1. No One Can Find It

If you built a site but did not optimize it before submitting to search engines, don't expect to be found. Okay, you may be found for your company name -- but not for the important keywords that searchers will typically use when seeking the types of products and services you offer.

Not being found on the search engines may not be important to you if you have a big marketing budget and actively conduct campaigns to promote your site. But the majority of companies aren't in this position -- most are seeking lower cost options for promoting their sites. If this describes your situation, it's time to seriously look into search engine optimization. It works, it can be done with a limited budget and it can provide a high return on investment.

Learn more:

• Does It Still Pay to Optimize for Search Engines? [http://www.searchengineguide.com/wi/2002/0625_wi1.html]
• Free Search Engine Optimization Worksheet & Primer [http://popinteractive.com/services/search_engine_marketing.asp]

2. You Have No Call to Action -- or It's Buried in Your Site

What do you ultimately want your visitors to do?

• Purchase your products or services?
• Sign up for your mailing list?
• Take some other actions?

Can visitors take these actions on or within one click of your Home page? They can't on many sites. To make sure that your site is not one of them, include a call to action on your Home page and at appropriate points throughout your site. And I'm not talking about an implied sales message, but a clear and direct call to action.

Many companies shy away from this because they don't want to appear too aggressive. The reality is your visitors want you to make your call to action clear to them. They want to know from the start what they can accomplish on your site. I'm not suggesting that you include pushy sales pitches -- but I am saying you need to proactively invite your visitors to order, request, subscribe, signup, click or visit.

Find a tone that is appropriate for your site and add at least one specific call to action to your site today.

Read more:

• "How Many Holes Are in Your Bucket?" [http://clickz.com/sales/traffic/article.php/898531]

3. You're Lead Follow Up Is Lacking

Having a well defined strategy to follow up on any leads generated from your site is key to converting visitors to buyers. But we all know this is easier said then done -- especially if you have a tight budget.

When our clients are short on cash we dig deeper into our creativity. We suggest using your creativity to find cost effective ways to follow up on your leads.

To get the ideas flowing, we suggest reading this case study on the effective use of autoresponders:

• MarketingSherpa.com: "How to Use Autoresponder Emails to Turn Sales Leads Into Profitable Accounts" [http://www.b2bmarketingbiz.com/barrier.cfm?currentID=2096]