All Articles

How to Promote your Website

Posted by Admin on March 18, 2010

How to promote your website

A good web developer knows many tricks that will help optimize your site for search engines. Your developer may use keywords, page descriptions, optimized content, site maps and search engine submissions. But ultimately, your site belongs to you, and you will want to do whatever you can to market it. By following these simple steps, you can promote your site and help drive traffic to it.

1. Drive traffic to your site with links

Incoming links can drive traffic to your site and can improve your search engine ranking. Because Google and other major search engines consider sites with many incoming links to be relevant sites, links to your site can improve your page rank (a measure of the quality and quantity of links, used by Google). Keep in mind, links from reputable sites will help your page rank more than links from sites with low traffic.

Submit Your Site to Business Directories

A link from a directory will help your page ranking and may drive traffic to your site. There are many business directories – many are free, but some require a payment for inclusion of your site.

When looking for directories, you may want to consider the free Open Directory Project, a worldwide directory managed by volunteer editors. It may take quite some time before your listing appears, but a link from this directory will go a long way in promoting your site.

Submit Your Site to Industry Sites and Directories

Many directories and websites cater to specific industries. If you are a member of a trade or industry association, ask for a link from their site to yours. There may be a cost associated with this type of link, but it will help improve your Page Rank.

Embrace Local Google

Sign up for a local listing with Google’s local business center. Local customers are searching for the products and services you offer. Signing up with local Google is free, and it makes you easier to find on Google searches and on Google maps.

2. Become an author

Write articles

You can noticeably increase traffic to your site by writing articles in your area of expertise and by submitting them to article sites such as EzineArticles.com or by distributing them to magazine or newsletter editors. If you include a link to your site and a description of your services at the end of any article you write, you’ll gain publicity anywhere the article appears. This form of viral marketing can result in many links to your site over time.

Write press releases.

If something newsworthy is happening with your business or in your industry, send a news release to any print or web news sources. Make sure you include a link to your site because if your release is published, the link may increase the popularity of your site for the time that it remains active.

Write a blog

If you want people to link to your site, a blog can be a very useful tool. If you offer well-written, industry-specific content, people are likely to link to it, thereby increasing your Page Rank.

3. Embrace Social Media

Like it or not, social media is not a topic to be taken likely. In social media sites, online visitors interact with each other by posting statuses and blogs and by responding to others’ comments. Involvement in social media may seem time consuming, but social media can help promote your site by generating links and sending direct traffic.

Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Plaxo, blogs and forums provide some of the best online communities for promoting your business. Search online to find industry-relevant blogs and discussion forums, and get involved. Forum members and moderators may frown if you overtly pedal your products, so instead, include your company name in your signature block, and contribute honestly to the discussion. As people get to know you and trust you, your words will help to market your site and will ultimately drive traffic to the site.

4. Stick with the tried and true

Embracing new media opens up many new opportunities, but that doesn’t mean the old strategies are obsolete. A mixture of old and new marketing strategies can be very effective when it comes to increasing traffic to your site.

Print Strategies

Add Your URL to any print advertising you produce, including your business cards, your stationery, publications or brochures you send out, classified or listed ads, or in articles or press releases you send out.

Email Strategies

E-mail is a simple and effective way to bring people to your website. If you include your company name, phone number and URL in your email signature, you increase the chances of people visiting your site. E-mail newsletters also provide a medium by which you can promote your business and drive traffic to your site. E-newsletters give you a chance to share news and to keep in touch with your customers and prospects, and unlike a blog, your E-newsletter arrives in your customer’s inbox, asking to be read.

5. Advertise your Site

When it comes to online advertising, there are several pricing models: CPC (Cost per click), CPM (Cost per thousand impressions), CPA (Cost per action), and there are many sites offering banner ads and listings. Look for sites that offer targeted advertising; not only will you increase traffic to your site, but you will attract visitors from your target market. If you are planning to invest in online advertising, start with a small purchase, expect to find yourself immersed in a learning curve, and calculate your return on investment before spending more.

Advertise in industry and trade magazines and newsletters

Small ads that specifically target your intended audience can be a great way to drive traffic to your site, and if the publishers are small, they may offer great advertising rates.

The ideas presented here can help get you started, but you may want to talk to your web developer, then choose the ideas that suit your specific business and marketing strategies and that you feel can most effectively promote your site.

A well designed website can be your personal sales assistant

Posted by Admin on January 06, 2010

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a personal assistant – one who can answer questions honestly and quickly, who can take messages for you, who is willing to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and who is willing to work for pennies a day? We all know such a person does not exist, or do they?

A website is just like an underpaid, super talented sales assistant that takes on some of your workload and frees up your time in a very unique and digital way.

What traits would you look for in a great sales assistant? Would you want them to look professional? take your calls and get to know your customers? have in-depth knowledge about your products and prices? convince customers to take action – make a purchase, come again, or book an appointment?

Realtors, financial advisors, personal trainers, consultants, or artists; whatever your profession, a virtual sales assistant can provide immeasurable benefits:

1. Sales sites offer 24/7 support: Even when your business is closed, your website stays open, offering product and service information to your potential clients.

2. Websites cater to introverts and extroverts alike: Websites help people make decisions by arming them with knowledge and information. Introverts are quiet by design; they aren’t likely to pick up the phone or walk in to talk with you until they have done as much online fact-finding as possible. For these people, the Internet is a very valuable tool, and your virtual sales assistant/website will be your most valuable ‘employee’. And don’t forget the extroverts; they too will appreciate the information you share on your site.

3. Your website can effectively prospect for new clients: An effectively search engine optimized site can attract customers who may not have otherwise phoned or shown up at your place of business.

4. Your website can be professional and knowledgeable: Like a great sales person, your website can be appealing, charismatic, equipped with in-depth product knowledge and up to date information, and can make a great pitch. You have complete control over the information your sales assistant presents, and you can change and rework that information until you get it just right.

5. Your salesperson can convince customers to return: Like a great sales assistant, your site can convince people to come back. Keep your site content dynamic and fresh, giving visitors a reason to return and see what’s new.

6. Your sales assistant should get to know people on a personal level: Getting to know people isn’t easy to do in the virtual world, but it’s certainly not impossible. A carefully designed site can gather visitor information. Your site might offer newsletter subscription, product sales, friend referrals or marketing surveys. A visitor who interacts with your site can give you a name and contact details. In other words, a visitor who interacts with your site becomes a lead.

7. Your sales assistant should be able to close a deal or get you one step closer to closing: Your site design should mimic your real life strategy when it comes to closing a sale. If you are selling products, an online shopping cart might be in order. If you are selling services, you might need an online signup or contact form.

8. Follow up: The actual sale should not be the end of the sales process. Satisfied customers can lead to repeat business and referrals. Your sales assistant should ask your customers what they thought of their experience. In the online world, customer satisfaction surveys or short post-sales polls (built into your site) can give great feedback and can help you to improve your sales strategy.

A website can look great, can help convert leads into sales and can deliver your marketing message when you aren’t available to do it yourself – and all for less money than you would pay a personal assistant. It may not have credentials and a resume, but it is certainly capable of doing a great job.

How Important is Website Content?

Posted by Admin on October 24, 2009

We all know that the most successful websites have mastered the combination of certain elements: colour scheme, layout, graphics, and navigation/usability. An aesthetic site with enticing graphics and carefully planned usability will leave a great first impression.

But what about content? The importance of site content is often overlooked, but it is as significant, if not more so, than the other elements that make a site ‘great’. A beautiful site leaves a great first impression. But a site with great content gives visitors a reason to come back.

In this technological age when people turn to the internet as a key source of information, content is the most valuable gift your site has to offer. If customers read top notch content on your site, they are likely to return. When a visitor reads something on your site and says, “Wow…this guy really knows what he’s talking about”, he suddenly becomes a lot more likely to come back. He might give you a call, and he might decide he wants to buy whatever you are selling.

Getting your point across to site visitors and potential customers is the key reason to have a website. You may think of your site as an online brochure, but it can be (and should be) much more. Your content should be stimulating, dynamic and should apply to your visitors’ lives and interests. Your site should promote you and your business. It should give potential clients the nudge they need to buy your products and services or to come back soon for another look.

Great content

can convince potential customers that you “know your stuff”
can increase traffic to your website
can add to site popularity by convincing customers to come back
can turn leads into sales
can increase page rank
can help generate a good Return on Investment

When you have something important to say, people will listen – or read – in the case of a website. If you want your site to be successful, you cannot compromise when it comes to your content. By combining great content with the more aesthetic elements of a successful site, you stand a much better chance of attracting repeat visitors and converting them into loyal, profitable customers.

10 Reasons to Have a Website

Posted by Admin on September 16, 2009

Your business may not need a website. If you are happy with your market share, if you have no expansion plans, if business comes your way via word-of-mouth, and if your online competitors cause you no concern, you probably don’t need a website. This doesn’t describe our business, and if it doesn’t describe yours either, you probably need a website.

There are 1.5 billion reasons to consider launching a website, but 10 is a more manageable number, so here they are: 10 reasons to launch a website.

1. To give your business an online presence: Almost 75% of North Americans (that’s 250 million people) use the Internet. Worldwide, over 1.5 billion people are “logging on” ¹. They may not all be in your target market, but with an online presence, your message has the potential to reach over a billion people.

2. To market your products and services: A website is the perfect venue for showcasing your products and services. A website is a brochure, ad, business card and billboard all rolled into one. Depending on how interactive your site is, you may even be able to sell your products and services directly from your site.

3. To offer better customer service: With a website, you are open for business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Your site can detail your products, services, prices, and business hours, and with a single mouse click, your customers can send you an email or post a message on your site.

4. To keep your customers up-to-date: Things change. Businesses change. Prices, product offerings, hours of operation, contact information; all of these things change. A website is flexible, so it can also change, and it can do so quickly.

5. To save money: Yes, there are development and maintenance costs associated with launching a website, but compared to more traditional forms of advertising – TV, radio, newspaper, magazine, telemarketing, direct mail, etc. – launching a website is relatively inexpensive.

6. To make your advertising more dynamic: Changing printed advertising can be costly and may be impossible post-production. With a website, however, you can make changes almost instantly. It’s never too late to correct an error or launch a new product or service. If you know a little html or use a content management system, you can even maintain your own site, saving more time and money.

7. To save a tree: One website certainly won’t save the environment. But you might save a tree. A useful business website can dramatically reduce your need for direct mail, newspaper ads and business cards.

8. To reach a new market: Your website can be customized to target any market. If you want to concentrate on a local, national or a global market, you can do so with a website. If you want to attract scuba divers, quilters, mountain bikers, new parents or members of any other niche, a website is a great way to showcase your expertise to your chosen market.

9. To compete: Does your competitor have a website? Your clients may be finding your competitor’s site when they search online. And if your competitors don’t have sites, now is your chance to gain some momentum.

10. To gather information: What do site visitors think of your company, your products or your customer service? What would they like you to change? If you want to know something, use an online poll or survey to gather information. Also, check your site analytics to find out exactly how many people are visiting your site and which pages they are reading.

And because 10 is really just an arbitrary number, I’m going to share point #11 which happens to be just as important, if not more so, as the first 10:

11. You get one chance to make a first impression: If someone searches for your business online and cannot find it, you’ve made a first impression – but not a good one. Don’t be afraid to invest some time and energy into launching a successful, professional website. It may very well be the first impression you make.

¹ http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm