| 1.
Make sure your site content is optimized |
| Before you promote your site, you must
optimize your content. Your search engine ranking is a
based on a complex combination of keywords, content, and
sites linking to you. You should also promote and optimize
your site geographically. You can find out more about
optimization and search engine placement on our Search
Engine FAQs. |
| 2.
Build your customer base |
| Include an email sign-up on your site.
It is ideal if you offer a monthly newsletter that users
can opt-in and opt-out of. Provide solid content about
what you are doing, success stories, and events. Ask experts
in your field to contribute stories. You can also increase
sales leads by offering incentives, contests, free info
guides, product demos and white papers. In the long term,
launching a sales lead program and a customer loyalty
program are the most important steps you can take for
and growing your business. |
| 3.
Define your message and product offering |
| Write a 25-word description about your
service or product which is focused, easy to understand,
and compelling. This description will be used in a variety
of ways - within the About section of your Web site and
on the home page, in your submissions to directories and
search engines, for link exchange programs, in your press
releases, in your business plan, and in your internal
messages. Make sure the person that answers your phone
has a concise copy of your message along with answers
to frequently asked questions about your company. |
| 4.
Target your marketing programs |
| Think about the profile of your audience.
What do they read? What websites do they visit? Research
what your competitors are doing online. Find out who is
linking to them. Exchange links, banners, e-newsletter
inserts, or content with complementary sites. |
| 5.
Don't forget offline marketing programs |
| Include your URL on all your collateral
- business cards, letterhead, post-it notes, pens, anything
you use now. Also include your URL in your email signature
and participate in professional mailing lists and newsgroups.
Become an expert in your field. |
| 6.
Write powerful PR |
| Compile a list of local writers who currently
write about your industry. When it's time to write a press
release about your new Web site, turn it into a human
interest story that a writer would be interested in featuring.
Focus on what makes you different. |
| 7.
Keep your site content current |
| Users will leave if you have broken links
or outdated items. Send your e-newsletters at least once
a month. Tease your customer base. Tell them what's coming
next month. |
| 8.
Make search engine submissions manually |
| Bulk submission companies may only charge
$99 for 3,500 submissions, but what you're really doing
is giving your email address to 3,500 sites that will
start sending you unsolicited email. Less than a dozen
search engines & directories account for 90% of the
general market - focus on those. Also be sure to check
if there are specialized directories that target your
industry or community. And when you've chosen your targets,
don't send the same thing to all of them. Search engines
have different (and sometimes even contradictory) rules
about submissions. |
| 9.
Determine the right keywords |
| This can be a time-consuming process, but
figuring what key words users will type into search engines
to find you is key to your online success. Use phrases,
and keep it local if possible. |
| 10. Resolution |
| When you first launch a marketing program,
you are making an informed guess about what will work
and what will not. It is critical to track your progress
so you can quickly refine your messaging, online programs,
and keywords to get the most results for your dollars
spent. |
