Hi and welcome to another post relating to my eBook “Web Designer Secrets” – you can download a copy free by clicking on the image to the right.
Internet Marketing is more than SEO
Last post I looked a SEO services and how getting a high rank in google is a goal worth pursuing even though it might seem a bit daunting.
However if getting a high rank in the various search engines is the only marketing you do then your are in big trouble.
You need more than one internet marketing strategy
It doesn’t take much for the search engines to change their search algorithms and send your high ranking site into oblivion. There goes your traffic, and soon after there goes your business
I strongly advise having three or more good reliable sources of traffic each one of which can supply enough business on its own to support you
Search engines can be one of them, indeed it should be one of them as it does connect you to a very large pool of prospects
Some others could be
Paid Advertising
Paid advertising: google has its pay-per-click network called adwords which can be very effective if done right. (very expensive if done wrong). There’s a fair bit on this blog about using adwords as well as links to some very good resources.
I use adwords a lot
But adwords isn’t the only paid advertising around.
There are sponsored ads in email newsletters, banner ads and exchanges, and more. There are lots out there. Some more effective than others. Some more expensive that others.
( Currently I am investigating PPV or CPV advertising (pay per view or cost per view) as an alternative to adwords. It promises to be very cheap but I am not sure of the quality yet )
At the end of the day it is cost per conversion that is the deciding factor.
Social networks
Do you twitter? Do you have a facebook account? Or Digg or Squidoo? If not then you should. These social networks and their many peers have a massive amount of traffic and users.
You need to make sure you are part of it.
A word of caution though: don’t hit these social networks with a heavy sales pitch. That’s a bit like being the friend who is always trying to sell you on multi-level marketing. Intrusive and annoying!!
So remember it is a social network. Make your posts useful and helpful and direct people to your site or your blog – then they can be sold further
Another good thing getting this traffic – it doesn’t rely on having a high ranking website
Blogging
Having a blog is a great way to contact people that might otherwise never know of your existence.
Because a blog is les formal and more interactive than a web site it is the perfect place to build trust and a network of like minded people.
Again getting this traffic doesn’t rely on having a high ranking website; blogs have their own network and directories.
This is such a vital thing to do I will post a separate blog-post about it next
Email marketing
The majority of people who visit your site or your blog will leave having done nothing.
You’ve just spent your money or your time or both to get them their so you need to make the most of the traffic you get
The easiest way by far is email marketing. Simply encourage people to sign up for a newsletter or a free gift or something in exchange for their name and email address.
Now you have a way to continue to talk to them. You can email them.
You can use an automated auto-responders to send these visitors a series of messages over a period of time.
Some will become customers. Customers you would not have had otherwise if their one website visit was their only interaction with you.
Again this marketing methods works even if you’re on page 10 of google.
Traditional Methods
And let’s not forget more traditional methods.
How about asking existing customers for referrals; and maybe even rewarding them for sending new people to you. (As in an affiliate program)
How about traditional ads in your local paper – don’t forget to include your web address!!
Or how about networking nights, letterbox drops, telemarketing, and so on.
The point is there are so many ways to drive traffic to your site. You should have more than one !
A Word of Caution
You could sit down, name out a dozen ways to get traffic to your site and then go about trying to do all of them.
This would probably be a big mistake.
It takes time to learn how to get good at each method and what message each audience will respond best to.
If you spread yourself too thin you’ll never give yourself the chance to get good enough any of them.
I suggest 3 is a good number. Pick 3 methods and get very good at them. Then if time permits add on another, one at a time. Eventually you’ll need to hire a marketing division to do it all for you.
As mentioned above I’ll cover blogging next post
A blog (along with SEO) is probably one of the most obvious traffic methods you should add to your strategy – and it’s cheap and easy too.
If you want some help have a look at my Internet Marketing Australia page on my website and then contact me
regards
Ronald Sayegh
The Web Design Specialist
Cheap Web Design| Web Design Australia
