Web Site Promotion / Marketing
/ Advertising
In order to be
successful online, whether you have a new web site, product or service, you
must continuously promote it, EVERYWHERE. There are many ways you can go
about promoting just about anything. In this lesson we will be focusing on
both online and offline promotion.
Creating a successful
Internet presence involves much more than designing a great website or having
the "perfect" product. Listing your website with the Search Engines is your
first step, however, you must not solely rely on the Search Engines to bring
you traffic. You must design a complete promotional strategy and work it
every day.
If you're launching a new website, your first step will be to submit your
site to the Search Engines and Directories.
Search Engines:
Below, is a list of the major Search Engines. These sites should be submitted
to manually. Click on each link and follow their instructions.
Google
AltaVista
Lycos
Overture
Once you've manually submitted your main pages to the above Search Engines,
visit
SelfPromotion.com
to automatically submit your pages to a number of additional Search Engines
and Directories.
A good way to organize your promotions is to set up a web page, for your
personal use, that will contain your complete strategy. This page should
be stored on your hard drive and not uploaded to your server. Your page should
contain four sections.
• Daily Promotions
• Weekly Promotions
• Monthly Promotions
• Miscellaneous Promotions
Each of these four sections should contain the appropriate information for
each of your promotional resources such as website name, user ID, password
(if applicable) and hyperlinked web addresses for each website you plan to
use for your promotions. This will enable you to open your web page each
day and visit the sites you have listed.
Daily
Promotions
Placing
Links
Your daily promotions should include posting your ads to a list of free
classified ad sites. Although this promotional technique isn't as effective
as it once was, it will provide you with some additional links to your site.
There are several websites that will enable you to submit your classified
ads to an entire network of sites with just one form. Here is a list of resources
to get you started:
Yahoo
Classifieds
AdlandPro
Networked Classifieds 5000+
Web
Sitings Networked Classifieds 40,000+
Epage
Networked Classifieds 16,000+
Discussion Boards:
In addition, visit some popular discussion boards and share your expertise.
Although you may not advertise on discussion boards, you can include your
signature file with your post. Before you begin posting to discussion boards,
make sure you lurk a while and see exactly how the board functions.
Click
here for a complete listing of some of the top discussion
boards.
Weekly
Promotions
Ezine Advertising
/ Ad Swaps:
Your weekly promotions should consist of placing a paid ezine advertisement
and/or arranging ad swaps with fellow publishers. Visit the
Directory
of Ezines for a complete listing of hundreds of publishers and contact
information for advertising.
To organize your ad placements and swaps, place the publication names, publisher
names, ad dates and hyperlinked web addresses within your weekly promotions
list.
Monthly
Promotions
Your monthly
promotions should include writing an article in the area of your expertise,
promotional exchanges with similar websites, and offline promotions.
To organize your monthly promotions, place the names and hyperlinked web
addresses for each of your promotional resources within your monthly promotions
section.
Writing Articles:
Writing articles that may be freely published with your bylines is one of
the best promotional methods online. Your article may be published in hundreds
of ezines, on websites or even in magazines.
If you've been on the Internet for a while, you've probably subscribed to
a few ezines. Many ezine publishers will include an article written by a
guest author. At the end of the article is a few lines of text about the
author referred to as bylines. These lines of text are basically just an
advertisement for the writer. They usually contain a couple of lines about
the author and a web address.
The writer gives the publisher permission to publish their article, free
of charge, in exchange for the publisher including the author's bylines.
By writing articles and allowing them to be freely published, your articles
will have the potential to be viewed by millions of Internet users. They
may be published by several ezines with subscriber bases of a few hundred
to several thousand. In addition, they may be displayed in ezine archives
or on high traffic websites.
Most ezine publishers prefer short articles between 500 and 750 words. Short
"tip" articles of just a couple of paragraphs are also very popular. Articles
should be formatted to 65 characters per line or less, including spaces,
and written in short paragraph sections.
When you begin writing your article, avoid using your standard word processing
programs, as they do not allow for proper formatting. Instead, use a text
editor such as NotePad. It should already be installed on your desktop.
When you begin typing your article, use a hard carriage return (hit enter)
when your text reaches 65 characters, including spaces, and leave a space
between your paragraphs. This will enable publishers to easily copy and paste
your article into their publication. By taking the time to properly format
your article, you will increase your chance of being published significantly.
If you don't feel comfortable formatting your article,
click here and instantly format
your article right online.
Most publishers receive many article submissions each week and only select
a few to be published. Here are some basic guidelines to assist you in getting
published:
 |
Make sure
you follow the publishers' submission guidelines. Articles submitted to
publishers that don't follow the submission guidelines will most likely be
deleted. |
 |
Make sure
your article is properly formatted. Publishers won't take the time to format
your article. They'll simply delete it and move on to the next article
submission. |
 |
Keep your
bylines down to 6 lines or less. Publishers will not publish articles that
contain excessively long bylines. |
 |
Select a
descriptive title to intrigue your readers. Use a powerful headline that
demands attention and try to keep it all on one line. |
 |
Use proper
grammar and spelling. Publishers will not take the time to edit your article.
Make sure you read your article several times and use
spellcheck. |
 |
Avoid articles
that are nothing more than a sales letter. Publishers want quality content
and will simply delete an article that is written like a sales letter.
|
 |
Avoid referring
readers to an affiliate URL. Articles containing affiliate links may appear
to be biased and untrustworthy. |
 |
Write your
articles with a sincere desire to teach and inform. Talk to your readers
and share your expertise. |
Once you've
written your article, you'll need to develop a list of publishers that may
be interested in publishing it. The best way to accomplish this is to display
your articles on your website. Let your visitors know that they may freely
publish your articles as long as your bylines are included. Place a subscription
box on each of your article pages to enable your visitors to subscribe. Each
time you write a new article, you can mail it to your list of publishers.
In addition, you can visit some ezine sites to locate publishers who may
be interested in your articles. A good
place to start is
eZINESearch.
Search through the database for publications that may be interested in the
type of article you've written.
Another great way to promote your articles is to submit them to article
announcement groups. These groups
enable writers to submit their articles to an entire group of publishers,
completely free.
Article Announcement Lists:
Article
Announce - Provides several article announcement groups including:
Article Announce - All types of articles
Targeted Article Announce Groups:
AABusiness - Business related articles
AAInternet - Internet related articles
AAHome - Home & Family related articles
AAHealth - Health related articles
AAGeneral - General interest articles
PublishInYours
Subscribe
Articles Archive
Subscribe
Free Content
Subscribe
Make sure you review the submission guidelines prior to posting your article
to an announcement group.
Here are some additional promotional resources to help you get published:
IdeaMarketers
EzineArticles
WorldWide
Information Outlet
Syndicator
Author
Connection
Marketing
Seek
Go Articles
Writing and distributing free articles on the Internet will be one of the
best promotional decisions you'll ever make. Not only will it provide you
with free publicity, but if your articles are good, you'll also become a
trusted professional in your area of expertise.
Promotional Exchanges:
Cross promoting is a powerful technique used by many Internet marketers to
increase the exposure of their products, services or publications. You simply
decide what type of promotional exchange you would be interested in and contact
fellow marketers to discuss an exchange.
The most effective technique used in cross promotions is recommendations.
By providing each other with a personal recommendation you can increase your
response rates tremendously.
Here are some popular cross promoting techniques you can use to boost your
business:
Link Exchanges
Exchange links with websites similar to yours, but not in competition. Many
Search Engines are now utilizing a system that tracks and ranks sites according
to the number of links pointing to a particular website. By exchanging links
with similar websites, you will not only increase your Search Engine ranking,
but you will also increase your website traffic.
Ezine Ad Swaps
Exchange subscription ads with other ezine publishers. Ezine advertising
is one of the best forms of advertising on the Internet. By swapping ads
with fellow ezine publishers, you can run your ad in other publications free
of charge.
Subscription Exchanges
Exchange subscription information with fellow ezine publishers. Provide
recommendations within your ezine's welcome message, thank you page and even
on your multiple subscription ezine form.
Ezine Column Swaps
Partner with a similar publication and provide content for each other. This
may be a weekly tips column, question and answer column or whatever you'd
like.
Byline Exchanges
Write articles and allow them to be freely published. Exchange byline information
with fellow writers and provide recommendations.
With each article you write, you are entitled to include your author bylines.
Bylines are nothing more than an advertisement for you, your website, products
or services.
Instead of including your standard bylines, use half the space for yourself
and the other half to promote the writer you've partnered with.
Signature Exchanges
A signature or SIG file is a few lines of information about your business
at the bottom of any form of Internet communication. Exchange SIG file
information with other marketers and provide recommendations.
Ebook Exchanges
Partner with fellow Internet marketers and create free ebooks to freely
distribute. The ebook should mutually benefit and promote both of you, while
providing valuable information for your visitors.
Private Web Rings
Set up a private web ring and partner with websites that are similar to yours,
but not in competition. Provide recommendations for each site within your
ring.
Ride Alongs
A ride along is any extra information (advertisements) sent along with a
direct mailing. You can use this same technique with any ezine solo mailings
you may run by including an exchange recommendation within your mailing.
In addition, you can include recommendations within your thank you letters
you send out when you deliver your products.
Upsells
An upsell is used when your customer is in the process of ordering your product.
Another product is introduced, for a small additional cost, just as you're
closing the sale. This technique is used with many infomercials when the
customer calls in their order. The operator will introduce an additional
product for a minimal extra charge. You can use this same technique on your
order page. Trade product recommendations with fellow marketers.
Free Bonuses
Free bonuses are used as an incentive to increase sales. Exchange bonuses
with other marketers. This technique will not only increase your sales, but
will also promote your products and services.
Forum and List Moderation
Trade forum or list moderation duties. Partner with similar websites or lists
and share in the moderation duties. Place short BIOS with links at the top
of the forum or within each list post.
A quality recommendation will pull a much higher response rate than just
a link or banner. Cross promote with individuals you truly respect and believe
in, as your professional reputation is on the line.
Cross promotions provide Internet marketers with a powerful way to reach
new potential customers. There is power in number, so get out there and start
cross promoting!
Offline Promotions:
Promoting your website offline is another great way to increase your traffic.
Below, are several resources to assist you:
IDit
Plates (highly recommended) - Put your web address on your vehicle. IDit
Plates are a great way to continuously promote your website. They're triple
chrome plated and blend in well with your vehicle.
Magnetic Signs
- Full size magnetic signs for your vehicle. Get a customized sign that
magnetically adheres to each side of your vehicle, advertising your
website.
Visit
iPrint
for your printing needs. From business print items to promotional items,
iPrint
has it all.
Place ads in newspapers, magazines, on the radio, or on TV. Visit these links
for complete listings:
Gebbie Press
NewsDirectory
Newspapers
Newspapers Online
For even more promotional products,
PromoCity can add
your logo to any one of over 500,000 items.
Press Releases:
CanadaOne
provides a free interactive press release builder.
Gebbie Press provides
over 10,000 links to print and electronic media on the Internet.
Dr.
Kevin Nunley will write your press release and send it to 5,000 media
contacts.
Automated Press
Releases will enable you to send your press release to over 10,000 media.
You write your press release or they'll write it for you.
Once you've created your promotional web page, open it within your browser
and add it to your favorite places or bookmark it for easy daily access.
Set up a specific day for your weekly and monthly promotions and perform
your miscellaneous promotions as needed.
Once you've implemented your promotional strategy and continuously work it
each day, you'll be amazed with the results of your efforts. Consistency
will be the key to driving massive traffic to your site.
Additional
Tutorials:
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