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 Web Site Marketing 
Building a Website and posting it on the Internet is not enough to bring visitors to your site. There are millions of Websites on the Internet today and that number is increasing exponentially.
A business MUST advertise their site not only using traditional marketing tools--through print, radio or TV--but you must also advertise your site on the Internet through search engines, local and/or national classified ads, and local and/or national directories, such as the SMARTpages®, Switchboard.com®, Feist.com.
There are unlimited possibilities in the world of e-marketing. I suggest trying a little bit of everything to see what works for your business. When you host your Website with FatCow.com, they offer Website monitoring tools which give you access to monthly reports. From these reports, you can track what Website a Web surfer came from when they enter your site. For instance, if you have an ad on the SMARTpages® and someone clicks on your Website link, the report will tell you how many people clicked on your site from your ad by referencing the Website address.
Here is a list of e-marketing suggestions:
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Free and low-cost classified ads |
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-TheMerc.com puts your ad on over 1,200 online classified ad sites based in and around Wichita, Kansas.
-Search the Web using the phrase "free classified ads," you can find many, many sites to post your ad for FREE.
-Search the Web using your city and state and the phrase "classified ads" to find local online classified ads FREE or as low as $9.00 a month. |
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Business Service Directories |
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-If you are a member of a business organization, they often allow members to post advertisements for little or NO cost. For instance, if you are a member of the National Association of Realtors®, you can find low-cost advertising at Realtor.com® and similar sites.
-Many local business services directories have low-cost listings or you can sometimes pay-per-click (what I call Pay-to-Play). When someone clicks on your site, they charge you a set amount like 10¢ per click. |
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The hottest Internet advertising is search engine submission
-Many Internet marketing companies offer affordable, bulk submission, meaning for a set fee they submit your site to several search engines.
-Some search engines, like Google®, has programs where you set the budget. Their prices are based on cost-per-click. You can set a maximum budget and there is no minimum spending limit. So if you choose a cost-per-click of 5¢ and you set a spending limit of $5.00, 100 people can click on your site and all you have spent is $5.00. The more money you Pay-to-Play, the higher your ranking will be when surfers search using your selected keywords. Google® also offers AdSense so by advertising using Google®, you can earn money and get a portion of those cost-per-click revenues, earning money from posting a Website and Google®'s ads. With Google®, you can also limit where your ad appears, making your advertising dollar to your target audience.
-Search engines can also find your Website through programs called "spiders" whose main purpose it is to scan and index your site then submit it to search engines. Your ranking is based on how many Websites link to your page and relevant keywords. META tags are hidden code. There are keyword and description META tags which spiders pick up and index accordingly. Some experts say the more keywords the better but I think keywords MUST be relevant to your business, so the more keywords using your business service the better.
-When Embers design your Website, one of the benefits is being listed on my "Website Portfolio" page. Other businesses can find your business on my site...FREE as long as you employ Embers as your Website designer...remember, the more links the better.
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Online phone directories
-When you advertise with online phone directories, you can advertise locally within a specified radius or nation-wide.
-For a little extra, you can have a "lead" position on the top of the page under your business category
-Some companies like Southwestern Bell™ and Feist© offer advertising packages that include listing in the actual phone books and online listings |
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Professional Associations
-Becoming a member of your local Chamber of Commerce allows members to have a listing (included in your membership fee)on their printed and online member directories. Not only does it advertise your business but it give you access to hundreds of business leads, inexpensive and free marketing, and plenty of business networking opportunities! Most customers trust your business more when they know you are a member of reliable, trusted associations such as the Chamber.
-Your local Better Business Bureau, again gives you the opportunity to be in their member directory and in their online directory. If your site meets their qualifications, you can put a " BBB Online Reliability" seal on your site such as the one below. This lets potential customers know quality of service, customer service and integrity matter to your business
-On sites like the Small Business Administration, they offer a free directory where you can post an ad in their business directory. In addition, the Small Business Administration offers free help to small businesses, such as low-interest small business loans, help in writing your business plan, marketing tools and techniques, and much, much more!
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Don't forget traditional advertising methods to advertise your Website.
-Plug your Website in everything you publish or advertise--Magazines, newspapers, TV, Radio, Direct Mail Marketing, Newsletters, business cards, pens, notepads, freebies--all of it!
*I DO NOT endorse e-mail marketing/spamming...big no, no! |
Make money from your Website by enrolling in affiliate programs. There are a number of programs on the World Wide Web that you can sign up for or you can recruit your own affiliates. For most affiliate programs, all you have to do is sign up, post their link, then wait for visitors in your site to click on the links. If a customer purchases products from your affiliate via the link on your site, you can receive upwards of 15% from that sale. LinkShare lets you pick who you want to enroll with and there are 100s of merchants to choose from.
Please click here to sign up with LinkShare--let your Website make money for you!
Or, shop at one of our affiliates...
EMBERS WILL NOT BUILD SITES THAT PROMOTE OR CONTAIN PORNOGRAPHY, SITES THAT PROMOTE VIOLENCE, HATE OR RACISM--DON'T EVEN ASK!!
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