Don't make the mistake of
ignoring website promotion. Every website is selling something, be it a
product or a service, or maybe simply trust or a brand. This means you
need visitors; the more targeted, the better. Simply creating a great
site isn't enough, although it's an excellent first step. You need to be
out there actively promoting it if you truly want to achieve revenue
through your site.
Website promotion
may very well be the most important aspect of an online business, yet it
often gets overlooked. Many online businesses and websites put forth so
much effort into website design, yet completely neglect the promotional
aspects. This is a big mistake, and in fact I am going to give you nine
methods that you can start using today to promote a website
effectively.
Taking out annual
subscriptions in one or more of the major web catalogs (e.g. Inktomi,
FAST, AskJeeves, etc.) and business directories (e.g. YellowPages,
Superpages) can help garner some immediate traffic for your website. Web
Catalogs tend to work well for new sites, as they get you some all
important links in the early stages. Business directories work for
virtually any business as they put a listing (or ad) for your website
right in front of people looking for exactly what you're selling.
This is a fantastic
way to increase the importance of your website in the eyes of the
search engines. The rationale that the search engines use is that if
other sites are linking to yours, then your site must be important. A
link from another site to your site is considered a "vote" for your
site. The more of these votes, the better; to an extent, of course.
Steer clear of such black hat techniques as link farms and free for all
(FFA) sites. I recommend starting by asking your vendors, suppliers and
customers if they could link to your site in exchange for a link to
theirs. You could then branch out into related businesses that service a
different audience (e.g. a competitor in another city that you don't
service).
This step is
critical for any brand new website. You'll want to let the major search
engines know that your new site exists, and prompting them to visit it
with a search engine submission campaign is a great start. Don't bother
buying a big 1500-engine submission package ? there's only about 7 to 10
major search engines worth worrying about, and once you're listed on
these, the other 1490 will pick you up (not that they'll send you any
measurable traffic?). The controversy here is whether or not to continue
a submission campaign. Does it help an established site? Does it hurt
it? Our research indicates that it doesn't hurt. As to whether or not it
helps ? for some engines yes, for others no. A big tip to give you here
is to be sure to work hard to get your site listed in the important
directories like DMOZ and AltaVista.
4. Electronic Newsletter
An electronic
newsletter is a fantastic method for staying in touch with not only
existing customers, but potential customers as well. Provide useful,
interesting information on a regular basis and be sure that people can
subscribe and unsubscribe easily. Utilizing a good tool (e.g. Constant
Contact) will make your life easier and allow people to forward the
newsletter to their friends and colleagues (known as Viral Marketing).
You can also use the newsletter as a vehicle for announcements or
specials. Never charge anything to subscribers, and build your list by
running contests or promotions.
I saved this one
until last as I believe it is the single most important item in this
list. If you remember nothing else from this article, remember
pay-per-click (or PPC). By paying for visits from people who are
searching on keywords related to your product or service, you are almost
ensuring that your website will generate more revenue with a higher
conversion rate of visitors to customers. The more popular programs
include Google AdWords, Overture Content Match and Site Match, as well
as smaller players like FindWhat, Kanoodle and Mamma.
Google AdWords is a
great method to get the word out about your website. This promotional
technique works because it gives you the unique opportunity of targeting
the type of people who visit your website. This means that your traffic
is more likely to be interested in what you have to offer, hence you
will make more money.
The first thing you
need to do is get the word out about your website. This can be done
instantly by incorporating press releases into your marketing campaign.
Press releases are a great way to get the word out about your website in
a short period of time.
Twitter is a social
community of people, and you can easily find people with similar
interests to you. By doing this you are likely to connect with some
individuals that could promote your website, and perhaps even find some
customers.
Giving valuable
information in forums can be very effective, and does not take much work
on your part. Starting an interesting thread or contributing meaningful
posts will get the job done.
Use the power of
Youtube. Youtube is a great website and by posting videos advertising
your business then you can really get a lot of website traffic. Youtube
is a fantastic way to promote a website effectively because of the
amount of people that will potentially see your promotions.
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