Wondering if a web site is worth the time and expense? Read these Internet marketing tips to make sure you are making the most of your store. Bookseller John Ptak shares his experience on how he built his successful web site.

John Ptak was an early adapter of internet technologies, taking his business on-line as early as 1995, joining the databases such as Bibliofind (now defunct) and ABE, as well as creating his own web site: www.thesciencebookstore.com. As the web site name implies, Ptak's store specializes in used, rare, and antiquarian science books. He also carries extensive stock in mathematics, as well as antiquarian prints. Ptak used Microsoft Front Page to build his original web site. He created META tags using keywords such as "science books" and "rare science books"; he also included several scientific categories such as "quantum physics" and "astronomy". He submitted his site to the major search engines. Carrying a wealth of creative content, Ptak attracted numerous visitors to his site.

Despite his efforts, listing books on his site was a manual process, involving exporting text from his database and manually converting the data into his html pages. His site only listed a small sample of his extensive stock, and there was no real method for site visitors to place orders. While the databases provided a steady source of income, sales from his web site were nil. With over 20,000 books in his Georgetown store, along with a whole warehouse of books nearby, Ptak decided it was time to take the next step.

Ptak engaged a web-development team to assist him with a complete overhaul of his web site. The first step was organizing his database so that he was able to catalogue his stock more quickly and completely. His redesigned site included a back-end inventory management system that allowed him to assign categories, sub-categories, and keywords to listings. He catalogs his stock directly , and his new system allows him to automatically export his records pre-formatted for the bookselling services such as ABE and Alibris. At the same time, with a predefined category system, he was now able to provide category and subcategory listings on his site, in addition to a full database search capability. Now site visitors are able to browse through his stock at their leisure.

Provide detailed catalog descriptions. Use keywords.

Browsable categories also provide the search engines the ability to index the database by following links. Extensive use of categories, sub-categories, and keywords improve searchability, and Ptak's long catalog descriptions increase an item's likelihood of being returned in a search. The new site also expanded upon Ptak's use of META tags, by creating individual pages for some of his specialty areas. These individual pages include more specific keywords than the general sciences tags previously used, and focus specifically on the stock Ptak offers in each specialty area. Separate pages for each major category are submitted to search engines with targeted META tags. Careful attention is placed upon proper page layout to improve search engine rankings.

Provide a shopping cart system that accepts credit cards.

The next major improvement to the site was the addition of a shopping cart. Studies have shown that on-line sales can increase by as much at 400% through the ability to accept credit cards on-line. On-line sales began to trickle in immediately upon the implementation of a shopping cart on www.thesciencebookstore.com.

Create an email list. Send newsletters.

Ptak has been collecting email addresses from customers and potential customers for years. Email addresses are collected on his site from customers as well as shoppers posting their wants. His mailing list now includes over 1600 email addresses and he sends periodic announcements regarding new stock additions and features on the site. The mass emails get a 10% or better click-through rate, often with repeat customers returning and resulting in a sale. Future plans include targeting emails listing new acquisitions to customers by specific areas of interest.

Promote your business and web site to related professional organizations.

In addition to the occasional antiquarian book fair, Ptak also promotes his store and his site by attending trade shows related to the sciences. He gives away freebies, such as calendars, containing his web site address, and collects email addresses to add to his list. He also maintains contact with several professional organizations such as the American Physical Society, where he receives occasional mention in their publications. (see How Much Are Those Old Phys Rev's Worth, Anyway? http://www.aps.org/apsnews/0201/020115.html )

Provide content.

Ptak's site contains a wealth of "free stuff" - designed to entice the occasional student or others interested in the history of science to spend time on his site. Obscure e-texts, transcribed from his archives, include titles such as "Radium and Health, 1915", "Recipes for the Laboratory, 1865", "Telephony in Surgery" and "Was Homer Color Blind?" are a sample of his featured titles. He also includes downloadable images, numerous links related to the sciences and history of science, and a sampling of science related e-texts. One of the most popular features on the site is PHYSICS by Aristotle, translated by R. P. Hardie and R. K. Gaye. This page draws an average of 300 visitors to the site each month.

Provide more content. Update and refresh it often.

Recent additions to Ptak's content rich site include an interactive Chronology in the History of Science and a new Quantum Physics page including comprehensive bibliographic references. The chronology focuses on Science, Medicine, and Physics. The bibliography serves up links to his related stock. Both features provide fodder for the search engines, attracting web browsers interested in his specialized stock. Ptak's content attracts links from numerous major universities and science-related web sites, helping to increase his search engine popularity.

An internet search on Google for Science Books brings up www.thesciencebookstore.com in the top three. This is a direct result of Ptak's efforts in his web site's development. Although this kind of positioning can be purchased with a lot of money, Ptak does not pay for search engine placement.

www.thesciencebookstore.com has approximately 10,000 books listed . The site receives 7600 visitors per month, up 50% in November 2001, compared to March 2001. 1500 of these monthly visitors are repeat visitors. The average visitor stays 118 seconds, however serious browsers stay on the site for as long as an hour or more. Approximately 1% of visits result in a sale, and the average sale is $75.00.

Ptak believes that his web site has increased his customer base and customer loyalty: "The cost of developing and hosting a web site is small compared to the thousands of hours invested in accumulating and cataloging the stock."

Ptak's experience demonstrates that a web site is a profitable investment if given the proper attention and resources. He will continue to develop his site, and is considering a sister site devoted solely his extensive inventory of antiquarian prints and maps.