Terri Gray

by Terri Gray

Having a website is a great start to your marketing efforts. However, to make the best use of your website you need to advertise it in much the same way you would a physical location. You have to get the word out about your business website in order for people to find you. Below are some of the best free and low cost methods of building traffic and exposure for your website:

Post Your Website Address.
Remember to ALWAYS include your website address any where you have your phone number or mailing address. This includes: business card, yellow page ad, pens/pencils, newspaper ads, stationary, envelopes, mugs, magnets, brochures, answering machine message, signage, vehicle . . . etc.

 Google Adwords helps spur traffic quickly.
Just login to: adwords.google.com and create an ad campaign. Google lets you bid on your keywords and you can set your daily and monthly ad limit. For example, you could set a $3/day with a $30/month spending budget. Make sure you target specific keywords for your local market.

Start a Blog.
You can create a Free blog at: blogger.com or wordpress.com Cross link your blog & your website. Use keyword rich content in your blog posts and link to your website within the content too. Contact us if you would like help installing a blog and customizing the look of it.

Submit Articles.
Write and submit articles to the various Article Banks. Your articles should be approx. 300-500 words in length and be of interest to your target market. Be sure to include a brief bio and link to your website. Some article submission sites include: Digg.com, Ezinearticles.com, all-in-one-business.com/groups and ideamarketers.com. Don’t forget to also search for local businesses that may have newsletters or articles on their websites. You can offer your content for free inclusion in their publications, provided your brief bio and link to your site remain intact.

Participate in Social Networking Sites & Online Communities.
Add your website address to your profile on these sites. Ones to check out include: MySpace.com, Facebook.com, hi5.com, Xanga.com, linkedin.com, reunion.com, friendster.com, bebo.com, tagged.com, classmates.com, twitter.com, and Squidoo.com. Also post to other Message Boards, Forums & Blogs – Have a hobby or a special interest? Find local websites with forums, blogs etc. that you have an interest in. You can answer questions, post comments and leave your website address in the signature of your post. You can also check out sites like: answers.yahoo.com, home.ivillage.com/messageboards and local AOL boards. You can find Terri Gray on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Advertise on CraigsList.org.
Craigs List is free in most cities. Be sure to choose your category carefully, and don’t spam the list. You don’t want to be blacklisted or to have your posts removed. Read the rules and be responsible with your posts.

 Send out Newsletters.
By sending out periodic email newsletters, you are reminding people of your services on a regular basis. You can encourage your readers to forward your newsletters to other people. You can subscribe to our free marketing newsletter here.

 Submit Press Releases.
Keep in mind, that press releases should not be “ads” for your company. They need to have a news worthy angle to them. If you don’t know how to write a good press release, you may want to outsource this for best results. Paid submission services: Prweb.com, PRNewswire.com, PR.com, and OpenPR.com. Free submission services: PrLog.org, BetaNews.com, I-Newswire.com and Free-Press-Release.com. You should also fax your press releases to local media as well. View PR tips and a sample press release on Bizine.com

 Contests and Drawings.
Hold a contest or drawing on your website. This could be for a free dinner for 2 or a gift card at a local home improvement store. Cross link with the businesses that are providing the give-aways. Announce the contest/drawing on your blog, in your newsletter and through a press release.

Exchange Links with Strategic Partners.
Search for local merchants, Realtors etc. that you feel are targeting your same market. By exchanging links with them, you are creating a win-win for each of you.

 Don’t get overwhelmed with all of the opportunities there are to market yourself. Just start with a few things that look like they will be easy for you to do and then build in some time for yourself to incorporate them into your marketing plan. Add others as you go along and you’ll be building targeted links to your site that will help generate a steady flow of traffic.

Food For Thought:

“People don’t fail because they aim too high and miss, but because they aim too low and hit.”
~ Les Brown

Many of our clients have indicated that their sales are slowing down. While this is natural during the summer months, some of this is due to the slow down in the economy. So how can you incease your sales in tough times? Below are a few ideas to get your sales back on track. (Each of these topics will be covered in more detail in our MarketingNewsletter and here on our Blog.)

1. Positive Mind Set Your mind set is critical to your success during these times. I recommend that you start by reading or listening to CD’s by Jim Rohn, and check out: www.success.com.
   “Whether You Think You Can or Can’t, You’re Right” –Henry Ford
2. Target Your Market Stop trying to sell to everyone on the
   Internet. Focus on a targeted niche group, get help writing compelling marketing  copy and watch your sales soar.
3. Capture Leads Do you have a free sample you can give away?
   Or a free report, article or anything of interest to your target market? Whatever you have, make it available on your website . . . for the asking, of course. And then keep a database of those email addresses for future followups.
4. Stay in Touch & Build Relationships Keep your business
   in front of your customers . . . use newsletters (print and/or email), blogs, social media sites, call just to check in.
5. Generate More Traffic Incorporate these into your marketing
   plan: SEO (search engine optimization), PPC (pay for click), Media Buys, Article Marketing, Blog, Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, Plaxo), Viral Marketing.
6. Read, Keep Learning I am always on the look out for new
   ideas and resources that can help my clients. In my search, I ran across this new book: How To Sell When Nobody’s Buying: (And How to Sell Even More When They Are) This book includes ideas we’ve all heard before, but may not have actually implemented, as well as some fresh new ideas that will help you and/or your sales team succeed. One thing I especially liked about it is the step-by-step plan and specific how to’s. If you have always thought about using social media, but didn’t know how to . . . this will help you with that too!

Please let us know if there is anything we can do to be of assistance.

Terri Gray
AustinWebDesign.com
WebsitePromotionPlus.com

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