Posted: October 27th, 2009 | Author: Justin Howley | Filed under: Search Engine Optimization, Search Marketing | 1 Comment »
A great and free way of getting some link backs to your site as well as promoting certain products to a wider range of customers is using news article sites such as e-zine articles. Sites like these offer content for use to re-post on other websites. You write an article, and someone in need of web content related to your subject will post it on their site. The benefit to you, they need to include a link to your site to credit you for the content. Pending on how general your topic is, it could be re-used on dozens or hundreds of sites. That means dozens or hundreds of link backs to your site, which in turn can significantly boost your search ranking.
Another simple way of promoting your website is to create a press release. There are many sites online that will publish your news and send to the local news wires. The news should be something significant to warrant having a press release such as a launch of a local web business or new product. This will certainly get temporary traffic to your site. This is great to tie this into a product you may be promoting heavily on your site that you want customers to see.
Posted: October 27th, 2009 | Author: Justin Howley | Filed under: Search Marketing | No Comments »
Sometimes large marketing tactics with a small business marketing budget isn’t possible, this is where you need to get creative, go grass roots and get your guerilla marketing on! Getting quality visitors to convert better is tougher to come by. People are keen on bait and switch and other scams, so integrity and quality on your site is important.
The basics which have been covered many times is to setup simple search engine ads through all the top search engine companies. The cost is determined by the keyword you bid on to have your ad show up. The more you’re willing to spend on one click of your ad with a related keyword, the higher you’re placed in the ad results section of the search engine. A way to stretch your budget out is to do some research with International search engines. Most other markets may be cheaper to bid on highly sought after keywords. Also look for alternate keywords related to your product. Don’t always go for the obvious. Use one of the dozens of keyword tools online to determine what is best for your company. Try simple misspellings of certain keywords also.
Next is to brand everything with your domain name. Business cards, email signature, social networking profile pages. Depending on your business model and product offering, you should post flyers with your domain name and offering. Your goal should be to drive as much traffic as possible to your site for little to no cost for the first few months.
Submit your sites URL to all of the top search engines. There usually is an add URL link on their sites but sometimes you have to search around for it. Submit it to directories such as dmoz.org.
Search for user forums related to your business. Get active with posting on the forums, gain credibility, don’t blatantly promote, but discuss with others and drop light mentions of your business and always have your URL in your profile signature.
Social networking sites are great for promoting your business. Make a profile on a few sites like facebook, linked in and twitter with the name of your business. Keep people informed with new products and ideas not only on your main website but in these areas also. Word of mouth buzz is priceless when looking for traffic to your website.
Small strategies like this can gain momentum and you will see a better return on your investment rather than throwing money away without really knowing what works best, and what quality leads and customers your getting.
