Effective Online Marketing Strategies
In today’s highly competitive business environment, it is not enough to “build your company website and hope that they (customers) will come.” Your customers and prospective customers have to know that you have a website to go to. How do you attract these people to your website?
Knowing what types of online marketing are available will only help to increase the success of your online presence. The ultimate goal with this strategy is to create awareness of your company, its brand, its products and/or its services.
There are still some ways to market your website that are free or almost free. Such as:
Mention your website in an online forum that’s related to your business.
Offer a free service or information that relates to your product such as a mortgage calculator or a recipe library.
Write a blog or related articles that users would find useful and of interest.
Include your URL on everything, i.e. stationery, business cards, email signatures, etc.
Join a web ring – a number of related site that link to one another promoting traffic.
Hold a contest – offer an exciting prize in exchange for their email address.
List your site on Froogle – this is Google’s free comparison shopping search engine.
Distribute press releases.
Viral marketing – an email message that you send out that users find so interesting or entertaining that they send it out to other users, hence it spreads like a virus.
Search Engines
Search engines work by sending out robot “spiders” to index the content of your web pages. The first step in optimizing your ranking with search engines is to include as many keywords in your actual content. Keywords are words or phrases that a customer might use to search for your website through a search engine.
One way to optimize this ranking is to write descriptive page titles for each web page consisting of 5-10 words. Also write a Description and Keyword META tag for each of your pages. Keywords should also be included, if possible, in your header tags and hyperlinks. This is something that your web designer should be able to help you with.
Make sure that your navigation system is also search engine friendly. Search engines can find content pages, but if you are using a frames-based website and your navigation is in a separate file, chances are the page that the search engine finds will not include your navigation to help users move through the rest of your site. Having a sitemap can also help utilize the indexing of your site.
Once your website has been launched, it is always wise to submit your URL to the major search engines directly. Most have a link on their homepage such as “Add your URL”. The most frequently used search engines today include Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL Search and Ask.com. If search engine optimization is of high importance to the success of your business, it might be helpful to consult with a reputable SEO (Search Engine Optimization) expert who can help you achieve maximum results in this area.
Email Strategies
Email marketing is one area that can be overlooked when promoting your website. SPAM is never recommended, but you can solicit your products or services to people who have shown interest in your business and may have already given you their email address. One of the ways to do this is to get your visitors to sign up for a free newsletter on your website. You can offer a number of enticements such as a contest, a free gift or offer, a coupon, etc. Once they become subscribers and you give them useful and enjoyable content – they will stay loyal customers in the years to come.
Two key ways to making this type of marketing successful is to let your customers know that you will never give or sell their email address to a third party and to provide a “unsubscribe” link so they can easily remove themselves from your list.
Also, ensure that you install a “signature” in your email program to help customers get in touch with you. Most email programs allow you to design a signature file that appears at the end of each your email messages. This might include your name, company, address, phone, email, URL and possible tag line. Look at examples that you receive from other companies.
Linking Strategies
Another important component of your online marketing mix should be a linking strategy. Search engines such as Google track the number of incoming links to your site and in turn this helps the ranking of your website. You might try:
Requesting reciprocal links with websites that are related to yours.
Site submission to key directories such as Yahoo or Open Directory Project.
Submission to industry websites and specialized directories such as trade associations that you are a member of.
Writing articles for others to use in their newsletters and include your email and a link to your URL.
Start a business blog on your website. If you offer relevant content, chances are people and businesses will link to it.
Issue news releases to both print and web publications in your industry.
Affiliate marketing – offer a commission on completed sales to other websites linked to you.
These are just a few of the ways to inexpensively market your company and its products and services on the Internet. There are many more types of marketing and paid advertising out there, but these are some of the most common and effective.
by Kelly Ford
Crimson Dog Web Design