My friend sent me a message today through facebook, announcing that her new site was up and running. To be honest – often times when a “check out my new website” message comes out (not that I would ever do that) I’m unimpressed with what’s on the other side of the link.
But much to my surprise, behind the link for Green4YourSoul.com I found a well built, very robost e-commerce site, with a deep catalogue of “trusted green products” from skin care, to candles, to *ehem* “dog de-funkifier spray.” While my friend didn’t ask for any advice – I got so excited about the site that I vomited up all kinds of advice about starting a web based small business (especially e-commerce). After ranting on for a bit, I realized this would be better suited in a blog-post, so here here are my two (ok four) cents on where to start:
1. Build links back to your site from as many sites as you can.
Search engines see links as “votes” for credibility – the more votes, the higher you’ll rank (links from within sites which are password protected like facebook won’t help. sorry). See if you can write guest posts on people’s blogs, find websites with similar ideals who are not direct competitors and ask if they would link to your site, or write an article about your site.
2. If you’re up for the time commitment, start blogging on a regular basis.
Don’t make it about selling product – make it about what matters to your target audience (in her case: the commitment to being a green, organic, cruelty free consumer). This will take a lot of time, and for a few months you will see little to no return…but in the long run, it can be a great way to get found in search engines, and attract links from other sites.
3. Pay attention to google analytics each month.
How are people getting to your site? Which keywords did they search? Which keywords or traffic sources are leading to sales? This free analytics tool from our friends at the Goog’ is so powerful – and it can literally show a savvy e-commerce entrepreneur how much revenue is made from a single traffic source, or keyword on average (and if you can’t get that info – get some help – it is absolutely necessary information for running any web based business!)
4. google adwords can be a great way to get targeted traffic going right away.
google.com/adwords lets you pay-per-click on targeted keywords. Adwords Hint: Bid on specific keywords and send people to specific product pages.
Good: bid on the keyword “tea tree oil acne cream” and send traffic to this page: http://www.green4yoursoul.com/products/corrective-skincare-tea-tree-acne-gel.html
Bad: Bid on the keyword “green” and send them to your homepage…hoping and praying that they buy something 
Anyway, in the spirit of sharing unsolicited advice with people who weren’t asking for it…I thought I’d throw these thoughts up here.