Posted on March 1st, 2010 by admin | No Comments »
There are many things that can be done to help promote a website. However, one of the most useful things is to have a carefully crafted blog which links to it.
Start by compiling a list of keywords common to your area and your industry. Include long-tailed keywords that contain several adjectives and are very specific. Traffic driven to your site by long-tailed keywords are typically looking for something specific and have a high conversion rate for sales.
As you write your blog, be sure to weave the keywords throughout while keeping it easy to read and informative. At the end of each installment of the blog, put a link back to your site so that people know where to go for more information. By writing succinct, helpful articles with proper keyword density, your blog will be found by the web crawlers and will give you a good rank in the search engine results. The higher the ranking, the more likely your information will get read and your site will be visited by those wanting even more information.
A blog will also help to establish you as a leader in your field and as an expert. This will increase name recognition, which means when a potential client is ready to buy, your company will come to mind first. Updating your blog regularly is one of the best website promotion methods you can do.
Posted on February 17th, 2010 by admin | No Comments »
If you are in the market for a web host there are a number of things to consider. You may be tempted to choose your provider based on the suggestion of someone you know and trust who is one of their satisfied customers. However, website requirements can vary greatly from one company to another. The web host that provides excellent service and value for one company may be inadequate for another’s company’s needs.
You should know how much space you are getting for your investment. In addition you need to find out if there are any limitations on file size or type, in case you decide to upgrade. You also want to know if there is a bandwidth limitation.
Find out how reliable the host is. If your site is going to be frequently down because of technical options, it is not a good choice. How fast the site moves is also a factor to consider.
It is important to set a budget for your web hosting costs. By shopping around carefully you should be able to find a company that can offer you the web hosting services you need at the price you want.
Check out reviews of a web hosting service before you enter into a contract with them. You may also want to contact the Better Business Bureau to find BBB reviews of web hosting companies. By shopping around and being an informed consumer, you can find the best web hosting service for your needs.
Posted on February 10th, 2010 by admin | No Comments »
Website promotion can sometimes feel like you are promoting something entirely different from your actual business. Traditional marketing is often about getting people in the door and making a purchase. With website promotion, it is as much about creating a strong web presence, building a reputation as an industry leader and creating name recognition as it is about making the sale.
Yet, there is definitely a place in traditional marketing for website promotion and it should be used to your advantage. Your web address should be mentioned in every ad you place. In today’s market place, it is every bit as important as your physical address and even more important for many buyers. Amongst the places to be sure to include your web address are:
- business cards
- customized vehicles
- print ads
- radio and TV ads
- banners
- signage
- promotional giveaways
Another important point to consider is the web address itself. You should strive to create an easy to remember one. By doing so, people who hear it or see it once or twice are more likely to remember it and go visit your site. So keep it short and simple yet self-explanatory.
Website promotion is not entirely done online. There are many people who will find your website in other ways, as long as you remember to treat your web address exactly the same way you treat your physical address and phone number. Put traditional marketing methods to work for your website promotion now.
Posted on February 1st, 2010 by admin | No Comments »
It is important to stay in touch with your clients and this has never been easier to do than it is now. Social networking allows you to create fan pages that clients can join. You can send events and specials to these individuals quickly and easily. If you want to build a base quickly, offer a freebie to those who join and you will see your fan base explode. You may even need to limit the number of freebies. Update your Facebook, MySpace and other social networking page regularly and Twitter often, especially when you have real news or something special is upcoming. You can easily and inexpensively remind your customers of your existence and the fact that they need you anytime of the day or night.
Another way to create a following is to build an email mailing list through an opt-in tool on your website. This allows you to collect email addresses that are willingly given by people who want to hear about what you have to offer. You can do monthly newsletters or simply send out special offers as things arise. This is a much more targeted form of advertising than anything else because these individuals have chosen to hear about what you offer.
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Posted on January 26th, 2010 by admin | No Comments »
You may be thinking that you have absolutely no need for a website monitoring service. Hold on now, don’t be so hasty. How often does your website go down in a month? How many times last month did your website experience problems like broken links or 404 errors? If you answered with uhhhhh, then you may indeed need a website monitoring service.
If you are like I am you have a million other things to do in one day and have no time to sit in front of your computer all day with your website up and constantly be clicking on all the links. Actually, I can’t think of anyone who does have that kind of time. With a website monitoring service that is their job, to constantly be checking your site 24/7. What’s more is that they will alert you as soon as something goes wrong on your site so that you can address the issue right away.
Think about it for a second. If your site were to go down for a day, how much money would you lose? Now what if your site is down for two day, three day, I think you get my point. If your site is making you money you need to be sure that it is always running properly.
Here’s the tough part, there are tons of website monitoring services out there and you can spend an entire day trying to find a good one, but the time spent can be well worth it to you in the long run. Just remember, consider service and support first and price last. It’s pointless to pay any amount of money to a website monitoring service that isn’t worth a darn.
Posted on January 13th, 2010 by admin | No Comments »
One of the most useful things you can add to your website is free information. If you are selling a product, such as insurance, providing information about it will greatly help you in attracting and keeping people interested in your website.
You can start with providing basic information on your products for someone who is buying them for the first time. Add a glossary section, especially if there is a lot of jargon in your field. Adding a FAQ or Frequently Asked Questions section will make it quick and easy for consumers to find the information they are looking for. Post informative articles that will keep consumers interested, such as ways to save money on the purchase of whatever you are selling. A blog is also useful especially if there is controversy or news surrounding your industry that you can comment on and provide information about. However if you have a blog be sure to update it weekly, although more often is better.
A well-maintained, up-to-date website that is educational, and also provides the opportunity to buy what you need, is a great combination. It will keep people coming back and will also score high in search engine ranking if articles are written using Search Engine Optimization techniques.
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Posted on January 7th, 2010 by admin | No Comments »
When you are considering your SEO marketing strategy for your online sales business, it is important to utilize long tail keyword phrases to get the right traffic. These are very specific phrases that contain adjectives to help precisely define what a searcher is looking for. By using long tail keywords you limit the traffic going to your site; however you ensure that it is much higher quality traffic and they are much more likely to become customers.
For example if you are selling beach rentals by the week in Florida, a keyword like Florida vacation is simply too broad and will be very competitive. If you use it your site will receive lots of visitors but few will buy. In addition, it is very hard for a site to rank high in the results of such a broad search. However, if you were to use a long tail keyword phrase like “St. Augustine Beach House for rent”, you would get much fewer hits but they would be much more targeted and would likely be actually in the market for what you are selling. In this case the percentage of visitors who become customers is much higher and your SEO marketing techniques are more effective.
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Posted on December 30th, 2009 by admin | No Comments »
If you have a web site you will need web hosting. Understanding that service is vital to making the right decision for your business. Choosing a free web hosting service may be very tempting, however typically these services are free because the web host will sell ads to put on your site. The types of ads are out of your control and may not reflect your business in the way you want to.
When you look for a web hosting package, you will find that many of them include your domain name, multiple email addresses, report options, website creation software, virtual storage and more. However, what should really interest you are certain other aspects. You may want a dedicated hosting package in which your site has its own server. This is more expensive than other types of web hosting but is very secure. Shared web hosting is the more common type and is simply where more than one web site is being housed on shared servers. The final type is co-location and is simply where you pay for an internet connection and equipment storage. It is the most secure method of web hosting and the server which you own can be managed by your own IT professional or by the web hosting company.
Choose the web hosting option that best suits your needs. There really is something to fit every company. Compare cheap web hosting to find an affordable hosting solution.
Posted on December 22nd, 2009 by admin | No Comments »
As businesses grow and change, many firms look at making necessary changes to their website to make it more user friendly, to have it reflect the company’s image better, to improve its functioning and to simply update it with new technology. However, making such changes is a double-edged sword. In all likelihood, your web site needs to be updated especially if it is more than a couple of years old, however customers become familiar with a site as is and are resistant to change.
As with anything, when people get used to things being a certain way, they do not welcome change. When you make drastic changes to your website and completely change its appearance, you risk alienating existing customers. The best way to update your website is to do so gradually. Retain as much of the aspects your customers have become familiar with as you can and add one change at a time. Leave some time between changes for your customers to get used to it. By using this technique of updating your website you can successfully create a new website that meets your business needs and your existing customers will barely notice the transition.
Posted on December 14th, 2009 by admin | 1 Comment »
Gone are the days of pay-per-click advertising and sponsored search results being the ultimate in online advertising. Today there are many more effective, inexpensive ways to market your online business without resorting to this type of advertising. While these types of ads are still very useful, they can also add up greatly. Making efficient use of social networking, affiliate programs, links from other sites, article marketing and email databases can save you a significant amount of money on your advertising costs.
While there are pay advertising opportunities on the social networking sites, you can also create fan pages and do other types of advertising there free of cost. Affiliate programs, where other individuals have a link on their site to yours, are great sources of leads. Affiliates are typically only paid a commission if those who click through from their sites actually make a purchase. You can also do reciprocal links with other websites that complement your product or service. By writing informative articles with back links to your web site you can also drive traffic to your site free of charge. Finally, email databases that can be made up of former customers or web site visitors who choose to subscribe to your list provide a willing audience of people who want to learn more about your products and services. All these ways of advertising are completely free or have very minimal costs, especially compared to the possible return they can create.
Another way to save money is by using a cheap, reliable hosting service.