Is it possible to launch a successful "internet only" perfume brand? (Part II)

This post is a continuation of my last post and the second in a three part series.

As has been said repeatedly, "CONTENT" is what builds visitor traffic on a website. "Content" generally refers to TEXT ... WORDS ... ARTICLES -- items that can be INDEXED by search engines. Photos do not qualify.

To be most effective, the CONTENT must relate to SEARCHES. If someone is LOOKING for particular information, and if your website offers the information that person is looking for, the search engines will guide the seeker to your website. This is "Internet 101" but it is often ignored or forgotten.

If there is no information on your website that will provide a resource for the seeker, search engines -- the most powerful advertising tool on the web -- will do NOTHING for you.

NOBODY is searching for your completely unknown, original, new fragrance because nobody knows it exists.

So your STARTING POINT in building your website-store is NOT your perfume. It has to be something else. BUT, that something else -- that CONTENT -- must be "content" that provides answers to search questions that might be asked by the very same people who will be prospects for your perfume. (I described these peoples in my previous post in this series.)

Let me give you an example. I sell (successfully) books and materials on perfume making on my website, PerfumeProjects.com. When starting that website, the most important "content" was what I called "The Museum of Modern Perfume" -- a series of articles and pictures of some great and not so great perfumes, on perfumers, and on marketers of perfume.

This "museum" draws a great many visitors interested in tracking the history of a bottle of perfume that their grandmother left when she died, people seeking information on a fragrance company they or a relative once worked for, and people simply trying to find out more about their favorite classic fragrance.

The museum has expanded over the years and brought more and more visitors to that website. The "hits" on that website have advanced its standing with the search engines and so, when people look for information on perfume making and perfume making supplies, PerfumeProjects.com is likely to be fetched up to them in response to their search -- meaning more sales for me.

Once you begin to develop a following, you can expand your product range, just like any sharp retailer. This means even more sales.

Now the museum content DOES NOT pull in visitors wanting to buy MY perfume -- just my supplies. But the concept is a step in the right direction -- getting my name known, building credibility, enhancing my reputation -- with the hope that, in time, people will go to my OTHER website -- my retail shop -- and try my perfume.

So, to build YOUR website, think in terms of what you might offer, to draw prospective customers to your website. It won't be your perfume itself -- at least not in the beginning -- but it might be some (original) information on how you MAKE your perfumes, on what inspires you, some technical details on perfume making that don't give away your trade secrets.

Think of YOUR own interests at they relate to perfume. I was interested in the development of modern fragrances and the people who created and sold them. You might be interested in natural perfumery, aromatherapy, spa products, exotic aroma materials -- or whatever. And if you write about your interest and post your articles on your website, you too are likely to start building up RELEVANT traffic on your website which, in time, could offer you a viable outlet for the perfumes that you make.

These are ideas for bringing good prospects to your website. Next I'll give you some thoughts about how to make the sale.

...to be continued.