30 Different Ways To Promote and Advertise
Your Web Site
By Andrew Wroblewski
There are literally thousands of things
you can do to promote and advertise your Web site, here are
just a few I have found to work for me.
- Tell your audience what kind of support
they'll get after they buy. It could be free consulting,
tech support, free servicing, etc. This may also answer
some of their buying questions ahead of time. People don't
want to buy products without knowing you will be there to
help if they have problems.
- Ask people at the end of your copy why
they decided not to buy. This will give you new ideas on
how to produce ad copy that's more profitable. Have a web
form or e-mail link in place so they can answer you. You
may find out they don't like your guarantee or graphics.
It could be anything.
- Think of ways to get your site or
business in the the news. You could sponsor a fundraiser,
break a world record, hold a major event, etc. Simply
write a press release about what you've accomplished, then
send it to media outlets that cater to your target
audience.
- Hold a contest on your web site. Give
other web sites the option of offering it to their
visitors. This'll multiply your advertising all over the
Internet. It would become a viral contest. Of course the
contest must either be ongoing or held regularly so you
could allow other online publishers to offer it to their
visitors or subscribers.
- Tell your potential customers that your
ordering system is highly secure. Also reassure them that
you take every effort to protect them. People want to feel
they are safe online. They want to know that you care
about their well-being. Tell them all about what you
currently do for them to make them feel more secure.
- Carry business cards with you wherever
you go. Have your web address printed on them. You can
hand them out to anyone you meet. Just think of all the
people you meet on a regular basis: grocery clerks, post
office workers, bag boys, family members, friends,
salesmen/women, etc.
- Contact national radio stations to ask
them if they are looking for guest speakers. Tell them
your area of expertise; maybe they'll book you for a show.
Of course you would want to contact targeted stations and
shows which would want to know more about you and your
area of expertise.
- Join clubs related to your area of
business. You could trade leads with other businesses.
Learn new ways to run your business and sell your
products. You could also create your own online business
club. You could provide private chat rooms, message
boards, articles, etc.
- Think of a domain name for your web
site that's easy to remember. It should be related to what
your business does, sells or provides. If there aren't any
business names available, use your actual birth name. You
could at least brand yourself. Your own name will give you
credibility.
- Position your web site at the top of
pay-per-click search engines. You will only pay your set
amount for each click-through you get to your web site.
Just make sure your profits will pay for your advertising
cost. If they won't, maybe you could share a web site with
another related business and split the costs.
- Allow your visitors or customers to
increase your traffic or sales. Ask them how you can
improve your business, web site or product. You can ask
them at your web site, in your
e-zines,
on your message board, in your chat room, in your guest
book, in your product packages, etc.
- Team up with other
e-zines that have the same target audience. Combine
subscriber bases and then publish one
e-zines
together to increase subscribers. You could all include
your ads and announcements in the
e-zines.
You could also take turns for the top advertising space.
- Swap endorsement advertisements with
other Web sites. Endorsement ads usually pull more sales
and traffic than regular advertisements. People have
taught themselves to ignore advertisements because they
see hundreds of them every day. Endorsements usually don't
look or sound like normal ads.
- Outsource part of your workload to save
time and money. You can spend more of your time and money
promoting your business. You'll save money on employee
costs, space costs, training costs, etc. Keep the work you
enjoy doing to keep you motivated and ship out the work
you don't like.
- Include a signature file on all the
e-mails you send out. Provide your business name, phone
number, e-mail and web address, etc. Also include a brief
blurb for your business or the product you're selling. For
example, you could say, “How To Wash Your Car In Two
Minutes or Less!”
- Use pictures or graphics on your web
site that support the product you're selling. They could
give your visitors a clearer vision of your product, the
benefits of the product, people's emotion when they own
the product, etc. You could also use “before” and “after”
pictures.
- Create a friendly, long-term
relationship with all your customers. Practice good
customer service and follow-up with them on a regular
basis. You could follow-up with gifts, greeting cards,
free things, coupons, special offers, reminders, your
e-zines,
helpful advice, etc.
- Create strategic alliances with other
web sites. You could exchange banner ads, sell each
other's products as back-end products, cross-promote, etc.
You could also create a web site together and promote it
on your separate web sites. You would both just split the
costs and profits.
- Increase the perceived value of your
product to skyrocket your sales. Add on free bonuses,
after- sale services or an affiliate program. Other
factors that would help are: your own domain name, a
professional web design, a good-looking product graphic
and persuasive ad copy.
- Give customers a discount on their
total order to increase sales. You could give them a
discount for ordering over a set dollar or product amount.
For example, you could say, “Buy over $39 worth of
products and get a 20% discount on your order!” Another
example, “Get a 15% discount if you order 3 or more
products!”
- Allow your visitors to reprint the
content on your web site. Just ask them to include your
resource box and a link to your site in exchange. This
will turn your content into a traffic machine and the
external links will help increase your ranking in some
search engines.
- Provide a free contest or sweepstake at
your web site. It's a fact, people like to win things. If
you can fulfill that need, people will visit. You can also
attract them to revisit by holding one every week or
month. You could also start an opt-in list for people who
enter your contest or sweepstake so you can follow-up with
them regularly.
- Save time and money by using ad
submitters. You will reach a larger part of your target
audience far more quickly than by manually submitting your
ad. You should manually submit your ad to the most popular
web sites so you have a better chance of being listed or
placed in a good position.
- Create a good first impression. You
will not be able to sell very many products if your
visitors think your web site looks unprofessional. Use
crisp graphics, attractive color combinations, a readable
text size, even spacing, even margins, bold headlines,
indent benefits, etc.
- Stop procrastinating and start
finishing all your business tasks. Do one at a time. Don't
get caught up thinking that you can never get them all
done. Make a list. Do the easiest or most crucial one
first and move down the list. Cross off each task as you
complete it.
- Develop a relationship with all your
visitors and customers. Tell them how much you appreciate
them visiting your web site or buying your product. Invite
them to online and offline events like free chat room
classes, parties, dinner gatherings, business events, etc.
- Hire a business coach to help improve
you and your business. That could help increase your
sales, motivate you, balance your workload, etc. It would
be like renting an extra brain. You would have double the
thinking power.
- Stay away from being too comfortable
with your income or life. You should always be making new
goals for yourself and developing new sales ideas. The
world keeps changing and if you pause too long, you might
miss out. You only live once.
- Make sure you don't become a
workaholic. Your mind needs time away from your business
life. This will help your brain think clearly while
working. The best time to get profitable ideas is when
you're not thinking about them. They just pop into your
brain.
- Create and follow short/long-term goals
for your business. The short-term goals can create early
success and the long-term goals can create future success.
Design each goal so they all add up to your ultimate goal.
Don't make your goals too unrealistic otherwise depression
and frustration could move you farther away from them.
Good Luck and get busy promoting!
EzineArticles
Expert Author,
Andrew Wroblewski
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