Step Seven: Marketing Your Website
Internet Marketing
Your website is of little use to you if no one uses or visits it. Generally, your goal should be to generate traffic that will result in increased business. This means that using tricks to get more people to your site is probably not a good idea.
It also means that paying for advertising that does not deliver targeted traffic is not an effective use of your advertising budget.
We recommend the following:
• Use pay-per-click advertising rather than pay-per-impression advertising.
• List your website in the top 10-20 search engines . The top search engines generate 90-95% of web searches, so paying for services that claim to add your site to thousands of search engines is probably a waste of money. The "Master of the Search Engines" is Rankingloophole. You can even download a free trial version to check it out!
• Generate as much traffic as you can by trading links with companies whose content or products compliment those on your site.
• One of the most important marketing tools for your website is located right on your own site. That is, the keywords and description you use on your site (in the Meta Tags) have a huge impact on your placement in search engines and the traffic you get from them.
• Since search engines often do not index pages past the first level (link from the index page), you should put links to most of your key pages on the first page of your site. The more pages a search engines indexes from your site, the greater the chance that your site will be found. Don't forget to include keywords and description meta tags on each of those pages that are appropriate to the content of those pages.
• Pay only for visitors who buy products or services from you! In the meantime you will get free product branding and free traffic by setting up your own affiliate program. Once you have experienced the high cost of advertising online, you will realize that affiliate programs are generally a much more cost effective way of selling online, unless you sell a service or product that can only be delivered locally. This is really a GOOD DEAL!! You can set whatever commission structure you want. We do not recommend that you select payment per click, however, since you will end up paying your affiliates for traffic that may never buy a thing. The best system is to pay either a percentage or a flat rate - only if a sale is made!
• The best FREE traffic builder we have ever found is Exit Exchange. Your entire web page will be shown when visitor exit from other websites all over the Internet. Then the more people who find your page, the more traffic you get from that traffic. No more will you have to hope that someone clicks on some banner on another website. The click-through rate on banners is less than 1/2 of one percent. Since there is no click-through required with banner exchange, 100% of your credits on Exit Exchange will see you entire page, which you can change as often as you want! It doesn't get any better than this! Click on the graphic below to sign up. It's FREE !
Other suggested, low-cost ways to promote your online business:
• Business cards and business literature - Every piece of literature, all print ads, business cards, yellow page ads, stationary and every email you write should contain your company's web address. It is now so common to do so that people will assume you do not have a web site, if they do not see it listed on your company literature.
• Write articles for Internet newsletters - If you write well, you can get articles accepted in many online newsletters. When the article runs you will essentially be trading content (your article) for free advertising (your web address and email on the article).
• Local advertising on billboards and on the radio . This is one very good way to let customers know that you have a business online.
• Joining local chambers of commerce . We find that the smaller chambers are generally better because they actively promote their members. Much of our business has come through the chambers.
