Design © Michael Dougherty Ozark Web Solutions
Building Web Site Traffic
Promote Your Site on All Printed Matter – The world is going heavily electronic, but good old fashioned printed matter still reaches many. Everything you print and distribute, every single ad, business card, rack card etc., should have your email and web site address on them. People do forget to do this, seriously.
Work Print Ads in Combination With Your Website – You can create a secret page not linked to your home page for printable coupons. That secret page can link to the rest of your site, but not be linked to. List the address on the ad, something like http://"yoursite.com"/coupon html. Put links back to your page on it. Think about how you want to send them around your site.
Organic Links – Organic links are links to your site. Link traders often do not compete head to head, but they serve a similar geographic area like our Buffalo National River. DO NOT buy a link creation service, it will get you removed from Google and the major search engines. The stronger the site you are linked from, the better. One-way links are gold.
Create an Email Signature Block – Any email program worth using has a way of setting a signature block. It should always contain your website address in the form "http://yourwebsite.com" (or .net or .org). This often also should contain your slogan. This is very basic, and a frequent small point missed by Internet novices. Usually you will be limited to 5 lines or so.
Other Signature Blocks – If you participate in forums, BBS's and other online posting areas, even chat, there is usually a way to let them know about your website and email address in a setup area. Again this is often missed by novices. (Of course, some don't wish to be located.)
Post In Relevant Forums – Using your signature block in forums that can expose prospects to your offerings can be a great idea. For example, if you have an organic restaurant you might do postings in a vegan forum. It could even have a travel forum. You get the idea. I post at photo.net and my signature has resulted in people coming to visit (after seeing my site).
Blog – Blogging that is relevant to your business will bring repeat visitors to your website. I recommend a simple WordPress setup running inside an IFrame window (like my AWF site.) My WordPress blog is seen as a second website by search engines. Inside my website visitors see it as continuously renewing content (and it is). I believe this accounts for 1/3 of all my site traffic. (These are also called "content magnets" and "link bait".) If you choose your topic carefully it can be one way to backhandedly prequalify and sort through your potential clients.
Social Networking – It is a good idea to at least get a Facebook site going, and if you have time Twitter. This can seem like a pain, but these social marketing tools provide one more way to find you on the Internet. For many people, these two tools have increased their web traffic by 20% or more.
Create Side Doors – Side doors are second (or third) websites with unique domain names, that attract certain subgroups in your potential client base. For example, Reno Realty has a side door built to attract Buffalo River horsemen. It is called buffaloriveronhorseback.com and it drives business into their cabin rental site. Their cabins are close to riding trails, and they have corrals and horse facilities. This is a side door that is a rifle-shot promotion to that segment of their customer base. This side door segues directly into their cabin website. (They are also working it with print ads, a great idea.)
Do Email Newslettering – Collect email addresses and begin to think about doing a periodic newsletter. Email newsletters must be voluntarily subscribed to avoid hard feelings. Newsletters providing useful information in addition to your product offerings can be an enormous marketing asset. They build both initial traffic and repeat traffic. Email has the advantage of being proactive. Websites depend on people visiting. Email newsletters can create links to hidden pages or special customer areas. Using email effectively in conjunction with your website is far more powerful than just a website alone.
Work All Marketing Tools Together – This will give you the strongest sustained campaign. Build and sustain momentum by using well conceived, multi-step marketing strategies. Work your print strategies together with your Internet strategies. Think about seasonal patterns, think about creative promotions. Segment your target audiences and tailor your campaigns to them. All of these tools are simple to work, but you need to work them. Be strategic, be thoughtful, and test what gives you results. I assure you this is how the pros get great results.
Promote Your Site on All Printed Matter – The world is going heavily electronic, but good old fashioned printed matter still reaches many. Everything you print and distribute, every single ad, business card, rack card etc., should have your email and web site address on them. People do forget to do this, seriously.
Work Print Ads in Combination With Your Website – You can create a secret page not linked to your home page for printable coupons. That secret page can link to the rest of your site, but not be linked to. List the address on the ad, something like http://"yoursite.com"/coupon html. Put links back to your page on it. Think about how you want to send them around your site.
Organic Links – Organic links are links to your site. Link traders often do not compete head to head, but they serve a similar geographic area like our Buffalo National River. DO NOT buy a link creation service, it will get you removed from Google and the major search engines. The stronger the site you are linked from, the better. One-way links are gold.
Create an Email Signature Block – Any email program worth using has a way of setting a signature block. It should always contain your website address in the form "http://yourwebsite.com" (or .net or .org). This often also should contain your slogan. This is very basic, and a frequent small point missed by Internet novices. Usually you will be limited to 5 lines or so.
Other Signature Blocks – If you participate in forums, BBS's and other online posting areas, even chat, there is usually a way to let them know about your website and email address in a setup area. Again this is often missed by novices. (Of course, some don't wish to be located.)
Post In Relevant Forums – Using your signature block in forums that can expose prospects to your offerings can be a great idea. For example, if you have an organic restaurant you might do postings in a vegan forum. It could even have a travel forum. You get the idea. I post at photo.net and my signature has resulted in people coming to visit (after seeing my site).
Blog – Blogging that is relevant to your business will bring repeat visitors to your website. I recommend a simple WordPress setup running inside an IFrame window (like my AWF site.) My WordPress blog is seen as a second website by search engines. Inside my website visitors see it as continuously renewing content (and it is). I believe this accounts for 1/3 of all my site traffic. (These are also called "content magnets" and "link bait".) If you choose your topic carefully it can be one way to backhandedly prequalify and sort through your potential clients.
Social Networking – It is a good idea to at least get a Facebook site going, and if you have time Twitter. This can seem like a pain, but these social marketing tools provide one more way to find you on the Internet. For many people, these two tools have increased their web traffic by 20% or more.
Create Side Doors – Side doors are second (or third) websites with unique domain names, that attract certain subgroups in your potential client base. For example, Reno Realty has a side door built to attract Buffalo River horsemen. It is called buffaloriveronhorseback.com and it drives business into their cabin rental site. Their cabins are close to riding trails, and they have corrals and horse facilities. This is a side door that is a rifle-shot promotion to that segment of their customer base. This side door segues directly into their cabin website. (They are also working it with print ads, a great idea.)
Do Email Newslettering – Collect email addresses and begin to think about doing a periodic newsletter. Email newsletters must be voluntarily subscribed to avoid hard feelings. Newsletters providing useful information in addition to your product offerings can be an enormous marketing asset. They build both initial traffic and repeat traffic. Email has the advantage of being proactive. Websites depend on people visiting. Email newsletters can create links to hidden pages or special customer areas. Using email effectively in conjunction with your website is far more powerful than just a website alone.
Work All Marketing Tools Together – This will give you the strongest sustained campaign. Build and sustain momentum by using well conceived, multi-step marketing strategies. Work your print strategies together with your Internet strategies. Think about seasonal patterns, think about creative promotions. Segment your target audiences and tailor your campaigns to them. All of these tools are simple to work, but you need to work them. Be strategic, be thoughtful, and test what gives you results. I assure you this is how the pros get great results.
Nuts and Bolts Web Marketing
Ozark Web Solutions
I have seen businesses thought-lessly use totally inappropriate email addresses and not give it a second thought.
"smokintookus@hotmail.com" might be great marketing in one respect, but will discredit your business. Be real careful and conservative about fancy names.
Remember too that all the letters are jammed together in an email address. Sometimes letters spell very different things depending on how letters are split up.
An example would be a guy named Mike Sass. An email address "mikesass@hotmail" might be misread. (This also applies to domain names, how
about mikesass.com.)
"smokintookus@hotmail.com" might be great marketing in one respect, but will discredit your business. Be real careful and conservative about fancy names.
Remember too that all the letters are jammed together in an email address. Sometimes letters spell very different things depending on how letters are split up.
An example would be a guy named Mike Sass. An email address "mikesass@hotmail" might be misread. (This also applies to domain names, how
about mikesass.com.)
You must be thinking, "OK Mr. Smartee web guy, what are you doing?"
What I Do:
I have two blogs, 6 websites, 7 online web albums, I post in 3 forums. I cross-link the whole mess with links and signature lines. I do frequent updates, fresh content matters.
I do direct email marketing to camera clubs in the five state region. I dominate the nature, wildlife, and outdoor photography categories online.
Results:
My name recognition is very strong. People from out of town visit business that host my galleries. Visitors planning trips to the area write me a few times a week. I have several Google #1's and page one search results. This in one year.
Bottom Line:
Internet success is there for the taking if you work at it.
What I Do:
I have two blogs, 6 websites, 7 online web albums, I post in 3 forums. I cross-link the whole mess with links and signature lines. I do frequent updates, fresh content matters.
I do direct email marketing to camera clubs in the five state region. I dominate the nature, wildlife, and outdoor photography categories online.
Results:
My name recognition is very strong. People from out of town visit business that host my galleries. Visitors planning trips to the area write me a few times a week. I have several Google #1's and page one search results. This in one year.
Bottom Line:
Internet success is there for the taking if you work at it.
| ■ | Lead development |
| ■ | Prospect qualification |
| ■ | Consumer education |
| ■ | Closing the sale |
| ■ | Customer service |
| ■ | Creating repeat business |
Basic Marketing Goals
