Promoting a Website is not an easy task. New Website Developers may have the impression of building a Website and sales are generated. This is far from true. There are millions of Websites. Within those millions, there are bound to be competitors. To rise above, or obtain a portion of the market-share, developers need to utilize an effective promotion campaign.
Establishing a Website is not much different than a brick-and-mortar business. Open a Deli in the heart of a City and millions of potential customers will pass daily. In contrast, open the Deli in the suburbs, and there would be one quarter of the potential customers. Obviously, the City would be much more expensive to get started and maintain, but the revenue should provide for the added expense.
The same holds true in Website Promotion. However, the landscape is different. There are no streets and sidewalks customers have to use. Therefore, our businesses need to be found by customers in a variety of places. It needs to be brought to the potential customer, or viewable from wherever they may be lurking.
Where do we start with Website Promotion?
One of the topics sweeping the developer's world is Optimization. The internet will naturally bring potential customers, if the site is optimized properly. Computers work hard on matching relevant information. This is a huge benefit to e-business owners.
Before promotion begins, or altering existing efforts, understand the Internet's backbone. Why has the World Wide Web become popular? Most should agree, information retrieval rules. Internet users don't have to sit down and watch television waiting for local weather. They don't have to wait for news of interest. They don't have to drive to find the best prices. They don't have to look through cook-books to find a recipe. They don't have to talk to salespeople for a car. Today it's all on the, "information," super highway.
As a developer, focus on information delivery before beginning promotion of a Website. If a page can be divided into two topics, make two separate pages. Over-use of graphics can present problems too. While it's nice to make a Site pretty, most people don't care. They want the information or products they are seeking. Sectors such as art could be an exception, but for the most part, lots of graphics are a waste. People read on the internet. Give people something to read, not just something to view.
Promotion Budget
If launching a new campaign, it may take time to decipher an effective budget. There are simple variables that should be considered with budgeting. Given the potential scope of a Website, advertising should be devoted to different areas of the site. For example, paying to promote the free portion of a Website is not logical. In contrast, a free forum may sell advertising. The advertising segment of the site should be exploited.
There is a simple formula to develop a budget. If a site is new, it takes some research and investment to draw an accurate conclusion. Put simply, consider the following; how many potential customers are required to make a sale? From each sale, how much profit is generated? Of the profits, how much is invested into advertising? This identifies the value of potential customers. If ten customers make one sale, and ten dollars are allocated towards advertising, each customer is potentially worth one dollar. However, room for growth could be made by reducing the value of a potential customer or increasing the advertising contribution. A competitive sector may force reduced profits rather than reduced value of potential customers.
Comprehensive budgeting could be applied to aspects of the business. Promote each aspect as a unique entity. For example, a Website that sells music and movies could have separate budgets for the segments. This could reveal vital information to the survival of a business. Implement effective models that assist in tracking expense and results. This is fairly simple with website statistics and tracking tools.
Free Traffic Promotion ? Keywords and Phrases
When it comes to free traffic, it's about information retrieval. People utilize tools that provide information accurately and quickly. These tools rely on the developer's interpretation of a Website or page (On-Site Optimization). What is the Website or page about? What phrases are people looking for that want to use this site? Information retrieval is a complicated double-edge-sword between people surfing the web and people creating the web. When the people creating the web do not create clear and focused pages, people surfing the Web cannot find them.
Free traffic is a gift from creating user friendly pages, clearly focusing on a specific topic, and the result of promotion efforts. It stems from a good balance. While free traffic primarily comes from Search Engines, it also comes from referring sites. People will write about a Website in blogs, forums, or on their personal pages. People will add links to Sites they like.
If developers hunt for free traffic, problems can arise. Hunting for free traffic has made developers try tricks that got the site removed from Search Engines. This can present a big problem as they are a large source of free targeted traffic. Keep free traffic in mind while promoting a Website, but don't make it the focus of promotion. It will come naturally over time. Take it as a gift and an acknowledgement that a Website has been optimized well, presents clear information, and is promoted in the right places. Although some may argue the point, don't anticipate quality free traffic to begin immediately. It takes extensive thought, advertising, and planning for this to happen, especially within competitive sectors.
Promoting in Directories
One place to start promoting a Website is Website Directories. Most directories are organized by topic. Some are more comprehensive than others. In addition, there are, "Niche," directories that focus on one topic. For example, there are directories for shopping, reference, art, and automotive sites. In contrast, there are general directories that provide all the niches.
Finding an appropriate place within a directory may be difficult. Directories can a large structure. However, a comprehensive structure benefits advertisers with targeting. Comprehensive directories enable developers' to classify a Website. For example, it maybe possible to promote a site the sells speakers, for cars, but only domestic cars, and ones that are late model. In addition, some directories may implement regional indexing. Targeting an index in a directory can be complex, but it can be a great benefit too.
Don't expect to rush from directory to directory and establish a bunch or references. Each directory is unique. Take time to understand how the directory is structured, what they expect as a title and description, and how the suggestion process works. Seek similar sites; take note of where they appear, and how they are described.
Directories are generally affordable solutions. Most Directories are indexed by search engines. They help search engines understand a sites focus. In addition, they are a reference point for some people. It may be a good idea to seek-out one or two directories a week, or as appropriate to a budget. Finding good directories will consume a lot of time. However, once a link is added, it will remain there for a long duration.
News and Media Promotion ? Public Relations
Public Relations an important factor when promoting any Business. News and Media channels are the vehicles that convey information to the public. News about a business can make a huge impact on the public. Good news can make lots of people remember a business. Some developers release news about every change or added feature to a Website. Ironically, some developers never utilize this area of promotion.
There are a variety of distribution sites that will expose news releases to numerous channels, for a modest fee. In addition, most will offer free options. It may be a good idea to utilize free options for news that is not very important. For example, adding a, "Calculator," to a Website probably will not gain much attention. However, anything that may be important to the public needs to be announced.
If it can be added to the budget, outsource public relations efforts. PR companies have knowledge of what the media likes and contacts that make them valuable. PR specialists can be found in almost every City.
Ezine Articles - Provide Rich Content
Writing articles is a powerful promotion tool. Some developers refer to this as, "Viral Marketing". There are Websites that require content. Content brings them traffic. Traffic builds valuable ad space.
Article Distribution sites assist promoters with circulating articles. Many Ezines rely on Distribution Sites for their content. Post an article to a distribution site and the article is, "up-for-grabs," to anyone. The article begins to circulate the internet like a virus. Everywhere it appears, reference is given to the author and their Website.
Advertising on the Web
There are a variety of reference websites. Generally, these sites consist of Forums, Article content, and Online Chats. They rely on selling ad space as the main revenue stream. While some reference developers are, "trying to rich quick," there are sites that offer affordable solutions to promote a Website. With free traffic in mind, seek-out text link advertising venues. Look for sites that charge a flat fee. Sites that charge per click or by the impression usually mask links for tracking. This does not build good recognition with search engines.
Seek relevant opportunities for promoting the Website. If the allows people to buy tennis shoes, a sports reference and information area may be prove beneficial. Another might be a reference site about footwear. Trial and error will reveal good advertising sources for promotion. Regardless of the site being promoted, there are reference areas that are valuable promotion tools.
Promotion Summary
The internet moves fast in certain aspects. When it comes to Website promotion, it moves slowly. Modifications that are made to a Web Page are not going to be seen the next day. Significant results appear months later. The most important area of promotion, is keeping accurate records. Website promotion is complex. Developers need to consider on-site and off-site optimization, targeting, and ad construction. The right mix can provide a significant advantage over the competition.
Michael Medeiros has an extensive background in business and advertising. He is the proprietor of the mjmls classifieds (mjmls classifieds), which is an open-source advertising solution for businesses and individuals.
scheduled maid service Northbrook ..How to get your business exposed for free!Everybody in the... Read More
Once your site is launched, half your battle is won.... Read More
Repetition is the key to getting your adverts and promotion... Read More
WEB DIRECTORIESDirectories play an important role in aiding a site's... Read More
I've been operating two small retail Websites for several years... Read More
Have you noticed lately how savvy webmasters are using simple,... Read More
With the increase competition on the Internet, it can be... Read More
Writing articles and submitting them to free content sites is... Read More
DMOZ is known all over the internet as being the... Read More
Write it, offer it for free on your site and... Read More
Benefits of Website Localization Maximising profit today... Read More
After spending substantial time and efforts the big day came... Read More
If you've gone through all the hard work of a... Read More
You might have heard that banner advertising is dead. Nothing... Read More
Submitting your website to the main search engines should be... Read More
This could be the most amazing article to ever be... Read More
How to improve conversion rate for your website? How to... Read More
Google is the most popular and most used search engine... Read More
1. Selling To Everyone Means You Sell to No OneIf... Read More
When setting up your website for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)... Read More
Does your business struggle with profitable online marketing? If so,... Read More
Before you spend your hard earned money, why not first... Read More
One of the great advantages of advertising and marketing on... Read More
A great way to get the word out about your... Read More
Search engine optimisation ? it's the holy grail of website... Read More
reliable maid service Highland Park ..You may have created and established the best Web site... Read More
Here's ten simple yet POWERFUL ideas for you to reflect... Read More
There was a time when reciprocal linking was a number... Read More
The Web is constantly growing and changing. The key issue... Read More
The ChallengeWebSiteMarketingPlan.com was to be a companion site to the... Read More
I feel the most effective way to get people to... Read More
Personalized search is a hot topic especially since Yahoo! and... Read More
If you are like most webmasters, your goal is to... Read More
Website owners and webmasters who are trying to improve their... Read More
Keyword can be classified into three categories :-Single word Keyword-Multiple... Read More
Free For All Links Pages have been given a bad... Read More
If you desire to succeed in internet promotion, you must... Read More
So you've made the perfect web site (in your eyes... Read More
Search engine optimization by some is considered a science and... Read More
If you have a website and desires to attract traffic... Read More
Webmasters are always looking for ways to increase their traffic... Read More
You may ask, what is perpetual marketing?Perpetual marketing means when... Read More
1. Give Away An Electronic Information Product The product could... Read More
Benefits of Website Localization Maximising profit today... Read More
1. Using Hidden Links to increase subscribers or for a... Read More
How can one get a good ranking in the major... Read More
Many business owners and online marketing experts focus their efforts... Read More
Cross promoting is when two or more businesses promote their... Read More
Once you have built and uploaded your home business website... Read More
Any time you use a URL in an Article, Web... Read More
Web Site Promotion |