We want to generate more sales on our websites and are wondering what are some effective ways to do this?

This is when the hard work begins. Here are some ideas for marketing your web site --

Internet Marketing Strategies and Techniques

Hello missyhardt,

Here are some simple pointers:

1. Website needs to tell your story effectively for visitors and search engines (SEO, Content, Design)
   
   
2. You need to have a blog where you write 300-word posts at least three times a week about your products available on your domain; (yourdomain.com/blog); not something like: (yourdomain.blogger.com)
   
   
3. Open a Twitter account and a Facebook account for yourself. Add a Facebook page for your website. Start looking for people who would be interested in your products and follow them, fan them, and start talking to them, building up your "fan base".
   
   
4. Create a weekly newsletter and a very prominent space on your website to sign up for it - advertise great deals and coupons if they sign up for it. As your email list grows, you are growing an invaluable prospect list of qualified customers.
   
   
5. If your site is linked to a brick and mortar business like a restaurant, you can add location services like foursquare, or perhaps do a coupon campaign with the likes of groupon.
   
   
6. Look for bloggers in the area of your expertise and see if they will let you write a guest blog post with links back to your site. Make sure the blogs you choose to write for have a better Google Pagerank than you do.
   
   
7. Lastly, I would have you create a bunch of product video demonstrations, depending on the products you are selling, the format will differ, but get those videos, whether they be screenshot demos or you talking into a webcam, up on youtube and promote them through your blog, twitter and facebook.

These items are basic marketing on the internet today. There are more things you can do, of course, it all depends on your product and business. A great new tactic for brick and mortar businesses is to use SMS messaging, (Text Messaging), to get their customers quick, 1:1 communication about specials, sales, etc.

Of course, most of these ideas are sweat equity solutions, you can also advertise on ad banner networks, Google AdWords and Facebook Advertising, if you have the budget.

Hope this helps. That was all free information usually billed by the hour ;)