Effective marketing equals
increased traffic
Your marketing strategy is essentially
defined by your objectives. We have provided you with some initial planning steps and
resources to assist as you are getting started.
The Five E's of Site Marketing
1. Enunciate: a)
Define your target-audience and objectives clearly. Who are you
trying to reach? Successful marketing is more archery than hand grenade. Define specific
profile(s) you will target. b) What are you trying to communicate and what specific
functions do you want your site to perform?
2. Enumerate: What are the most effective
ways to put your Internet address in front of the people you most want to see it?
Brainstorm. List every idea you can think of. Keep this list and continue adding to it.
3. Equity: Develop a two-fold strategy.
Online and offline marketing are very different mediums which require unique planning and
development. Your target audience may dictate greater emphasis on one of these strategies.
However, strive to maintain some level of equity. Each medium has its strengths and areas
of opportunity. Take full advantage of them.
4. Evaluate: Monitor your strategy and
develop methods that help you understand and measure what works and what does not. Focus
on what is effective. Talk to your site visitors. Find out how they discovered your site.
5. Evolve: Use evaluation to enhance and
improve on your approach. Keep learning. Surf the web for marketing resources. Bookmark
helpful sites. Don't be afraid to try new and creative ideas. Develop partnerships and
make personal contacts on the internet with persons pursuing similar objectives. Share
information. Evolve to a higher internet life form!
Online marketing methods:
Search engines:
Search engines allow users to enter keywords to locate resources on the Internet.
Different search engines work differently. An indexed search engine like Yahoo requires
you to locate where you want your site to appear within its categorized listing. Other
search engines may have robots that scan your site and fully index your pages noting the
content.
When adding your URL to the larger engines you may want to
do some brief research about the engine and how it works. This will allow you to tailor
your submission and maximize your chances of a return that is on page 2 or 3 instead of
page 10.
Search engines that scan your site often look for
meta tags.
Meta
tags are inserted into the HTML coding of your site. They provide a sampling of keywords
that describe your site and a brief description. If you would like us to include meta tags
in your site design you will need to send us a list of 10-15 key words in the hierarchical
order you would like them to be listed. Also include a 20-25 word description of your
site.
IMPORTANT!
DON'T SUBMIT YOUR URL TO THESE ENGINES UNTIL AFTER WE HAVE ADDED YOUR META TAGS.
Once we have added the tags you can return to this page and
begin the registration process. Find this all too confusing or don't want to spend the
time? We can register your site with over 400 engines for $99.
Local directories and bulletin
boards (BBS):
You may want to explore a
local directory or bulletin board. If your focus is within a specific geographic region
these avenues will be most helpful to you. Take the time to explore what opportunities
exist. You may be able to advertise your site on a local bulletin board service.
Banner exchanges:
Advantages: 1) the service is usually free 2) you can usually monitor
your hit-appearance ratio 3) once setup it does not require your time or energy, you
simply receive advertising credits for each time your site is visited.
Disadvantages: 1) is not effective for local/regional site with a local
market 2) advertising for others means there is a chance someone visiting your site will
leave your site to go somewhere else and not return 3) until you start to generate traffic
to your site credits will come slowly.
Permanent exchanges:
Evaluate the types of sites or businesses that may attract persons with your target
profile. Locate sites that may be willing to permanently exchange links with your site.
Email the webmaster and make a proposal. Obviously this will work best when there is
mutual benefit and some degree of equity in current site traffic.
Promotion services and information:
There are lots of people
willing to take your money. Make careful decisions as you normally would. Multimedia
Marketing Group Inc. is a respected company providing valuable information and resources
on Internet marketing. If you are interested in a free multi-search engine submission
visit their site for further information and details.
Newsgroups:
Soliciting directly via newsgroups is usually ineffective and is not viewed favorably by
Internet users. However if you participate in a newsgroup discussion be sure to add a
"signature line tag" to your email which includes your site address. People who
find your contribution valuable often visit your site to find out more.
Email and Mailing lists:
Unsolicited Email (referred to as spam) is viewed very negatively by the Internet
community. The Netiquette or rules of conduct on the Internet discourage solicitation by
Email. This does not mean that you should never Email someone to let them know about your
services. It does mean that you should give careful consideration to the way your letter
is constructed and how it may be perceived by the recipient. Most Internet Mailing lists
have fair use clauses that prohibit use of list addresses for solicitation. Do not use
these lists inappropriately. You will do more damage to your name than good to your bottom
line.
Offline marketing
Advertising:
If you already advertise via newspaper, flyers, yellow pages, radio or
television your website URL address is a simple value added addition to
your current marketing plans. Your website provides you quality volume
space to provide detailed information about your products and services.
Simply add your URL address
www.jdwebsites.com/yourbizname to your
current advertising.
Business cards and stationery:
Simply add your URL. Another simple yet
effective way to spread the word about your website.
Public contact:
Convention? Gathering?
Meeting? Post your URL. Generate interest, hold a contest, give something away, provide a
community service.
Word of mouth:
Communication in this manner is very effective. Especially if there is something exciting
you have to offer. Word spreads quickly. For this to be effective you need a simple URL
address that is easily remembered and shared. That is one of the reasons you chose us!
