21
Ways To Promote Your Website
Lets
take a look at the different ways
you can promote your website on
and offline.
Some
are conventional methods which can
be a refresher or reminder if you're
experienced marketer right through
to some unconventional methods to
make you stand out from the crown.
If
you committed to introducing just
2 of these methods each month I
guarantee that you'll not only see
an increase in traffic but sales
and profits as well.
1)
Pay Per Click
Are
you running pay per click campaigns
and if so are you utilizing Google,
Overture and MSN's Adcentre?
I'm
a big fan of using PPC to drive
vast amounts of traffic to a website
and then refining my keywords as
I see results come in.
If
you are new to PPC I recommend you
sign up for Perry Marshall's free
5 Day Adwords course (www.adwordsongoogle.com)
and invest in his Adwords ebook
as well…well worth the small
$47 price.
2)
Your own Ezine/Newsletter
This
should go without saying. However,
I subscribe to many ezines that
give good content but never seems
to promote their own website!
Each
newsletter that goes out should
contain a call to action that directs
people back to your website. An
even better result would be to drive
people back to a specific offer
on your website.
3)
Business cards
Do
you have business cards?
Yes
you may run an online business and
don't want to talk to customers
however, sorry to say this, get
real!
In
everyday life you'll meet people
and talk with people and this presents
an ideal marketing opportunity.
How
many times have you been asked (or
have asked yourself)
"What
do you do?"
This
is an ideal opportunity to mention
your website and give out a business
card with your websites address
on. Plus, use the reverse side to
add a benefit driven statement or
make an offer.
4)
Networking
This
links in perfectly with point three.
Attend
related events in your niche.
Are
their any trade shows you can go
to?
What
about Public shows or events?
We
attend several different events
in our various niche markets and
always go to each one with a plan
of what we want to achieve.
Who
do we want to speak to, meet or
make contact with?
In
two of our niche markets we have
shirts, Polo Shirts and even jackets
with our brand sewn on (logos and
web addresses!)
This
is often enough to start a discussion
when people ask what is it we do!
If
you run a business related website
then you MUST attend the events
related to your market.
5)
Press Release
Are
you harnessing the power of the
press?
A
well timed and well crafted press
release can give you immense marketing
exposure even radio and TV!
Internet
Marketing Review Gold Member Tom
Cone used a well crafted press release
to land him a spot on a regional
TV show!
His
product I won't tell you exactly
what it is but it was about folding
napkins!
6)
Articles
Sorry
to bang on about using articles,
again! BUT, they are the single
most powerful free way of promoting
your website.
There
are now literally thousands of article
website directories out there all
wanting to list your article for
you take advantage of this fact.
Don't
dismiss publishing your article
offline as well.
I
now have articles published in two
offline magazines each month. One
is a business related magazine and
the other is a hobby related magazine.
How
did I manage this?
Simple
I contacted the magazine editor
told them I was the owner of X niche
website and had several articles
that may be of interest to their
readers. I then said they would
be free to publish them as long
as they let me mention the website
at the end of the article.
Two
editors said yes, with one giving
me a FULL PAGE advert each month
as a thank you for sending them
my article!
With
the hobby magazine I don't really
know much about the niche so I have
the articles Ghost written for me!
7)
Post card mailings
If
you have a database of customers
and prospects within your niche
then a simple postcard is an inexpensive
way of promoting your website.
With
a postcard I recommend you drive
the reader to a special offer on
your website or to email / call
for further information.
What
if you don't have the names and
addresses of people to mail to?
Have
a look at the magazines within your
niche and contact them to see if
they rent out their subscriber list.
Then
send a postcard offering a free
report / gift / offer if they visit
your website and join your mailing
list.
Then
have a follow up process in place
that ultimately leads to you selling
a product or recommending an affiliate
product.
Also,
check out list brokers for lists
within your niche.
The
USA has thousands upon thousands
of niche magazines and list brokers
and if mailing from the UK prices
are still very reasonable for a
post card.
You
can even contact the many firms
who will print and mail your postcard
for you direct from the USA.
In
the next article in the series we'll
take a look at a further seven ways
to promote you website.
Have
a look at the seven ideas above
and pick two that you can start
to implement into your business
this month.
8)
eBooks
eBooks
in the form of PDF special reports
are being used more and more in
launch sequences thanks to Jeff
Walkers Product Launch Formula,
however, don't think that you can
only use them in a launch sequence.
A
well put together ebook on your
topic that links back to your website
can become a powerful promoter of
your site when used correctly.
Offer
the ebook to your current subscribers
and customers and encourage them
to pass it on to their own lists,
friends, families and work colleagues
who they feel may benefit from reading
it.
You
can even use it as a sign up offer
for new subscribers again encouraging
them to pass it on.
A
word of warning. A blatant sales
pitch or ebook chock full of affiliate
links will fail miserably…ensure
your ebook is appealing to your
target market and has the pass along
factor embedded in the information
it provides.
I
have a 35 page ebook that still
drives traffic to one of my niche
market sites nearly 4 years after
I first sent it out…and I haven't
promoted in over 2 years!
Once
your promotional ebook is out there
you never know where it will end
up or send traffic from!
9)
Radio Advertising
Now,
you may be thinking that radio advertising
is out of your league and if you're
selling $30 eBooks you're probably
right!
However,
if your products run into the hundreds
or even thousands of pounds or dollars
then radio advertising could be
the route for you.
When
running a radio advert keep in mind
what your ‘most wanted response'
is from the person listening to
the ad.
What
do you want them to do after hearing
your advert?
Don't
try and sell your product in the
ad, make an offer or give them an
outstanding reason to visit your
website for a free gift, report,
etc.
Capture
their contact details and then follow
up using an autoresponder sequence
or, even better, an offline campaign
combining mail and telephone.
10)
Affiliate Programs
In
a nutshell this is where other people
promote your website / product and
earn a commission every time a sale
is made from their referral.
This
is an ideal low cost (in marketing
spend terms) acquisition vehicle
that you can put into place in your
business.
The
two main drawbacks to affiliate
programs are:
i)
Recruiting affiliates who will actually
do something. Think in terms of
97% and 3% with traditionally the
3% doing something.
ii)
Training and motivating your affiliates.
To make your affiliate program pay
off big you will have to invest
time in training your affiliates,
giving them tools to promote your
site such as pre written emails,
articles, images etc.
That
said, we use affiliates extensively
to promote our Junior Soccer site
and have over 45% of our affiliates
actually promoting the site.
The
reason for this is that we are in
a low competition niche AND I invest
the time to train them.
11)
Classified Adverts
We
run a number of classified adverts
in niche market specialist publications
each month that drive people to
a specific landing page where we
capture their name and email address
as a minimum and full contact details
where appropriate.
You'll
be amazed at how cost effective
these adverts can be and the traffic
they bring is highly qualified.
Think
about it, someone who has taken
the time to read your advert in
a magazine, then gone to their computer
AND given their details is a hot
prospect.
12)
Speaking Engagements
Public
speaking doesn't appeal to everyone,
in fact I know of many people who
would rather cut off their right
arm than get up in front of an audience
to speak!
That
said, public speaking is a great
way to promote your website using
various methods.
i)
Have your URL on each slide you
use. This will be displayed to the
audience AND if the event is being
filmed the people who buy the DVDs
will see it to.
ii)
Mention your URL in your talk, where
appropriate; don't over do it.
iii)
Include your URL on any handouts
you may use
iv)
Use your URL on any brand clothing
you may wear. We have shirts, T-shirts
and jackets with our URLs sewn in!
v)
Offer a resource page on your site
where people can go to download
a copy of your presentation or bonuses
you may offer.
13)
Conference Calls
Taking
part as a guest on a conference
call is an ideal way to put your
name and website in front of different
prospects.
During
the call mention your website several
times, again, don't over do it.
You can use the same strategy as
with speaking engagements by giving
a special page on your website to
download further information to
the attendees.
If
the host is sending out information
to their list before the call ask
them to include a copy of your bio
and web address.
14)
Email sig file
A
sig file is usually just a couple
of lines long and gives a short
description of you and/or your business
including your web address and is
included at the end of your emails.
Many sig files contain a strong
benefit and a call to action to
visit the website. Don't oversell
in your sig file but do give a compelling
reason for the reader to visit your
site.
15)
Reciprocal Links
This
involves the swapping of links with
other websites usually within your
niche market; however, I've seen
many reciprocal links on sites that
aren't related.
Reciprocal
link exchanges were originally used
to build up your link popularity
rating with the search engines,
although over the last few years
this has become less effective as
Search Engine technology advances.
However,
don't discount reciprocal links
just yet.
On
several of our sites, we still seek
out high ranking and high traffic
websites where we can both benefit
from a reciprocal link exchange.
In
this case, I'm not doing it for
the benefit of search engine ranking
but for the pure reason of traffic
generation.
A
link in a prominent place on a high
traffic site will, by its very nature,
generate traffic for you. And if
you have your site set up correctly
you should be able to capture the
visitors name and email address.
16)
Search Engine Listings or SEO
Let's
get one thing straight - I am not
a search engine expert by any stretch
of the imagination. In fact I heard
the best definition of SEO earlier
last year when it was called...
"Search
Engine Optimist"
However,
I do understand the principles and
do put in place strategies to take
advantage of the natural search
listings.
The
easiest way is to add content to
your website and link this from
an index page or site map on your
website.
I
run many websites that are single
sales letter types sites and many
of them have a page rank of 3, 4
or 5.
However,
behind these pages are several dozen
content pages that are linked via
an index page. By checking my site
statistics I can see which pages
are driving traffic and in many
cases new sales.
When
setting up a new sales letter site,
I'll use PPC traffic to gauge how
well it will perform and for the
ones that do really well I'll spend
the time adding content pages to
sit behind the main site.
17)
Classified Adverts
I'm
not talking about classified adverts
online but simple adverts in your
niche market's magazines and publications.
This
simple strategy has made us thousands
in various niche markets and has
even had the magazine editorial
team contact us to see if we would
like to contribute to the magazine
itself.
In
specialist magazines you can often
place a classified ad for only a
few pounds or dollars and know that
it will be reaching your target
audience.
The
idea of these adverts is not to
sell your product off the page but
to drive the readers to your website
and preferably a name capture page.
To
do this, your advert must contain
a benefit to the reader to put down
the magazine, go online and type
in your web address.
18)
Your Own Business Stationary
If
you operate in many different niche
markets and are only selling digital
products then this may not be ideal
for you, however, if you have a
small number of markets then at
a minimum I'd have business cards
printed with your web address on
them.
In
our main niche markets, we have
business cards that have an offer
and call to action on the back to
encourage people to visit our sites.
We
also have letterheads, and if we
send out a physical product, we
enclose an insert with the branding
and an offer or another call to
action for the customer to take.
19)
Email Campaigns
If
people are already on your email
list this shouldn't be the end of
your traffic driving process. By
making sub lists of your main list
you can then send targeted messages
to drive your customer and prospects
to new sales pages and offers.
20)
Forums
You
may already know my view of forums
within the Internet Marketing arena.
However,
forums in niche markets are still
an ideal way to drive traffic to
your website. However, PLEASE don't
go and blatantly promote your site
on the forums...there are rules
to follow.
First
of all, find the forums in your
niche and spend a bit of time 'lurking'
reading the posts and watching how
they are answered.
After
a short time, you'll get the feel
of the board and if they allow any
promotion of websites or if you
can use a signature file at the
bottom of your post.
Once
you understand the rules start answering
some of the questions on the board,
and leave your URL and/or signature.
file at the end.
My
own view with non marketing forums
is not to try and answer all the
questions; answer only a few and
answer them completely with very
good advice or suggestions.
This
will get you noticed more and build
up credibility with the other people
on the board.
21)
Conference Calls
Conference
calls are an ideal way to build
up an email list quickly and are
an excellent relationship-building
tool as well.
You
can either have a free to join call
or have attendees pay a fee to join
you. Either way I'd approach other
'players' within your market and
ask them would they promote your
call for you. With a paid call you
can offer an affiliate deal.
The
call should be on a specific topic
and during the call you can make
reference to several pages on your
site or make a specific sales offer
for attendees.
With
a free call you can make the MP3
recording available afterwards encouraging
your attendees to tell others about
it. This will create a viral effect
as the call gets passed around and
in turn drive traffic back to your
website.
I
have an mp3 that I recorded more
than 3 years ago that still drives
traffic to one of my sites each
and every week!
Summary
So
there you have it, the conclusion
of '21 Ways To Promote Your Website'.
Which ones will you implement into
your business?
Running
a successful web business is simple,
but not easy. If it was easy everyone
would be doing it.
However,
it is simple...
What
could be simpler than having a product
that people are actively looking
for and letting them know where
they can get it from?
About the Author
Neil Stafford is Editor and Publisher
of the Internet Marketing Review
the UK's longest running PRINTED
Internet Marketing Newsletter. 'Test
drive' the Newsletter for FREE -
Visit this special web page for
more information: http://www.InternetMarketingReview.com/sya
