Contact us for a free,
no obligation, consultation or
call us now on
01945 701174 |
 |
|
MARKETING OPTIONS
|
Contact us for a free,
no obligation, consultation or
call us now on
01945 701174 |
|
Are you doing enough to promote your website? Take a look at your options below.
Website Optimisation
Firstly, your website should be up to scratch. For the best results, a balance of good "real-world" marketing, design creativity, functionality, informative content and search term targeting should be sought. You should research search terms relevant to your site and find those keyphrases that are the most searched online, but the least targeted by other sites. You should ensure that these keywords appear as much as is practical in the content of your site, and in special tags which should be included in your site for search engines only, called the "Title", "Description", and "Keyword" tags. Other places to repeat keywords are in image ALT tags (pop-up image labels), image and page filenames, status bar text and in your domain name. Search engines often change their methods, and reveal little about them so experience and research is very helpful.
Link Exchanges
The more links to your site from the Internet, the better profile you will get on many search engines. This is especially true of Google, currently the world's number one search engine. Links from similar sites to yours are best, but almost all links are valuable. When requesting a link we recommend that you suggest the linking text which would be displayed - getting your keywords in the link further helps your ranking. Usually you would offer a link from your site in return (see Link Popularity). Link exchanges won't cost you anything, though to get good results often quite a lot of time is invested. Also consider other ways to get links, such as in forums (see Profiling below).
Profiling
A very good way to establish yourself online is to join discussions on the Internet, such as forums, which are used by your target customer. While giving valuable help you also establish yourself as an expert and encourage users to use your services. Many forums allow you to include your website address in your messages, which can also count as an extra link to your site.
Search Engine Listings
Getting listed on search engines is crucial as a first step in online marketing. Getting listed does not mean you will be ranked highly against search terms, which is much more of an art than a procedure. However, you will need to know all of the best places to submit your site to, and which ones not to submit your site to - since listings on a few sites which are known for trying to fool search engines may get your site demoted in the listings. It helps to know the current state of affairs with each search engine since they are evolving rapidly and often change the way they work. It also helps to know which services are worth paying for and which are not. Some establishments such as Inktomi, Teoma and Netscape's Open Directory Project provide results for many major search engines and it's well worth paying where necessary to get listed. Our search engine submissions are designed for maximum value-for-money and take the hassle out of getting listed.
Pay-for-Review Search Engines
Some major search engines offer a paid inclusion option. This will get you listed much faster in some cases, but will not increase your rankings. Often it is possible to get listed on these search engines by being well-linked from other sites, which brings the search engines to your site to index it themselves. Many of these search engines still allow a slower free submission service, although they may hide the free submission page from the casual seeker.
Pay-for-performance Search Engines
Using Pay-for-performance you bid on keywords relevant to your site, so that when a user searches for those keywords you appear in the top few listings. You only pay when a user clicks on your link and visits your website, so you get guaranteed visitors for your outlay. If the campaign is monitored, managed and updated constantly, costs can be contained and Pay-for-performance can offer excellent value for money. If not, it is possible that a campaign can run out of control, potentially causing a far greater spend than anticipated. We offer a Performance Listings service which allows you to top the search engines while fully containing your costs - and no technical or search engine knowledge is required.
Directory Listings
Directories are similar to search engines but edited and approved by humans rather than being automated. Therefore they are often slow to get listed on, but very powerful for searchers since they are fully moderated. Our Directory Submissions get your site submitted to the most important directories as well as search engines. Special directories and associations specifically for your business type will almost certainly exist and are very valuable (such as hotel directories, accountants' associations or site design company listings).
Banner Advertising
Banner Advertising gets your brand, message or special offer shown on other sites. When a user clicks on the banner they are taken to your site. They come in many sizes from small buttons nestled in a site's borders to large tower adverts displayed vertically along with a site's content. Banner campaign costs vary hugely, usually dependant on the profile of the displaying site. For instance, a banner campaign on Yell.com, Multimap.com or FriendsReunited.com will cost much more per advert shown than one on a selection of smaller sites. Banner campaigns can be targeted demographically and geographically (for example targeting sports sites mainly used by young men in the UK). We can arrange all sorts of banner campaigns and contain your costs in the process. We also provide quality banner design.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is based on partnerships between site owners or businesses. Often affiliations are similar to banner campaigns but instead of paying for banners to be displayed, the displaying site charges commission fees for sales made through the banner. Traffic tracking methods are used to determine which banner clicks eventually turned into sales. A good relationship with a level of trust between affiliates can make a big difference to the success of the scheme.
Email Marketing
Opt-in email marketing is an excellent way to keep in touch with prospects and customers, and remind them of your offerings. This is not the same as "spam", which is not requested and can be very frustrating for the recipient. Instead, only those who have requested to be kept up to date receive the emails. Lists must be carefully managed and it must be easy for a customer to opt-out of the mailing list. It is always best to begin by giving free advice, help or news to keep readers' interest up and give information on your offerings should they wish to know more.
Real-world Marketing
Get your website address shown everywhere you can including your adverts, signage, vehicles, leaflets, letterheads, business cards, promotional material and email signatures. If you have a long or complicated site address, consider getting a full domain name which can be pointed to your site no matter where it resides. |
