One can write volumes about Internet marketing and driving traffic to a Website. Here are the first important steps you can take within the areas of online branding, search engines, email and links from other Websites.
1. Building a Brand Online
- Your online brand is how you position yourself on the Web, your strategy and what Web visitors think about your company when they come to your site.
- A solid brand results in valuable word-of-mouth and referrals.
- Understand why anyone would want to come to your Website.
- Give site visitors the content they want.
- Make the site very intuitive and better than your competitors.
- Load the site with many pages of content that help the user.
2. Search Engines
- You must understand how search engines work and drive traffic through organic listings and paid placement.
- Learn all you can about Google Adwords and Yahoo’s Overture.com. Do this by visiting their Websites and running their tutorials.
- Start with a targeted group of search key words you want to pull up your Website.
- Optimize your Website for Google, Yahoo, MSN and AOL.
3. Email Programs
- Focus on collecting email subscribers form a clearly visible link on your home page.
- Only ask for their name and an email address. Make sure you state your privacy rules.
- People read important emails and discard those of no value. Write your email so that it is important to your Website users.
- Manage your list on an external email server and avoid running your email list from your own computer.
- Use your email list as your primary stay in touch program. When your customer is ready to buy, they will remember you.
4. Clicks from other Websites
- Think of a getting traffic from other Websites strategically. Where do your users go for information? How can your Website be part of that information process?
- Your content can easily be placed for free on sites that need content. Content is like oxygen for the Web, without it the Internet does not breathe. Your content must be of value. Website editors looking for great content for their users will take this hot content.
- Be careful of paying to be listed on someone’s Website. Pursue a cost per click strategy if possible and watch out for set up fees. If you do plan on paying, always call references and randomly pick companies that have links on the Website, rather than references given to you.
More to come… we will get into more details later in the Blog on all these areas.
