Learn how search engines and directories work and get listed.
Of course we think this is the most important marketing tip of all.
Stay up to date on search engine information and do what you can
for a better ranking. This is how people find your site, so it's
critical.
Use your website as a 24 hour image machine. Make sure that your
site's content puts forth the image you want to present. A nicely
designed website with useful, informative content is a great promotional
ambassador.
Keep your domain name simple. Try to use a short domain name that
relates to the site's purpose. Make it memorable and unique after
all there are a lot of sites out there.
Explain the advantages to the potential link partner and
the advantages your site has to their visitors. They must clearly
understand how linking to you benefits them.
Network to boost your site traffic. Ask other webmasters to link
to you. This will help your search engine rankings and create a
strong company image as well as some traffic. Send emails only to
webmasters with related content and personalize the message. If
it appears that you are sending mass emails to random sites, this
will be considered spam. You may need to offer a reciprocal link.
Make sure the websites linking to you represent your company's ethics.
You don't want to be associated with a site containing objectionable
material. Don't forget to find out who's linking to your competition.
Put your URL everywhere. Use your usual (and maybe some unusual)
methods of communication including stationary, business cards, invoices,
faxes, etc.
The more pages the better. The more pages you have on your website,
the better chance you'll have of hitting those ever changing "correct"
formulas for keyword density, keyword combos, and so on.
For your site to score high with search engines, you will need to
optimize your web site (improve your HTML, load time, browser compatibility
and other factors to cater to search engines). Only after optimization
should you submit your site.
Show your good side. Find out if your company donates money to a
charity or participates in volunteer services. Involvement with
education or the environment is an example. If so, describe this
on your site. Don't make anything up.
Always respect your customers. It pays off, whether you're doing
marketing research or responding to a complaint. Honest and clear
communication builds a strong reputation and good customer retention.
Nominate your website for web awards today! It doesn't have to be
a big name website. If you win, (or even if you win 'runner-up,')
post the news on your website. Aside from the promotion, chances
are you'll gain an external link from the site that awarded you.
Kill two birds with one stone; increase web traffic and gain recognition
for your outstanding website!
Frequently Asked Questions don't have to be a nuisance. Creating
an FAQ section will save your time and energy and give your web
users a quick response.
Logos and Slogans. They aren't set it stone but make some good ones
the first time. Spend a lot of time on both, and if you can afford
professional advice, it's not a bad idea. In general, your logo
and slogan should be on every page of your site. Consistency is
everything.
Make your error messages less scary. If possible (depending on your
web host,) change 'file not found' messages to a friendly response
that re-directs visitors to your home page. Place your logo and
slogan on the new message and include some helpful information.
Tell customers that you are sorry for the inconvenience and give
them contact information for where to report the problem.
Be sure that keywords are being used in the text links that are
pointing to pages within your site.
Everyone needs their privacy. At a time when online security is
the main concern, show customers you care. Privacy statements let
customers know what happens to the personal information they give
to you. Make your privacy statement clear and concise, and then
offer contact information should any confusion or disagreements
arise. Employees should be made aware of the information in your
company's privacy statement.
Talk to people in their native language. When you are deciding whether
or not to make your site multilingual, first consider who your audience
is.
Use a signature in emails and newsgroups: Include your name and
contact information. This will reinforce your company identity.
It should be between four to six lines and provide basic information
and your company's primary focus.
One common
link-building tip calls for trading links with companies offering
information or products compatible or synergistic to your own.
Email services are free advertising among other things. Not only
can you attach your extension to customer email addresses but you
also give customers another reason to come back to your site to
check their email.
Be certain the words that you wish to be found under show
up in your <title> tags.
Link to all of your subpages from the home page. By having links
to all of your sub-pages you provide the means by which a search
engine can find the various pages on your site whenever they visit
your "home" page.
You must submit your web site only after
you have prepared your web pages for the search engines. This means
you have to insert appropriate meta tags on all your web pages (keywords,
description and title).
Stay fresh. You don't have to update by the
second but you should refresh your site's content as often as possible.
Updating shows customers you are on top of things and helps your
business appear current.
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