There are 3 basic ways online shoppers will find your web site:

1. Word of mouth
2. Links to your web site
3. Search engines

Word of mouth means someone passed it on through an email or told a friend during a conversation. Either way this is a great way of getting targeted shoppers to you web site.

Links from other web sites pointing to your web site can also help potential customers to discover your web site. Exchanging web site links with other web sites that are somewhat relevant to your business can be a great way of driving targeted traffic to your web site at no cost. Personal blogs from previous customers who have linked to your web site can be both a good testimonial for your business and help drive new customers to your web site. In addition, most manufacturers have store locators on their web sites with information and links to resellers' web sites. This too can help new potential customers find your store's web site.

Search engines are the most common way online shoppers will find your web site, such as: Google, Yahoo!, MSN and AOL. Most people today with high speed Internet connections are using the Internet as their Yellow Pages. This is why it is becoming so important for businesses to add search engine marketing to their overall marketing strategies. More on search engine marketing in future posts.