There has been a mild controversy of late as to which is best.

(1). A web site that is built on selling a product Or.....

(2). A content-rich site that is used to provide visitors with valuable and useful information.

There is a lot to be said for both points of view, after all it has been proven that they both can be used to develop a successful web site.

Internet entrepenuer Marlon Sanders believes in developing a web site designed to sell.

Ken Evoy, of the best selling e-book "Make Your Site Sell" advocates a content-rich site as the priority.

The late marketing expert, Cory Rudl, believed in both.

All of these men were (and are!) extremely successful. All did things according to their own ideas.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Sales Only Approach

As I have said, there is a lot to be said for both points of view. The sales page is effective enough if done right. The sales page is after all, probably the fastest way to make money in a way. When selling a product you have nothing to delay or distract visitors from your objective, which is to sell that product. Especially if you have a high-priced product of high quality .

Also, if you sell one product at a time (which is reccommended) on your site, there will be little confusion because you are able to focus on sales and sales alone. And for the natural sales person, that is just fine.

Or course there is a downside to this as well. If you do not get the sale, and do not have an adequate method to follow-up on that visit, you could lose the visitors entirely. It takes a real marketing expert to overcome this obstacle, although you can used pop overs and other follow-up devices to help you get their e-mail address.

To make a long story short, it is still a hit or miss proposition and sometimes takes weeks, months, and even years to perfect.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Having a Content -Based We Site

What about a content site? Well the main advantage of operating a web site that concentrates on giving visitors to your web site valuable content is it gives you the opportunity to develop relationships to those who visit your web site.

It draws prospects and customers in time.

But there are examples of online businesses that have been financially successful, by giving away free content and developing relationships with customers. They have used a method called "viral marketing" which gives away free information such as ebooks, reports, and newsletters which contains links to their products.

My own personal experiences have proven that this is a good way to do business. For one thing, it does not require a lot of salesmanship or marketing know-how. It does require a lot of work and I do not reccommend it to the "get rich quick crowd".

With a content focused web site, you can build credability with your customers, get their e-mail addresses, and market to them. And you don't have to worry if you do not get a sale right away.

You can also build your rankings in the search engines valuable content and bring more traffic to your site. Good content builds up your credibility as well.

In time you can develop a large mailing list and sell to that list. It increases your chances of long-term success.

But it also takes a lot of time and study of your market. But most of all it takes a lot of patience. One well known marketer refered to marketing as "watching the grass grow"!

So in conclusion, both of these methods can help bring traffic to your web site.

You could try both ways.

But decide what is best for you. Good content can be added to a sales site and a sales page can be added to a content site.

Of course, in the end, the choice is yours. After all........

It is your business; isn't it?

Ric Brothers- Successful Marketing 4 Home Businesses-Online For more free information visit www.successfulmarketing4homebusinesses-online.com