|
e-ditorials - Issue #7: e-marketing
Turbo Tips to Supercharge Your Web Marketing
There are a lot of free promotional opportunities for your website. Are you
taking advantage of them?
Print Materials Make sure all business cards, letterhead, invoice,
envelopes, brochures and promotional items contain your web site and email
address. If your company sends press releases or publishes articles (in print or
online), it's a great idea to include your web address. Putting your web address
on signs, print ads, vehicles or even your company door or building will also
attract attention.
Search Engines
Many of the top search engines will still list your site for free. With a
little effort, anyone can get their website listed in a major search engine by
going to the "add URL" or "submit a site" page on the search engine's site.
Search engines send out "spiders" to come look at your site. The best way to
ensure you are listed accurately is to think about (or ask people) what they
would type into a search engine to find you and then follow the following tips:
- Make sure you include many keywords and phrases in the content of your web
pages but also make sure the text accurately reflects what your company does
and isn't just a listing of keywords and phrases because the text on the page
should be readable to the site visitors.
- Your most important keywords should be in your domain name, the name of
your business, and in the title of your web page.
- Include Meta tags, which is HTML code that is not visible to someone
visiting your site but it provides search engines with important information
such as company description and keywords. If you look at the page source (an
option in your browsers View menu) you will see them. They look something like
the following:
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Web Site
Name</TITLE>
<META name="description" content="Description of
the company goes here.">
<META name="keywords" content="company,
nj, new jersey, mercer county">
</HEAD>
- Links from other sites to yours improves your placement or ranking in
search engines.
Keep in mind that it does take more effort to be at the top of a search
engine result list as search engines often get new site submissions and updates
from your competition. We suggest monitoring 5-10 of the most popular search
engines and making sure you are listed accurately. Tweak your pages, as
necessary, and then you may resubmit your site within the allotted time for each
search engine.
Cross-Linking
Are you a member of an organization? Do you share a market with another
non-competitive business? If so, ask them to link to your website in exchange
for them linking their site to yours. Not only may you get traffic from their
site (and vice versa) but it will improve your ranking in the search engines.
When asking for links from other websites, always give the other company the
benefit of linking to you. Both of you will rank better in the search engines,
and their site visitors will appreciate the reference to you and vice versa.
Referrals
Have a link on your website which enables visitors to recommend your site or
a page on your site to a friend. By receiving a link from a trusted friend, they
are more likely to visit your site.
Directories
Directories are lists of websites, usually organized by category in
alphabetical order, which sometimes give a search option. Directories also have
an "add URL" page and they rely on the information you specifically provide to
them rather than looking at the actual information on your site.(unclear) It
helps if you have a company name or website title starting with a letter or
symbol at the top of the alphabet.
Some directories are still free but many are starting to charge a fee. If you
want quick results with minimal effort, submit your site only to extremely
popular directories like Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com) and any which you or your
friends use on a regular basis.
Bulletin Boards and Newsgroups
With a little research, you will find that there are many great community and
national web sites and newsgroups in which you can post your company's
announcements and events. Be sure to only post your information which are
frequented by the sort of people you want to visit your website and who accept
promotional/advertising information. Be sure to include your web site address! A
great example to try is the Mercer County Chamber of Commerce bulletin board at
www.mercerchamber.org/connect/memberAnnouncements.asp.
Email Signature
Send your company name, phone, web site address and company slogan with every
email you send. It makes it easier for people to contact you and may prompt them
to go to your site. Most email programs allow you to create what is called a
"signature" and it automatically adds the information you specify to the bottom
of every email. Keep the following in mind:
- To ensure everyone can read your signature, it should be text-only not
HTML. If you are not sure, first test your signature it with people you know
and who will provide feedback.
- The message should be short. More than 5 or 6 lines is too much.
Email Newsletter
Create an email newsletter that announces monthly promotions, tips, or facts
about your industry. Allow people to opt-in to your newsletter list, which means
sending your newsletter to only those people who have signed up to receive your
newsletter. Make sure to include a Privacy Statement to ensure your list members
that their information will not be distributed without their permission. For
example, "We do not sell or make any of your private information, including
email or address, available to third parties." Also, the sign up form should be
simple. In most cases, it should require an email address only. Other
information could be optional. If the form is more detailed and required, tell
the user why and what benefits it offers them.
If your newsletter is new, how do you get your list of subscribers? The
current acceptable trends are:
- Visitors to your site will see the new feature, if you display it
prominently, and may be inspired to sign up.
- Emailing friends, colleagues, and previous customers non-sales invitations
to see the first issue of the newsletter and offering them the opportunity to
subscribe if they choose to.
Track Your E-Marketing
You should track the effectiveness of every strategy you use to promote your
website.
- When people contact you by phone, email or even in person, ask them how
they heard about your company.
- If you have a specific ad campaign, create a special page on your site to
offer it. You can check your web logs to determine how many people went to
that web page. It is also possible to prevent this page from being accessed by
search engines to help narrow down where your customers are coming from.
- Keep track of which websites are linking to yours either by cross-linking,
directories or search engines. This shows up in your statistics report that
comes from your website hosting provider.
If you can assess what's working and what isn't, you can focus your efforts
towards those methods of marketing which are giving you the greatest return
on your investment.
Good luck with your next e-marketing
campaign!
— ©2002, Set Now Solutions, LLC. All rights reserved.
|
