Promoting Your Site

Promoting Your Site to Rise above Web Clutter Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, Founding Editor, Web Marketing Today, Rocklin, CA Oct 30, 2007, 08:23 The bad news is that an October 2007 Netcraft.com web server survey found nearly 143 million websites, adding up to untold billions of webpages. The good news is that only a tiny percentage of these site owners actively promote their sites. The clutter, however, is ginormous. If you want people to find your website for the first time amidst all that clutter, you must employ strategies to promote your site and draw traffic. There's no use reinventing the wheel. These are the primary tried and true approaches to site promotion. They vary in cost and effectiveness. Search engine optimization (SEO). Your site rises in search engine rankings due to careful use of keywords in webpage titles, meta tags, headings, body text, in your webpages, as well as many incoming links to the site from directories, social bookmarks, complementary sites, etc. (See my Guide to Search Engine Optimization, 2007). Can be quite effective if you achieve page 1 or 2 rankings. Time consuming, but relatively low cost, even when outsourced. Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC) or paid search on Google, Yahoo, or MSN. Your text ads show up to the right of search results when searchers search on keywords. You pay only when someone clicks on your ad. Can be quite effective with careful keyword choice and tested landing pages. Moderate to high cost, depending on the keywords. Banner advertising. Your banner ads show up on ad networks. However, the click-through rate is probably less than 0.3%. Low effectiveness except where highly targeted. Moderate cost. Affiliate programs. You pay affiliates for showing your ads only when a customer clicks-through and makes a purchase from you. Can be effective, but good affiliates are difficult to find and motivate to create adequate volume. Lower cost. Advertising in e-mail newsletters. Your ad is displayed in an existing e-zine sent to people in your target group. Can be moderately effective. Low to medium cost. Solo e-mails using an existing list. Your e-mail promotion is sent to opt-in subscribers of a targeted e-zine list or rented list. Can be quite effective with well-written copy, a tested landing page, and the right list. Relatively expensive, depending upon the list. Networking in online communities. You become an active part of several online communities, forums, blogs, etc., participate in discussions, and promote your site passively through your "signature." Can be somewhat effective. Low cost and targeted, but time intensive. Viral marketing campaigns. You promote your site by creating a "creative" (video, text message, photo, animation, etc.) so compelling, interesting, bizarre, funny, or helpful, that people pass it on to their friends -- with your URL or marketing message. Wildly successful for the fortunate few who stumble upon a compelling creative. Low cost. Joint venture (JV) arrangements. Essentially this involves getting others sites and e-zines to carry your marketing message in exchange for either a sales commission or for a reciprocation on your part. Can be effective with the right partners. Low cost. Which of these is "best"? Wrong question. There is no "magic bullet" (no matter what anybody claims). Most successful online businesses employ several of these strategies simultaneously to create a successful marketing "mix." The higher cost of one approach is balanced out by the lower cost of another. Together they bring in a large enough volume of traffic at a low enough cost to allow an online business to make a profit. How do you find the best mix for your organization? (1) Research each approach using the articles in our Web Marketing Today Research Room (www.wilsonweb.com/research/). (2) Try various approaches while carefully tracking the results. Then (3) do more of what is working. In the face of 143 million websites vying for attention, spending no time or budget on promotion is a sure recipe for a failed online effort. What will you try next to help your site rise through the clutter to see the light of day?