OTHER STRATEGIES
Offline Marketing Strategies
Offline and traditional media strategies should not be overlooked. You can make them cross over to the online world and create a mixed media marketing approach. Some ideas include:
- Include your URL on stationery, business cards and all printed literature
- Promote using traditional media; be sure to include your URL in advertisements and create actions that will drive people to your site
- Issue press releases: Find key, newsworthy events in your business and send out press releases. These days there are many online release distribution services that have a basic membership level that allows you to post for free. Include your URL address as these links will be posted in online news databases and help with link popularity.
- Run contests and sweepstakes (be sure to follow state regulations)
Paid Advertising Strategies
At some point you may need to build up traffic more rapidly or you want to get more exposure for a special campaign. Depending on your business and budget, you may need to look into paid advertising options. Online advertising comes in three basic payment models: (1) CPM (cost per thousand views), (2) pay per click (PPC), and (3) pay per action (PPA). Research probable venues relating to your industry and make sure the target audience is relevant to your business. Wherever possible, do small tests before wasting your budget on ineffective strategies.
Some of the most popular forms of online advertising are:
- Buy a text or banner ad in an e-mail newsletter (usually CPM model)
- Buy a text or banner ad on targeted sites (usually CPM model)
- Begin an affiliate program (CPA model). You pay commissions on sales on your site resulting from links embedded on other retailer sites.
- Do paid search advertising on popular search engines (PPC model). Your research on focused keywords will be useful here. Be sure to set up daily limits appropriate to your budget as the results could eat up your budget quickly without a good return.
- List your products on shopping comparison and auction sites. These type of sites compare your products and prices to others. Some services are free (Google’s Froogle), and others work on a PPC (mySimon, BizRate, PriceGrabber) or CPA (eBay, Yahoo! Shopping Auctions, Amazon Marketplace) model.
In this article, I’ve focused on summarizing search engine optimization and linking strategies as a means to increase your Web site exposure. I’ve also touched upon other traditional and paid strategies to get your started thinking about them as part of your overall marketing strategy. The list is not exhaustive, so be sure to look through the list of resources on this site to go deeper on any topic.
Back to the beginning: Search Engine Strategies
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