This often times can skyrocket sales for a small firm and help them grow exponentially. However, sometimes companies have real trouble attracting and retaining customers through their web site.

There are ways to retain customers after getting them make an initial purchase. These can include exceptionally fast service and shipping, follow up service calls and future opportunities for discount.

The trick is getting that first order because customers are often apprehensive to trust a brand new web site. For example, although security is getting better, people sometimes still worry about giving their credit card to a new company.

Fortunately, there are some easy ways to alleviate some of those concerns. These simple tricks will help hook your customers and hopefully make your website more useful.

Show fewer items on the front page

People can be overwhelmed by content if your web page has too many things on the first page.

Therefore, put only a couple of specials on the front page with more information about each of them. This has been shown to help lead people into the site instead of scaring them away. The older generations especially can be weighed down by flashy websites with too many options and items. Have enough information to catch their attention, but not too much that they think the product is too complicated.

Consider using hover ads

Pop ups used to be a great tool for advertising. Despite the fact that most people hated them, they still did their job.

However, because of the backlash from customers, pop ups are usually blocked now. Either by the browser itself, or a third party pop up blocker. This means that all the customers that used to be drawn in by pop ups need to be replaced by another form of advertising.

Hover ads are something new that could help your site get customers.

These ads are like pop ups in a way. However, they only appear when you roll your mouse over a link. Netflix.com, for example, makes extensive use of these features in their movie queuing system.

They are not as intrusive as pop up ads, and usually don't get blocked by pop up blockers. They can be placed on either your site or a third party site as a web ad. On other sites, your ad will pop up when they roll their cursor over a link, and the customer will be forced to usually click an X to close the ad down. This gets face time for your product, though.

Provide testimonials from happy customers

This may seem like a cheesy way to make customers feel comfortable, but it still works.

Customers naturally want to know what others think about a product or service. With the arrival of the internet, blogging and online communities, it is easier to find out about products.

It's best to take the bad with the good. Be sure that if you have an unhappy customer, they will be able to write about it and let other people know about their bad experience. If it's on your site, it gives you an opportunity to address the issue.

Hopefully, you will only have positive comments. Why shouldn't you let people know about all the great experiences customers have had at your site? Use real quotes from real customer letters, and make people feel more comfortable.

Establish security

Security is important on the internet.

Using the right software, secure servers and good online management teams is integral to the success of your site.

These can sometimes be expensive for a small business, but having customers information available on the internet is grounds for lawsuits and ruining the name of your company. Spend the money and make sure that no one can get into your customer records.

Instill urgency

Finally, an old sales trick.

Instill a sense of urgency in your customers. Make it seem like the current deals are the best ever and that they need to make a purchase now.

This can be done subtly or in a flashy way. However, it is important to make the customer feel exclusive and excited about being lucky enough to get one of your products. Instilling a sense of urgency can help facilitate this whole process.