- Search Engines
- First and very important, there are Search Engines and Directories. They provide relevant information to people
searching for certain subjects using keywords. You can put a title, a description and keywords that you think people will use to find you in your web pages.
And you can submit the URL of your site to these Search Engines.
Search Engines send out a robot or spider to visit your site and index all pages that it finds.
Directories have humans review your pages and make an entry in their database.
Once you are in the Search Engines/Directories, people can find you provided they use the keywords that you put in your pages. That's why picking the right keywords is so important as is a top ranking in the Search Engines/Directories. The Search Engines change their algorithm often. So this is an ever-ongoing struggle. But you will find out how to do it the correct way.
Web promotion through Search Engines/Directories is very powerful. If you have chosen the right keywords, have an exciting title and a enticing description, your targeted visitors will come automatically.
OK, next promotion tool.
- Your Newsletter (Ezine).
- Stay in touch with every subscriber to your newsletter and try to expand the number of subscribers. On every main page on your site you should have an option to subscribe. There are some sites out there, that summarize all
newsletters and you can submit yours too. Keep the content fresh, unique and enticing. Write most of the articles yourself.
- Write Articles
- For your own Newsletter, but also for others. Webmasters very much like articles from other people that deliver extra
value to their subscribers. And you are always allowed to add a small "Bio" at the end of every article with your name, service/product and your URL.
- Write a Press Release.
- Very powerful way of promoting your site, but quite difficult to get through to the editors/journalist. I personally have tried this only once without success, but I live in Europe, so I'm hard to reach for US-reporters.
If you can get an article about your product/service in a magazine, on radio or (local) TV, expect a flood of visitors.
- Advertising
- - Classifieds
You can advertise your product/service in Newsletters or on other sites. The point is to target your advertising so you
will get the most for your advertising dollar.
Sites with classifieds mostly place them in groups each covering a certain topic. For advertising in Newsletters you have to find one that targets your audience.
- Banners and Links.
You can display your banner on other sites. A banner is a small graphic containing an enticing message to visit your
site.
There are some big websites that exchange banners and links for free. For every 2 banners/links that you display on your site they will display your banner once on an other site.
Paid banner and link exchange sites often give you better tracking results.
Swapping links on a private site with targeted audience can sometimes be very profitable.
- SIG-files
- Little attachments to your Email messages containing your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and your URL.
Include it with every Email message you send and slowly "spread the word". Cost you nothing and gives some recognition. Use it.
SIG-files are often allowed in postings to Newsgroups. So if you contribute to the discussion of a certain newsgroup
or a forum on a website, your SIG-file is allowed to end your posting.
Almost always allowed when signing guestbooks on other sites. If the guestbook is visible for visitors and they
are in your target market, sign it and close with your SIG.
- Off line
- Often forgotten in the Internet business. But you should not underestimate the power of the off line possibilities.
Put your URL and Email address on your stationary, business cards, prospects, brochures, folders, greeting cards (Christmas, New Year), little give-aways, invoices and anything you can think of.
A little classified in a newspaper or magazine will be very different from what you have been used to. You see, all you now need is:
a compelling headline followed by your URL.
If the magazine or newspaper is targeted to your audience, chances are that your will receive visitors.
Don't forget this possibility and try it sometime.
- Endorsements
- One of the most powerful ways to sell products/services.
If you can find someone else with a sound customer base not competitive to yours he/she can endorse your product/service in exchange for a little profit.
Or you can endorse each other's products or services. The power of this method is that your product/service is endorsed by someone the customers know and trust.
If you come up with an excellent offer, the response to this kind of advertising is usually very high.
- Marketing
- OK, so far some methods.
Now all you have to do is:
-find out where your targeted visitors are,
-what method to use for your advertising and
-what the expenses will be.
Good promotion will make the difference whether or not you will be successful. And it's an ever ongoing activity.
So you must to spend a lot of time searching and finding good resources. One way to do that is to subscribe to very good Ezines (Newsletters).
Lots of people on the Internet are very experienced in this area, far more than I am. You can learn a lot from them. Therefore you must visit them. Below you find a few of the most excellent resources to explore.
Most of the resources below have gigantic sites.
Do NOT spend too much time here in this phase. I give these resources to you because they are outstanding so you get an idea of what the possibilities are.
I suggest you visit these sites just "lurk", try to remember the main structure, make a bookmark or add to your favorites and stop. Otherwise you get easily lost in the mountains of information.
Visit these sites later and learn what the content is piece by piece.
OK, here we go.
Demographics.
http://www.cyberatlas.com/
Search Engines
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/
Classifieds
http://www.classifieds2000.com/
News Releases
http://www.gebbieinc.com/
Ok, enough for now. Just to give you an idea. At the end of our program I give you an updated resource list.
I want you to concentrate on this program and I do NOT want to flood you now, although I may already have done that.
Now here's one thing you MUST do. There are lots of websites about the subject of today. Some of them are really outstanding and keeps you up to date about every development in this field.
The VERY BEST is Web Marketing Today at
http://www.wilsonweb.com/
Ralph Wilson delivers EVERYTHING you need to know about the subject. Again, a gigantic site, so explore gradually.
But you should subscribe to his Newsletter. Send an Email to:
join-web-marketing@sparklist.com
or subscribe at his site.
Even if you think the Internet is not for you, this will be a very important resource. If you want to, you can skip any
of the other sites, but NOT this one.
I will add other valuable resources about this topic in the new resource list at the end of this program.
If you can't solve problems just send an Email to:
Warm regards,
Case Stevens
Moderator
Web Promotion/Marketing - Top of Page
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