Marketing, Promotion and Advertising Articles » online advertising

10 Steps to Increase Traffic to Your Website

blaw — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:29:06 +0000

A website sits so prominently in the hierarchy of marketing initiatives that there is little wonder business owners can frequently be heard asking, “how can I attract more visitors to our site?” The answer lies in understanding what people are looking for and how you appear to the Internet at large.

These ten ideas can help you increase the number of visitors to your website and, in many cases, improve the quality of their visit.

Create a Google Webmaster Tools account

Google Webmaster Tools is a free service that shows you how your website appears to Google’s search engine crawlers. It also provides you with the means of making it easier for Google to index your website through the use of a file known as an XML sitemap. This file identifies the name and location of every page on your site and can even be set to designate the frequency at which each page is updated.

No level of technical knowledge is needed to create the sitemap.xml file thanks to the many free online services that will generate one for you, including XML-Sitemaps.com.

Submit to Industry Directories

When a website is launched it is often standard procedure to submit the URL to search engine directories, such as Google, Yahoo, Bing and DMOZ. What is frequently overlooked, however, is the ample supply of smaller, more specific directories available online.

Finding directories specific to your industry can be as simple as entering “[industry name] directory” in your favorite search engine. Having your business listed in as many of these directories as is feasible can result in increased visits from a less generalized demographic.

Add a Blog

Blogs are a convenient way for businesses to publish the single most valuable element on the Internet—new, unique content. By posting compelling, relevant articles businesses can:

Demonstrate a superior level of expertise in an industry sector
Open a new line of communication with potential customers via integrated “Comments” areas
Increase search engine ranking by regularly publishing new content and through the use of keyword-rich categories and tags

Thanks to the prevalence of top-tier blogging engines, such as WordPress, Moveable Type and Expression Engine, incorporating a blog in your company’s online marketing scheme has never been more accessible.

Promote Your Content

Make the effort to craft a well-written, timely article pay greater dividends by promoting your new posts in blog-specific search engines. Blog-Search is a search engine focused only on content published through blogs. Users of this type of search engine are looking specifically for insider-style content, the exact type of information you are using to add value to your website. Traditional search engines recognize the value of the links posted to this site as well. By including your site’s blog area to this directory you can increase the visibility of the information you are posting.

Become a Guest Author

Again, recognizing that the main thing people are searching for is original content, we can easily understand the need for popular blogs and online publishers to employ guest authors. Your business can benefit from you becoming a guest author by giving you and your company exposure to a larger audience.

Finding a site willing to publish the work of a guest author can be as simple as emailing the publisher of your favorite industry-related blog. Other places that are always in search of contributing authors include:

Create a Professional Twitter Account and Facebook Page

A key to getting increased traffic is to distribute your information in a variety of formats. This leaves it to the recipient (your potential customer) to determine which way they prefer to receive periodic updates.

Two easy data streams to tap into are Twitter and Facebook. You can use these networks to post links to related industry articles both on your website and elsewhere on the Internet. These feeds also provide you with a vital link to your follows and fans where you can announce new products, specials and website updates.

Focusing on growing your subscription base in these two networks can result in significant traffic increases.

Leverage Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking site provide individuals with the means of managing important references found on the web. An added benefit of social bookmarking sites is that you can view links that others have found to be of interest. By building a collection of valuable links related to your industry you can increase exposure to your own site as well.

Of course, getting others to bookmark your site is even better. If you are regularly publishing valuable content, encourage them to add your posts to their bookmarks. What’s the easiest way to do that? Add links to your pages that, when clicked, will automatically add the page to that visitor’s account.

A key is knowing which social bookmarking site has the appropriate audience for the information you are publishing. If your information is related to health and wellness then it is unlikely to be added to Slashdot, which is geared specifically towards a computer-savvy audience.

Popular social bookmarking sites include:

Post to Related News Groups

As a knowledgeable professional within your industry you have a lot to offer the general public. Exposing people to that knowledge can not only benefit them, but can result in additional qualified visits to your website.

Sometimes you need to search out those that can benefit from your expertise, and that’s where news groups come into play. Visiting a news group and browsing to your specialized field can provide an abundance of opportunities to demonstrate your knowledge and direct traffic back to your website.

Five Things You Can Do to Increase Your Visibility

alaw — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:31:16 +0000

In your ongoing quest to keep ahead of your competitors you need to be constantly conscious of your visibility to your customers. In this case “visibility” refers to your customers’ awareness of your strengths and capabilities. Most likely there are customers that are in need of your service, but are unaware of how well you can meet their needs in areas of quality, cost and responsiveness. It is your challenge to provide them with reminders and incentives to contact you.

In this article you’ll find five ways to immediately increase your visibility. Implementing one or all of these strategies could be the key to your ongoing success.

Use a Targeted Direct Mail Campaign

Instead of blanketing an area with postcards or brochures, define a specific need for a targeted customer type and develop a short campaign aimed at that solution. Utilizing a smaller scale campaign allows you to be more specific in your mailer. This also makes it easier to contact recipients of the mailer, initiating your sales effort. This is especially valuable because follow up calls can increase the success of a campaign by 10 times or more.

Start a Newsletter

Email newsletters are an efficient means of promoting your offerings using the most accepted medium in the business world today. It allows you to provide unique and informative articles and offers to existing and potential customers in a manner and time convenient to them.

Today’s email marketing systems make the tasks associated with this type of campaign easy and affordable, while providing valuable data through campaign reports. Analysis of which articles are generating the most interest can help you focus on the solutions most needed by your customers.

Contact Existing Customers

Everyone is focused on finding new customers, for obvious reasons. But what can be easier than selling to someone that already knows the level of service they can expect from your company? Even better is the fact that you already know them: their specific needs; their unique way of doing business; what they like and why. If only you had that much of a head start with all customers.

Connecting with those you’ve worked with in the past is an easy way to learn about new challenges in their business, initiate discussions on your new service offerings, and reinforce the message that their business is important to you.

Upgrade Your Online Presence

You’ve got a website and it provides the buying public with information on your services, pertinent contact information, maybe even employment opportunities, but you still may not be utilizing this medium to its full potential. Enhancing your website to establish your company as a specialized resource in your industry can be as simple as installing blog software and committing to building an archive of posts. Comment functionality makes it convenient to carry on a dialog with website visitors (also known as potential customers).

As more and more people turn to the Internet as their initial source for information, you can become part of the answer by participating in relevant discussions on forums. Taking time to research the available venues and establish a reputation can provide unlimited gains to you and your company.

Become a Guest Speaker/Guest Author

Being an expert in your field has its advantages. One of them is the fact that people want to do business with someone that really knows the ins and out of their industry. By becoming a guest speaker at a conference or business function you can demonstrate your depth of knowledge and introduce your services and skill set to a new and interested audience.

Contact your Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club or public library and volunteer to share your experience and opinions. Many organizations offer seminars on a regular basis and are always on the lookout for a fresh face.

Making yourself available to answer specific questions after your appearance is a golden opportunity to learn about a customer’s wants, issues and needs. It doesn’t get any easier to get your foot in the door with a new account.

Don’t feel that you are limited to personal appearances. Newspapers, industry journals and established blogs are often looking for guest authors to bring a fresh voice to their publication. Prepare a sample of your writing and submit it along with your professional credentials to a publication that matches your area of expertise.