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Today, there are 644 million websites on the Internet, many of them online businesses. That means a lot of competition if you are thinking of starting your own e-commerce business.

Getting Started

Doing business virtually is still doing business. Tom Antion of the Great Internet Marketing Training Site suggests you approach an online business the way you would with any other: find an in-demand product or service; create a business plan; then figure out what Internet path you want to take. “Focus on a few social media platforms that work for you,” says video strategist Miss K, who has successfully sold two online magazines.

Good Visuals Are Key

“Have clean page layouts,” says Krista Jackson, site manager of Internet retailer Ruby Bag. “Remember that clutter can be bad online. The easier your site is to navigate, the more likely you are to provide a positive user experience. No online shopper wants to work just to get through the website.”

A split test, says Antion, will let you see which designs attract the most attention. “This is how great online marketers maximize the value of every promotion,” he explains to Madame Noire.

Pictures alone don’t make a site great. Write text that is not only informative but attracts attention. “Learn to write sales copy which will also apply to your videos and articles,” says Antion.

Keep Them Coming Back For More

Don’t just look for one-time users, you want to develop relationships with your customers so they keep coming back for more. Special deals and regular sales can help with that. “Deals have increased our sales, as well as promoted customers to return to our site in order to see what the new deals are,” says Jackson, who also emphasizes the positive business impact of good customer service.

How To Promote Your Online Business

To keep your customer base growing, you need to consistently promote your site. Steve Caradano, founder of Italian luxury bed linens seller Vero Linens, turned to bloggers to promote his site and products. He blogged himself as well. “I blogged like crazy. [S]earch engines like new and fresh content. I found other bloggers that had huge followings and sponsored a product giveaway. Regardless of how much I could spend on advertising, I could never tell my message as effectively as they do and with their credibility,” he says.

Using the right keywords for your business is also a way to drive people to your site.

And promote your business directly to your customers. “A lot of e-commerce businesses don’t use social channels or their email newsletters to their advantage,” notes Jackson. ”These are all great ways to have a conversation with your customers. Businesses are really missing out when they don’t use those channels to hear back from their customers about what they want.”

And, don’t forget offline promotion. “Network offline to promote your online business,” Miss K tells us. “Use video as an cost-effective and powerful way to promote your business.”

“I know there are women who don’t necessarily want to wear the Basketball Wives earrings, because they’ve seen them on TV and on everybody else. Even though they’re fabulous, some people just want to make their own statement,” said Crystal Whalum, founder of online jewelry and accessory boutique STONEnyc.

With a mission that seeks to empower women to embrace a style that is uniquely theirs, Whalum spends her time scouting jewelry from independent designers that are above all, different. Showcasing jewelry and accessories of limited availability; STONEnyc’s specialty is statement pieces.

“I began to meet different designers and I’d see people on the street that would ask, ‘Where did you get that fabulous piece?’ A lot of the time I would go to indie markets and find designers,” said Whalum.

“That’s where I got the idea of featuring independent designers. Through research and taking my time everything came together. It took me a little over a year to get things together to launch.”

The Look of a Launch

Acting on a push, given by her husband, Whalum launched in 2010. Prior to STONEnyc she worked as a PR and marketing professional creating campaigns for the Food Network. The idea of opening a boutique, Whalum says, was something that was always in the back of her mind.

(Entrepreneur) — Before you determine a budget and choose a technology solution for your online business, there are four important questions to answer. Once you are confident in your answers to these four questions, you can use your answers to help choose the type of website you need, the technology solution that can deliver the functionality you want and a budget for development, hosting, maintenance and marketing.

1: What do your customers need?  Websites are too often built with the needs of the business owner in mind rather than the needs of the customer. Talk to some prospects and customers to find out if there are any health and fitness problems that a website can solve for them. Then, build your website with your customer needs at the center of the strategy.

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(Small Business Trendz) — It’s the Fourth of July here in the U.S., and small business owners around the world are celebrating their independence with increased activity in the online space. Working online allows small businesses access to new global markets, opportunities for new low cost marketing options and an incredible new array of networking and other tools. Here’s our roundup of tips for the online entrepreneur. Have something you think we’ve missed? Share it in the comment section below:

Blogging: Does your business have a blog? Lots of businesses do and are finding the benefits offered by business blogging. Giving your small business an enhanced online presence could include experimenting with the many advanced features a blog offers. A simple Website may not cut it these days. What do you want to achieve with your business communications? A blog may help. – Small Business Shift

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(Min Online) — Media came on strong as the summer months ramped up online. According to the latest figures from comScore, Oprah.com reached 4.1 million unique users in June, up 59% from May. The CSMonitor site rose 58% to 4.2 million unique, and ESPN properties were up 21% to 25.3 million unique. No doubt the worldwide firestorm Rolling Stone ignited with its profile of General Stanley McChrystal fueled Wenner Media’s 29% increase in audience, to 5.8 million. As we report in Monday’s issue of min, Wenner reports that by its count RollingStone.com alone had 4.7 million uniques in June off of that blockbuster story. More impressive, the average session time was six minutes.

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