Promotion on a Soup Kitchen Budget

By: Nancy Rouse - [site]
TITLE: Promotion on a Soup Kitchen Budget AUTHOR: Jim Phillips, 1SecureHost.com WORD COUNT: 624 URL: http://www.1securehost.com Mailto: jim@v...

Hi

Please consider the following article for your ezine or on your web site. Please include the resource box. If you intend to publish the article, an e-mail notification as well as a courtesy copy of your publication would be greatly appreciated.

Best Regards,

Jim Phillips jim@v...

Article submission: ----------------------------------------------------------- Promotion on a Soup Kitchen Budget

by Jim Phillips

You've got a killer product and a state of the art website.

"Now, how do you get your site noticed and generate the kind of traffic that converts to sales?"

A professional ad agency or promotion company will get you noticed but their services cost money.

If you are just starting out or have a limited budget, there are great ways to promote your website that cost you your time but little money. And the time you invest in learning what works will pay off even if you decide, later, to pay somebody else to do the job.

Here is a beginner's guide to web promotion.

These six ideas are easy to implement, cheap, and will generate a quick response. Be sure to check the end of this article for one last tip to make it all work better!

* Search engines.

1) Submit your website to the major search engines. This is the most important step you can take to get awareness and generate traffic for your site.

2) Learn how to optimize your pages to get the best possible ranking.

3) Include effective META tags, especially the description tag.

* Opt-in email.

Email is the most effective way to talk directly to potential customers and get them to your site. But build your reputation while you are building awareness - don't spam.

1) Put a sign-up box on your site where visitors can subscribe to your newsletter or email promotions.

a. Build a relationship by sending the newsletter regularly. b. Become a trusted source of news and information.

2) Ask for referrals.

a. Offer current subscribers a reward for referring friends and business associates to the newsletter.

3) Have a game, contest, or giveaway to bring visitors to your site.

a. Invite visitors to subscribe to your newsletter.

3) Scan the subject lines in your inbox.

a. Which ones grab your attention? Before you delete that next unread email, take a few minutes to figure out why. Make sure your email gets read.

* Free advertising.

1) Advertise on FFA pages, classified ad sites and safelists.

a. You won't get targeted traffic, but you will get links to your site, which can be a factor in your search engine ranking.

* Reciprocal links.

1) Ask for reciprocal links from related companies (not competitors!).

a. Write to webmasters of companies that sell related products. If you sell office equipment, ask webmasters of office supplies sites to link to your page in return for posting a link to theirs.

* Industry presence.

1) Write articles for industry ezines.

a. Publish tips, tricks and insider insights in articles about your industry for the general public.

2) If you can, make a presentation at a local trade show or industry conference.

a. Make sure your URL appears on all company literature and presentations.

Which brings us to the last suggestion--

* Put your URL everywhere.

1) Your website address is as important as your email address. Make sure your URL is on all of your company's stationary, business cards and advertisements.

"Finally, what will make any of the above ideas work better?"

1) Have a plan and stick to it. 2) Set some goals for increased traffic and a time frame for seeing some results. 3) Analyze your sales, concentrate on what works. 4) Drop or change what isn't working.

You are building your business, strengthening your customer relationships and learning a bit more about promotion!

And you will make more money too!

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