,  if hits/visitors are up- then change your sales pitch on your site so it is more effective.
No matter what type of service or product you have online,  if you run your web site like a business it will succeed. Just remember,  stick to basics and old fashion know-how.