Web-site maintenance fee & Advertising?

Question

Hi there. I'm not very savvy with website designing and stuff like that. My brother made a website for an overseas market and since his website was just up two months ago it's not seeing much traffic right now. However, the designer charges $50.00 for website maintenace fee which I think its outrighteous for something that he doesn't work for! Also, is there any way we can promote the website? All we've done so far was to put it up on some search engines. (it's a online vitamin shop). Thanks in advance

Answer 1

A $50 monthly fee is too high when you are not adding any content to your site. I suggest you ask your brother how he can get out of that contract, or if there is a way the contract with the web designer (if any) be amended to reflect charges only when something is done with the site.

Getting traffic is a combination of a lot of things. The key to success is to create great content that visitors want to use, search engines will love and other websites will naturally link to. Of course, it's easier said than done.

You can use pay per click advertising in the search engines to reach audiences looking for your products. You can use Google Adwords http://www.google.com/adwords or Yahoo http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com

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


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.

http://www.prleap.com/sign_up.html
http://i-newswire.com/
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/
http://www.pressbox.co.uk/cgi-bin/links/add.cgi
http://www.pr.com/press-releases
http://www.prfree.com/
http://www.clickpress.com/releases/index.shtml
http://www.theopenpress.com/
http://www.przoom.com/
http://www.prweb.com
http://www.newswiretoday.com/
http://www.free-press-release.com/

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. 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/

Answer 2

The maintenance fee is a bit high if it's a small site, reasonable if there are hundreds of pages, but he's probably assuming that your brother will request a lot of changes to the site - that's what the fee is for!

Posting the address of your site would help you get better answers.

There are lots of ways to promote the site...

Your web designer should have put meta tags in,
you should have a link to it in the signature of every e-mail you send,
you should have the address on all your business cards.

Use sites like addme.com to get your site into lots of search engines.

Answer 3

Personally, I can't stand any lame giveaways so ditch all of those. Your going to need some collateral so book the brochures and good business cards. Next, I'd pay for yellow pages and cost per click advertising. Finally, if anything is left over go for a targeted email blast. In answer to your other question, I'd look at local retail. The money may not be a lot, but you may be able to make up for it on volume.

Answer 4

That is too much to pay. There are several free ways to promote your site at http://ewebsmith.com

Answer 5

I was going to say addme.com