Below are the 18 most common mistakes people make when selling ebooks online. Review your web site with this list in hand, and avoid these costly mistakes.

1. The title does not fit the contents of the ebook. The title of a book needs to convey some idea of the subject of the book. It must also be worded in a way that is effectively focused on the target audience.

2. The title or the subtitle of the ebook does not clearly indicate the benefits buyers will receive by purchasing the ebook. Expressing this on the ebook cover helps to support the text in your sales letter.

3. Me-oriented sales letter to satisfy the ego of the author. Instead, write a compelling sales letter with an attention-getting, benefit-oriented headline, focus on your customers and tell them what's in it for them.

4. Not providing several ordering options. Make it easy to buy from you by providing several ordering options, including a secure online order form, an 800 number, and a fax number.

5. Not accepting credit cards. Offer several payment methods, including major credit cards. The majority of sales will come from online orders paid with credit cards. If you are not accepting credit cards online via a secured server, you will lose sales.

6. Trying to be everything to everyone instead of having a unique selling advantage.

7. Missing or hard-to-find contact information. Mention your contact information on every page to build trust and make it easy to buy from you.

8. Not identifying the author. Either on the ebook cover image, or somewhere on the web site, the identity of the ebook author should be clearly displayed. In the vast majority of cases, without someone they can identify with, your customers may feel less confident about purchasing anything from your site.

9. No guarantee. Reduce the perceived risk by offering a money back guarantee.

10. Not using an ebook cover image at all. People like to see what they are buying, even if what they “see” is only a symbolic representation.

11. Using only a flat, two-dimensional cover image. This is better than #10 above, but it is still not as effective as a 3-dimensional cover image. The 3-D image gives the potential buyer the sense that what they would be buying is indeed real.

12. The title and subtitle fonts are unreadable at the small size of the ebook cover image. This diminishes the positive effect a 3-D cover can have on a potential buyer.

13. Using inappropriate images on the cover for the title/contents of the ebook. At the least, this will dilute the impact of your ebook cover. At worst, the wrong image will negate any positive affect the cover, title, and even the sales letter might have had.

14. Choosing colors for the cover that are not appropriate for the target audience or clash with the colors used on the web site itself. Colors have very real impact. The affect the wrong colors will have on your potential customers can range from very little to very profound.

15. Poorly done 3-D effect of the cover image. This could quite possibly wipe out any positive affect arising from having a 3-D cover. Also, customers will judge you by what they find on your site. If your text and images are professional quality, then they will feel more confident about buying from you.

16. Lack of marketing. You need to market your web site for visitors to find you.

17. Lack of keywords in your web content, page titles, and description. This will result in poor search engine positioning. Optimizing your site will go a long way towards getting free search engine traffic.

18. Lack of support information. Build trust by providing a table of contents, reviews, and testimonials.

Avoiding these pitfalls and making the needed changes will greatly increase your ebook sales!

Ebook Cover Resources

The best option for designers: Use PhotoShop Actions to create ebook covers. Click here to get more information about using PhotoShop Actions to create ebook cover images.

The best option for the graphically challenged: Use specialized ebook cover generators to create ebook covers. eCover Generator is easy to use and generates quality ebook cover images. Visit eCover Generator for more information.