2006-06-17 02:23:23 · 10 answers · asked by Clarissa7 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Other - Business & Finance
"If you build it, they will come" is not necessarily true on the Web. Putting a website up is one thing, but getting visitors to come to your site is another. The process becomes even more difficult if you have limited resources to market your business.
Here are some shoestring marketing ideas that can help you get the visitors you need at the least cost possible:
1. Create the best content you can with the best products you can possibly offer. Your content is your best advertisement - if visitors love your content, then they will go back and spread the word to others.
2. Make it easy for users to recommend your site. Viral marketing is very important -- and easy to tap on the Web. But give your users the tools. Get a Recommend this Site script from websites such as cgiscripts.com and similar directories of scripts. Some even go as far as giving incentives to those who recommend the site to their friends. If only 10 people go to your site, but these 10 people invite 10 more - that's additional traffic that you get for FREE!
Recommend Site Scripts (various) http://php.resourceindex.com/Complete_Scripts/Website_Promotion/Recommend_Site/
Big Nose Bird Recommend this Site http://bignosebird.com/carchive/birdcast.shtml
CGI Resource Index http://cgi.resourceindex.com/Programs_and_Scripts/Perl/Website_Promotion/Recommend_Site/
Hostscripts http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/Scripts_and_Programs/Site_Recommendation/index.html
3. Rank well in the search engines (organic search results, not the pay per click). SEs can be a big source of traffic. The key is to create the best content in your niche. If you have good content, other websites will gladly link to you and offer your site as a resource to their audience. Check the on-page factors and be sure to get linked from authority sites in your topic area.
If you are going to read only one piece on search engine optimization, I suggest you read Brett Tabke of WebmasterWorld.com's "Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone: 26 steps to 15k a day." http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/2010.htm
SEO for Google http://www.powerhomebiz.com/052006/google.htm
SEO for Yahoo! http://www.powerhomebiz.com/052006/yahoo.htm
SEO for MSN http://www.powerhomebiz.com/052006/msn.htm
Tying It Together: SEO For The Big Three http://www.powerhomebiz.com/052006/seo.htm
4. Send out press releases. While outfits charge as much as $650 per release, there are free press release submission places on the Web. Press releases allow you to (a) attract media attention; (b) get more back links to your website without sending each website an email request; and (c) get more visibility especially if your press release gets in Google News or Yahoo News. My website (see my profile) accepts free press release submission (no strings attached!)
5. Submit articles. Write articles and submit them to websites accepting author submissions. You get exposure for your business; establishes you as an authority in your field, and allows you to get backlinks for your website. If 50 websites publish your article and it contains a link back to your website, then you easily get 50 links from a single article. The more links you have, the greater your chances for increasing your search engine rankings.
Here is a comprehensive list of where to submit your articles http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=AhzreGmnCUicOoyedqypscUjzKIX?qid=1006022407481
6. Improve your conversion. Getting visitors is one thing; getting them to buy your products is a whole different story. Read the article "10 Ways to Convert Visitors to Buyers" http://www.powerhomebiz.com/072005/conversion.htm for tips on how to improve your conversion rates.
7. Post a link to your site for free where it is allowed (always read the Terms of Use). Examples are:
Craigslist http://www.craigslist.com
Google Base http://base.google.com
Classifieds for Free http://www.classifiedsforfree.com/...
Text Link Exchange http://www.txtswap.com/
Recycler.com http://www.recycler.com/
Yahoo Classifieds http://classifieds.yahoo.com/
US Free Ads http://www.usfreeads.com/
8. Market your blog and syndicate your content. You can auto-pilot your marketing and attract visitors every time you update your content via RSS feeds. Or if you have a blog, you can use it to draw customers repeatedly to your website. Bookmark Resources for Marketing Your Blogs and RSS Feeds to http://www.powerhomebiz.com/onlinemarketing/blogs.htm help you spread the word about your RSS feeds or blog.
2006-06-17 02:27:40 · answer #1 · answered by imisidro 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Blogging is a very slow process of marketing. Better get your store items through some important auction sites, like ebay.com , auctions.yahoo.com , etc. These sites will give a push to your items on day to day basis. During that period you may publicise your online store also to your clients achieved through the auction sites.
2006-06-17 02:36:29 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Advertise on line on a search engine that specifically does that for companies that need to advertise.
2006-06-17 02:30:03 · answer #3 · answered by Martha G 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have you been pinging your blogs?
Here's a site to do that.
Just access the site, type in your blog URL and push the button.
You need to do this everytime you writ a blog.
It will alert various blog magazines that there is new reading material.
2006-06-17 02:30:34 · answer #4 · answered by Sheerah 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
try joining every yahoo groups you can find and advertise your site there. create a link there so people would notice it. maybe you could create a tempting line before it.
One email to the group, it will reach each and every member. Its free by the way.
2006-06-17 03:28:18 · answer #5 · answered by arthurmljr 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
go to your homepage of your provider. you can get free websites from yahoo, your phone provider and it tells you how to set up the website. for a very small fee of a few dollars a month, it will go into many catagories and search engines or you can just set up your website and list it on the blog sites.
2006-06-17 02:31:31 · answer #6 · answered by kinnerjeff 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Submit your site in the open directory (http://www.dmoz.org). All the search engines use the open directory data and rank them higher as this data is edited by real people not spiders or crawlers. Make sure that you submit it under the right category.
2006-06-17 02:46:01 · answer #7 · answered by ash_m_79 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If that was possible Coca-Cola would not spend 10% of sales on advertising.
2006-06-17 02:29:50 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Look at this site and on the products page they have some information about increasing traffic. It works. I use this method and have seen increase in my traffic. Hope this helps.
2006-06-17 02:44:58 · answer #9 · answered by Looking Up 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
get a group of friends and create some flyer's about your business online. its cheap and a good way to have a get together.
2006-06-17 02:28:48 · answer #10 · answered by randyhernandezsr 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋