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Archive for the ‘Site Promotion’ Category

Anyone that deals with marketing and advertising on the Internet knows that link popularity is one of the main causes for high rankings.  And as we all know, high rankings lead to more traffic, which in turn leads to higher sales.  The biggest problem with doing link exchanges and using programs that automate the process is that you run the risk of gaining bad links on your site.  Bad links lead to reduced link popularity and in turn can eventually lead to being banned on search engines.  Everyone can agree that if you are banned from a large search engine like Google or Yahoo, then your website is in trouble.  I have come across a few places that allow you to grad good reciprocal links from ranking sites.   You want to do more reciprocal linking because it provides an incentive for both sites to keep the links up.

If you already have a large link directory on your site, you might want to think about using the program Arelis.  This gives you the power to control all your links and make sure they are still linking back to you.  It also gives you the control to find more targeted links for your website.  If you want to find more links for your website, then you should check out www.Link2me.com.  This site allows you to search for websites and then the company gets in touch with that website asking for a link exchange with you.  It is very easy and hassle free, which I know will help everyone that is spending 60+ hours on Internet marketing.  Any little bit helps.  This link exchange program is growing and with the more websites that sign up, which is free, the more potential links for the members.  Check it out and increase your link popularity the ethical way!

35% of visitors fail to achieve their goal when they visit company websites! By following 2 simple rules, you can increase your web-derived revenue by 1/3 or more!

Renowned website usability researcher, Jakob Nielsen, today (Nov 24) published results of his latest study. His test subjects used 139 websites. On average, they failed to find what they were looking for 35% of the time. Shockingly, 37% of users couldn’t even find company location details!

What was surprising was that users didn’t give up. They generally found the information they were after – but they found it at a competitor’s site!

So how do you stop potential customers falling into the hands of your competitors? Nielsen is right when he suggests user research. Yes, it’s imperative that know what your users need at your site. But what he doesn’t say is how to structure your website so it meets users’ needs.

There are two golden rules:
1) Write first, build later
2) Write to your customer

Write first, build later
The real message on most websites is in the writing. It makes sense, then, that the writing should determine the structure.

Unfortunately, this is not the case for most businesses. For them, the writing is an afterthought. They structure and design their website first, then try to fit the writing to the structure. This flies in the face of common sense. When you speak to someone, you structure your speech around your message. You don’t decide on a structure, then change the message to suit!

For a truly usable website, you need to plan what you want to say before you create the site – perhaps even write the whole thing. The message – the writing – should determine the structure.

Write to your customer
So how do you decide what to write?

Firstly, don’t think, “What do I want to say?”. When you’re writing a website, you have to think, “What does my customer want to know?”. It’s a very subtle difference, but it’s the key to engaging writing. And that’s what you want to do… engage the customer.

Most customers will want to know the basics:

- What do you do?
- What benefit do you offer them?
- Why should they choose your service or product?
- Why should they choose your service or product and not your competitors’?
- What does it cost?
- How can they contact you?
- Where are you located?

Your website has to communicate a lot of information. And to make matters worse, you’re going to have limited screen real-estate. Ideally, your customer won’t have to scroll – especially on your homepage (all your information will fit within a single window). And you can’t fill the whole screen with writing, either. The design and navigation elements take up about a third of the window, and you should leave a bit for white space (you don’t want to overwhelm your customer). As a rule of thumb, you should expect to have about 1/3 – ½ of the window at your disposal for the writing.

Chances are, right now you’re thinking, “How am I going to fit it all in?”. Well, that’s where your writing skills come in. Choose your words very carefully…

Websites can be an extremely powerful piece of marketing collateral. You can reach millions for just a few hundred dollars. Unfortunately, your competitors can do the same thing. It’s a level playing field, but there are a lot of players. It’s important that your thoughts are structured, otherwise your site will be a mess. If your message is clear, your site will be simple and easy to use. It’s all in the words…

8 More Reasons to Write for Your Audience…

1) There are approximately 550 billion documents on the web

2) Every day another 7 million are added

3) Workers take so long trying to find information that it costs organisations $750 billion annually! (A.T. Kearney, Network Publishing study, April 2001)

4) Reading from a monitor is 25% slower than reading from paper. (Sun Microsystems, 1998)

5) Helpful content develops site loyalty. The average person visits no more than 19 websites in the entire month in order to avoid information overload. (Nielsen NetRatings in Jan 2001)

6) 79% of users scan read when online (Sun Microsystems, 1998)

7) Information gathering is the most common use of the Internet – 73% (American Express survey, 2000)

48% of people use the Internet to find work-related information as opposed to 7% who use magazines. (Lyra Research, 2001)

So what’s the difference between promoting your website and a brick and mortar store? That’s a common question asked by new internet marketers. It turns out the principles are the same but the methods are different. Let’s take a look at how.

The main object of promoting either store is to first create awareness of the stores existence. Secondly you want them to know what you offer and why it will improve their life. Next you want to show them how yours is better than others in the market. This is all to achieve your final goal of visiting your store or site. Making the sale is another topic all together.

If you have real deep pockets you can start by advertising in the New York Times or on NBC for a brick and mortar store or on MSN or Yahoo sites if you’re on the internet. Of course you have to remember your AOL users won’t see you there just as your CBS watchers won’t see you on NBC. Most start ups aren’t going to worry about this problem as they don’t have the money to do this kind of advertising.

So what method do you use to advertise and drive traffic cost effectively to your site?
• Tell your friends and family about your site. The average person has about 250 people they would invite to their wedding. Let them know what you’re doing.
• Sign up for a leads service that will refer leads to your site. This will be a nominal expense in relation to the leads if you use the right service.
• Post your helpful opinions on forum web sites. This will add credibility to you as an expert and refer people back to your site.
• Place Solo Ads in targeted ezines. Ezines are electronic newsletters that are directed to select groups. This is a very effective method.
• Google Adwords is another way to reach your potential clients. Google adwords allows you to promote your website anytime someone searches for the words or phrases you have selected.
• Another effective method is to make promotional handouts that can be passed out to those you meet. Of course this must direct people to your website.
• Place newspaper classifieds. You can put together a very cost effective campaign using weekly papers that are less costly and can reach your target market.
• Write and publish articles just like this one that show your expertise and direct clients back to your website.
• Start your own blog. Your own blog allows you to ad more pages of content that refers potential clients back and forth from your website to the blog and vise versa.
• Write, have written for you or find an eBook you can brand. The eBook should refer and link to your website throughout the book. This not only shows you to be an authority but also where they can learn more. Advertise your FREE eBook and give it away.

There you have ten ways to promote your website. It’s like advertising a garage sale with yard signs all over town. It’s like putting signs all down the interstate that directs people to which exit they need to visit you. The internet is continually growing. The potential is endless. Go get your share.

Rod Hey

http://www.WinningLifeChoices.com/pips.html

3 Easy Steps to Work at Home Now!