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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