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You have gone through the effort and expense to set up an Internet presence for your business, but you aren't experiencing the visitor traffic to justify the cost. You hear about the huge amounts of money being spent by the large companies such as Amazon.com and you are wondering if there is a less expensive way to have an Internet presence. There are many things you can do to market your web site relatively inexpensively.
Here are some tips:
- Use all your printed items
- Use search engines and search directories
- E-mail contacting
- Think web site
Use all your printed items
Every single item that you have printed should have your web site prominently displayed on it. This list includes all of your business cards, letterhead and envelopes, any marketing items that you distribute such as calendars, coffee cups, scratch pads, pens, baseball caps, etc. Include in this list signage, company logos, uniforms, vehicles, basically anywhere your company name will be seen your web site address will be seen with it. Design your printed items when you order them to integrate your web site address as an important part of the overall look. Don't be guilty of the mistake many companies make which is to place your web site address as an afterthought wherever it will fit on your printed piece.
Use search engines and search directories
There is no denying the importance of using search engines and directories to market your web site. A recent statistic I read stated that 80% of the people using the Internet use a search to find information. If you aren't listed on any search engines or directories, you won't be found by new customers that haven't heard of you before. It is very important to use a professional company that will integrate certain design features into your web pages to help you accurately get indexed to be found by the different search engines and directories. Expect to pay over $1,000 to have this done properly. The services offering to list your site for $35 - $100 are only going to submit your site to different search engines and directories and are not going to give you the special design elements needed to get properly indexed.
E-mail contacting
It seems that almost everyone has e-mail today. You should be getting an e-mail address from every single person that comes into contact with your business. You can use a variety of ways of collecting this information. It's not how you collect the address as much as whether you have the address to market your web site for the future. When you are armed with a list of e-mail addresses, you can now send out a well designed marketing e-mail to promote your web site, feature any items on your web site and advertise specials or offer discounts to increase web site activity. E-mail is a very powerful and low cost way of advertising and very efficient. You are marketing to people who are already familiar with your company and open to receiving e-mail from you.
Think web site
If you want your web site to become an important and exciting part of your business you must speak of your web site all the time. One of the best ways to advertise your web site is through "word of mouth" even if it you talking about your own web site. Make sure when talking about your company to mention that you have a web site and give them a business card that, of course, has your web site address on it.
Put these tips to use and you will notice an increase in your traffic on your web site. Stay tuned for our upcoming pamphlet on marketing your business on the Internet. It will be available on this site in the near future so look for the announcement.
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