AdvertisingSolution.info

According to Google.com there are over three billion web pages online today. So what are you doing to separate yourself from the crowd? How are you targeting your customers? How much capital are you investing in marketing? Is it working?

I hear many business owners complaining about the inability to successfully drive targeted customers to their website. I listen as they tell me about purchasing e-mail lists and buying advertising spaces on related websites. While these methods may work there are free and effective ways to drive targeted traffic to your site.

The first is the ever popular search engines. There are a number of ways to successfully optimize your website for the search engines and subsequently receive better rankings. Search engine optimization is an enormous topic and there have been many books written on the subject and businesses specializing in this service, but I will give you a few important pointers on optimizing your website.

First, be sure to have a great deal of relevant content on your website that is no more than three levels deep (the search engine’s crawler does not typically search more than three levels down). This content can include articles, white papers, case studies etc.

Second, be sure to have a large number of websites linking to yours. Trade links with other website owners and place their links in a ‘Resources’ section on your website. One of the important variables, among many, that Google will use in your ranking is the number of relevant websites that are linking to yours. So be sure the majority of incoming links to your website are from businesses that provide similar offerings.

Third, be sure to include accompanying text links to all of your pages if your current page links are buried within images. This is important because the crawler cannot see images, but it can find text links.

The next way to drive free targeted traffic to your website is to include a link to your site and small ‘hook’ in your email signature. I’m surprised at how many business owners still do not do this. This hook will be one sentence that tells your audience what you do. This “small ad” of sorts will be on every email you send out. Example:

John Smith

President

ABC Company

“Providing communications solutions in a technology driven world”

Next, get involved with various online message boards/discussion forums that discuss topics that are relevant to your business and provide a link to your website in your signature. You’ll be surprised at its effectiveness. Be sure to participate in relevant discussion forums so that you can learn and contribute the most by participating in knowledgeable topics and at the same time receive targeted clicks. Do not spam any discussion forums, this is not effective and will kill all credibility in your business and your product/service.

The next way to receive free targeted traffic is similar to exchanging links, but even more effective. Seek out partnerships with companies that offer complimentary product offerings and agree to place a prominent link to their site if they will do the same for you. You can set up a ‘Partners’ section on your homepage and display the company’s logo, link, and information.

It is important that we not forget about marketing offline as well. If you are just starting and need customer referrals don’t be afraid to give away products/services for free or at least in exchange for another company’s services. For instance, let’s say that you design websites. Offer a lawyer a free website for their company if in return they will give you free legal advice for a limited time. Also, offer a limited number of businesses free products/services. After you have provided a few businesses with your products/services and they are happy ask them to write a testimonial for you and display this testimonial prominently on your website. Also, give them a few of your business cards and ask them to send any of their friends your way as well. You’ll be surprised at how many people will hear about your business via word-of-mouth through satisfied customers.

I hope this condensed list of suggestions have helped you in formulating ideas on how to better market your website. Use your imagination and get creative in your marketing efforts. Get out there and tell the world about your website!

About The Author

Brandon Milford is the Director of Marketing for Broadwick Corporation, makers of IntelliContact. IntelliContact is a web-based email marketing and surveying software. Visit Brandon’s Blog where he covers Marketing, Design, & Entrepreneurship.

Share This

The human brain is an amazing instrument. It is great at filtering out what it perceives as irrelevant. This is why a person who lives near a railway isn’t aware of the passing train. It is also why people don’t take notice of most of the advertisements they encounter.

You need to design your ads to get noticed. You want them to be read. To do this you want the consumer to perceive the ad as relevant to them. You can achieve this by using the copywriting principle referred to as AIDA - Attention, Interest, Desire and Action.

Whether you are writing an advertisement for a brochure, your local newspaper, a direct mail flyer or even your website, the method is the same. Although it can be a challenge, it is important to follow the AIDA principle even for a miniscule ad, such as Google Adwords. You may not be able to list much information in a small ad but you still need to get the reader’s attention, whet their appetite and direct them to where they can get more information.

The first thing you want your ad to do is attract ATTENTION. You do this with an exciting benefit driven headline that entices the reader to stop and read more. If you don’t get the headline right, you have wasted your advertising money because no one will read the ad.

To develop a great headline you need to understand the benefits you product delivers. What is a benefit? It is the problem you product solves. It is the improvement the buyer will experience with your product. It is not the features of the product. Customers don’t care about features. What they want is to know what’s in it for them.

Use the headline to focus on one outstanding benefit of your product. Add hypnotic power words such as “how to” or “discover” and you have a headline that will attract.

Now that you have the reader’s attention, you need to use words to create emotion and INTEREST. This should tie into your headline. Love, fear, guilt, and pride are emotional factors that directly affect buying decisions. Keep these in mind when describing the benefits. Building interest in this way will create DESIRE.

The next step is to make an offer so irresistible that the customer can’t say no. How do you do this? Add value with a guarantee, time limited discounts, additional bonuses to act immediately.
All you need to do now is to tell them exactly what ACTION they need to take, making it simple for them to take advantage of your offer. “Phone 000 111 222 now to order” or “Click here to buy now”. Include contact details and exact instructions.

Using AIDA along with an understanding of the benefits of your product will help your ads stand out in the marketplace.

Ritchie Hale is founder and owner of ELAH Group Pty Ltd. As a consultant he has shown large, global corporations how to gain leverage in the areas of Marketing and IT. As a personal coach he has turned small business owners and individuals in to goal getters. Ritchie is dedicated to helping small business owners grow their business. Visit http://www.elahgroup.com

Share This

Banner ads are boxed in ads and are often seen at the top of a Web page. These might be text that change in wording every few seconds, ads for a specific site or product, free offers, or a combination of eye-pleasing devices or phrases advertisers hope will tempt Web surfers to click on the ad.

Banner ads will catch your prospect’s eye quickly. They are colorful and vary in dimension. This makes them something that is not often missed. To create a good ad, place it where it will be seen easily. This will definitely generate traffic to your site.

At the same time, having a banner ad on your own site will mean that you are paid for displaying it. This is good for your business.

Charging for banner ads
Banner ads can be charged by impression, so each time your ad flashes up on the screen you are paid. With a rotating banner, your ad might appear every third rotation or impression. This will cost approximately $0.02 an impression.

Banner ads can be charged per “click through”. Charges are only levied when someone actually clicks on the ad. If you create a truly attractive ad, people with click through.

Where to place your banner ads
The best position for banner ads are placed at the top of the most popular search engines. At the same time, go with placing your ads positioned on sites with topics similar or complementary to yours. This will reach your target market fastest. At the same time have your ad placed on the same page as any reference to your website.

Another good bet is to have your ad placed on a search engine results page when particular keywords are selected. This will also reach your target market.

Frame your banner ads
Framed banner ads are more attractive. They are more aesthetically pleasing to your prospect’s eye. When your prospect opens your framed ad on another site, they are still contained within your site. You can also have the banner ad open up a new browser window when it is clicked on to. The good thing about this is that you do not lose your customers altogether. Your visitors will revert back to your own site when they close the second browser window.

Banner ads are creative, eye-catching, aesthetically appealing and affordable. They give you many opportunities to bring across your important message in record time, leaving your prospect with an on-the-spot opportunity to make a decision. Many a deal is closed thanks to banner advertising making them an ideal revenue-generating tool.

Matt Bacak became “#1 Best Selling Author” in just a few short hours.
Recent Entrepreneur Magazine’s e-Biz radio show host is
turning Authors, Speakers, and Experts into Overnight Success Stories.
Discover The Secrets To Unleash The Powerful Promoter In You! Sign up
for Matt Bacak’s Promoting Tips Ezine ($100 value) just visit his
website at http://www.powerfulpromoter.com or http://promotingtips.com.

Share This