Top Web Marketing Secrets

Whether new to the net or a seasoned webmaster, internet marketing is tough business and should not be taken lightly. A persistent approach is needed as well as new ideas. No one has all the answers. Experience teaches what works. 

There are two primary tasks marketers must complete:

1. Attention - Get the attention of the web surfer. This is not easy. Attention spans are short. There's competition for attention.

2. Action - Entice him to act. Guide him each step of the way or he will be gone. Create a gauntlet.

The easiest way to learn is follow the leaders one step at a time. But this doesn't do any good if you don't also recognize and take advantage of your own individual assets and opportunities.

If you don't get them on the first page, it's over. If the the first appeal is wrong, the rest is never seen. 

It's not about you. It's about them and their needs. Ads inform minds. Marketing wins hearts. Advertising raises awareness. Marketing meets needs.

It is not about choosing you over your competition.  It is about choosing you as a great solution.

There are two opposite errors: 

1. Doing it all yourself. 

2. Doing none of it yourself. This is the <insert company name here> way. No one knows your product like you do. If you can't articulate it, 
neither can anyone else.

Build your strengths. Strong products are less susceptible to pricing issues and competition.

Principles of Internet Marketing

Do what works. What works for one site may not work for another. If you have been doing something that works and most advise against it, they are wrong. By the same token, if you get some great expert advice and it is not working for you, you need to change your tactics.

Most people surf to find information or for entertainment. While others target the one ready to buy, build good solid relationships with the casual surfer and *telling* them to buy, not waiting for them to seek you out.

Analyze and test your campaigns. The net changes faster than you can imagine. What works right now may not work tomorrow, so keep your marketing approach fluid.

Don't just sell  products, build an image. People will buy what they think is good, regardless of how good it really is. Ask, "What image is this creating for me and my products?"

Take risks. Be unconventional. The Internet is changing so rapidly that innovation is not just a nice thing but an essential. 

Banner Ads

There are two kinds of banners.

1. Free Offer - First you have a high impact banner like The problem is not everyone can offer something for free.
2. Selling Product - Viewer may have to see it up to seven times before they decide to click on it.

The first and second time, they forget it within 15 seconds. The third and fourth time they remember it for an hour. The fifth and sixth time you become memorable for 24 hours. Finally by the seventh time they see your advert or banner, they consider you a reputable and established company and will pay you a visit. You gain some customer trust by the time they reach your web site. Gaining that trust is what turns viewers into clients. 

Give a clear message. Pick your font carefully. Coordinate colors for eye catching design. Keep the size of your banner under 7000 bytes for static banners and 10,000 bytes for animated.

Is banner advertising expensive? No, joining a banner exchange network is totally free. Two of the best are: 

Click Taxi http://clicktaxi.com/ and 
Link Exchange http://linkexchange.com. 

Both companies offer free banner design assistance, banner statistics and  web tools.

Search Engines

Many people think Web Marketing begins and ends in the search engines. While getting listed is important, it is not the only priority. Some sites we design reach a half a million hits before they are even listed in search engines. If intend to get a number one ranking in every search engine, get out your check book. It can be done, but it's expensive. To start out, use basic techniques to improve the quality and position of your listings.

Click here for advanced search engine info.

Classified and FFA Pages

Free for all Pages are for adds where your listing is added instantly and you have free reign on what you can submit. Submit a URL and a title for that URL. The trick is to get your listing to stand out. Since hundreds of listings are added to these pages every day and your listing will be sandwiched among many others, it's a real challenge to write a headline that gets read at all.

Simply clearly state the benefits and write your listing in such a way that it stands out. Another good trick is to include a headline that leaves the person hanging. Ask a question that has to be answered.

Offline Publicity - Media Relations

The news media's many forums and publications have the eyes and ears of thousands and sometimes millions of people.  If you can get your message in front of those people don't you think it would be valuable? Studies have shown that even a small article or feature about a company or product is far more effective than a full page ad in a magazine or TV commercial. The resulting publicity if *free*.  Convince the appropriate members of the media that your story is worth telling. If you don't have an event to publicize, make one! Host an online event like a celebrity chat or forum.

Press releases require three things:

1.  A properly written press release.

2.  A list of appropriate media contacts.

3.  A means for sending your release to the list (usually via fax, email, or postal mail).

A press release needs to be these things:

1. Newsworthy - Find out who will be interested in your story.

2. Timely

3. Concise- 

Sample:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Editors: News, General Media (change as needed)
Contact:
Corporation, phone, E-mail
 
_________________________________
Headline
_________________________________
 
Body

Put the bottom line up front. The release should read like a good newspaper article. That is, use the "inverted pyramid". The main meat of the story goes in the first paragraph (who, what, when, where, why). The remaining details go in the following paragraph in descending order of importance. A full page is acceptable, but a release of just a couple short paragraphs will be far more successful.

Where to send News Releases

1. Identify media that will be interested in your event.
2. Send an email to someone there and ask who you should send your release to.
3. Don't waste your time sending it to people that won't be interested.  That will just give you a bad name.

Resources:

AJR Newslink
http://ajr.newslink.org/menu.html
Contains links to just about every media (newspapers, radio stations, TV) source that has a website. Follow the links to the media you think will be interested in your release and find out who to send it to. This is great for building your contact base. Also contains some great articles and many other convenient resources.

Reporter's Network
http://www.reporters.net/
Among other things, contains a great searchable database of reporters. Want to find a reporter interested in silver widgets? Search here for a list of reporters who have reported on area of your site's interest.

Three routes:
1. Postal Mail

2. Fax- "Fax Broadcast" service.

3. Email

Newsgroups

1. What are newsgroups?

Newsgroups are world wide bulletin board systems organized by the Usenet news system. It started out as a way for Unix developers to pass information to each other about updates and fixes, but has budded into an International forum on just about any topic imaginable.

There are over 40,000 newsgroups available right now.

You may not be able to access each one, though. It really depends on your Internet Provider. When a new newsgroup is formed, your IP may or may not choose to offer it. You see, the messages don't sit in any one place. For you to see a Usenet message, your provide has to include it on its "news server".

If you need to access a group that is not offered by your provider, you can configure your newsreader to access a public access news server.

Here are a couple of public access news servers and also a URL where you can find a more comprehensive list of the public servers:

news.caribsurf.com
demonews.mindspring.com (read only, no posting)

If none of these work, follow the link below and try some of the over 800 listed there.

http://home.netvigator.com/~artyeung/free/zenews3.htm

You can also try these web browser based
news services:

http://www.dejanews.com
http://www.reference.com

The second one has a cool feature where you can ask it to conduct searches for you on a regular basis and email the results to you. You can use this to find out if people are talking about your (or your competitors).

Two approaches

1. Simple Advertisements

Most newsgroups don't care too much for unsolicited ads. Only post messages related to that particular newsgroup. Some business or MLM related newsgroups  welcome ads. Check first. Just because you see a bunch of ads doesn't mean it's OK, though.

Newsgroups that welcome ads.

    biz.misc
    biz.general (see this group for posting suggestions and restrictions)

Most groups that have words like "mlm", "business", "money" etc. in the title will be OK. Once again, be careful.
alt.make.money will gladly accept your post, but rec.collecting.paper-money probably won't be too interested in what your selling (unless it's paper money related).

"comp.newprod" - This group is moderated meaning that your message will have to be approved by the moderator. This is a great place to get
into as many editors and decision makers keep an eye on this newsgroup. However, it's very tricky as they have strict guidelines.

Most newsgroups that have .forsale or .marketplace somewhere in the title. Most of these are good for selling single items. Do a search and look around. For example:

"alt.forsale"
alt.marketplace.funky-stuff.forsale

"misc.forsale.*" - This hierarchy is mainly used to place classified style ads like above. Commercial postings are probably not welcome.

2. An Indirect Approach to Newsgroups

Another way to increase your presence in the newsgroups is less direct. It entails looking through the newsgroups and responding to existing discussion threads. I'm not proposing that you break into a thread and throw in your ad. This is highly unadvisable.

I am proposing something far less obtrusive and far more effective. There are several techniques you can use to make contacts, but essentially they can be divided into two categories: signature ads and prospect seeking.

Signature Ads
Respond to off topic threads with pertinent information. At the bottom of your post, include a little blurb about your business. Be sure to include URL, email, and short description.

Don't make this signature too long, this is considered bad Netiquette. Also, don't just break into a thread to say something like "yeah, me too". If you don't have any genuine pertinent input, go find a thread that you can contribute to.

Just getting involved in various threads will help build your name and build contacts online. You never know when one of these people will need your services. And as more people see your name, the larger brand presence you have.

Prospect Seeking

Search the newsgroups for people who would be interested in your product.

Search on DejaNews for your product.

The "Indirect Approach" targets your audience and breaks the "Internet Marketing Barrier". That is, anything that "smells like marketing" on the net is far less likely to be well received. If you use the indirect approach wisely, you can market your products to meet existing needs and help people find what they are looking for.

Just remember to always use prudence. Never post to groups that don't accept it. Contrary to what many will have you believe, you can market on the Internet without Spamming or offending masses of people. Someone out there is always going to take issue with what you do, even if you are doing things properly. However, this can be largely avoided by following a little Netiquette.

Link Command

Determine every Web site that has a link into your Web site or linked into your competitors home page by using the link command at both Infoseek and Altavista. Type into the search engine box the word link: and then type your URL as one word and these two search engines will bring back a list of Web sites that have a link into the Web page. For example, type link:http://www.yoursite.com into one of these search engines and you can see the different Web sites that have linked into your home page.

Determine what type of people and sites are finding your Web site valuable. This information will allow you to market to this group of people and increase your revenues. Second, you may find a new group of people to sell your product or service that never crossed your mind. Third, you can discover what type of prospect finds your competitors web site useful and find new leads.

Web Page Design:

To generate leads, fewer Web pages are best. The Internet site acts as an effective lead generator and the marketing department closes the sale. Therefore, its not the number of Web pages that generates sales leads, but prospects filling out an Interactive Marketing Form. This is a form that prospects fill out on a Web site including their name, address, telephone and what types of items they would like to purchase. Next, the prospect clicks on the send icon and this information is sent to you via e-mail.

Its not the quantity of Web pages that makes more sales, but having an accessible Interactive Marketing Form. Interactive Marketing Form should contain a short paragraph explaining your products or services.

Effective Advertising:

The most valuable visitor is one who is coming to the site to buy products and services. 90% of the hits on many sites come from chat rooms, articles, games, free Web pages and free links.

In a chat room, each time somebody pushes the enter key, a hit is counted for the Web site. On free Web page sites, each time someone updates their site or sends somebody to view it, hits are registered. If a site offers thousands of free links, visitors are usually there to place a free link for their business or ministry -- not to buy from another free link listed. In other words, one must consider the commercial quality of the hits on a site, not just the quantity of hits.

Second, you need to know how many hits a site receives in relation to the number of links on the site. This is important information, because if there are too many competing links to attract a visitor’s attention, your Web site has a lesser chance of being viewed. If a site receives ten million hits per month and has twenty thousand free links, the site has 500 hits per link. On the other hand, if a site has four hundred links for two million hits per month, the site has 5,000 hits per link. The bottom line: -The smaller site offers ten times the probability of your Web site being clicked on.

A commercial Web site that receives the same number of hits as a non-commercial site may be one hundred times more effective for an advertiser. This can mean the difference between a successful or an unsuccessful marketing campaign.

Yahoo Submissions

Yahoo! is organized as a meta-index, unlike all other major and minor search engines. For example, if an end-user does a search in Yahoo on "European Travel", they are likely to come up with search results related to traveling in Europe. On the other hand, other search engines may pull up search results that contains the words "European," or "travel," whether it is related to travel or not. Using Yahoo!, the end-user is more likely to come up with valid search results, and not bad links, non-functional or under-construction Web pages, or unprofessional sites.

When submitting your Web site to Yahoo!, it is important to follow Yahoo!’s instructions exactly. While other search engines use only a computer to accept Web site submissions, Yahoo! is staffed by editors who hand-check each submission. An estimated 75% of all submissions are rejected, and it can take six weeks or longer to hear from Yahoo! whether your Web site was posted or rejected. In fact, you may or may not be notified of an acceptance or rejection. For $199, you can purchase a "Business Express" to guarantee that your Web site will be reviewed and considered (does not guarantee acceptance) within seven business days. You will also receive an e-mail response telling why your entry was accepted or declined.Some do’s and don’ts of registering with Yahoo! are as follows:

Follow the instructions carefully to submit your URL; Select the category in which your URL belongs, not the category you would necessarily like; Only submit your home page. Yahoo! rarely accepts more than one URL per Web site; Make sure that your site is not under construction and that all the links work; Your site should offer "online transactions" over the Internet, and your business should be based in the United States; and finally Yahoo! rarely accepts URLs from the major sites known for offering free Web pages.

Hotbot Submissions

Only submit to Hotbot a few keywords per page. Focus on a few keywords that are important for your Web page to be found. Concentrate on submitting the name of your business and one other keyword. If your name is "XYZ Travel Company," use the name "XYZ Travel Company" on your Web page. Additionally, if your keyword is "Mexico Travel," list the keyword several times on your Web page. In the text of your Web page, you will need to repeat your keywords 2 to 5 times. If you repeat them too often, Hotbot can start deducting points. Place your keyword in the title, description, and keyword META tags. The URL and the keyword that you submit to Hotbot should contain the same name. For example, if you submit "Y2K Solutions" as a keyword, then the URL should also contain the name "Y2K Solutions." Additionally, the link name "Y2K Solutions" must be listed somewhere on your Web page and should match the name of the URL and keyword (don’t call the link name "Y2K Food," for example).

General Internet Tips

Major search engines account for eighty percent of all search engine hits to most Web sites. Focusing on optimizing your Web page position with the major search engines. Professional search engine registration companies can offer registration to thousands of search engines and directories for a fee. However, since the major six search engines account for 80% of all search engine hits, it may be better worth your time to concentrate on these six.

Register each individual Web page only one time per search engine. Registering a page multiple times may be considered spamming by some of the search engines, and your Web site could be removed from the search engine; Submit at most five URLs per day to a search engine. For some of the search engines, registering more than five is considered spamming, and your entries could be disregarded. Become familiar with each search engine’s rules by reading the entry instructions prior to submitting your Web page;

Excite typically accepts only twenty-five Web pages per domain name. Once you’ve registered your choice twenty-five pages, do not register additional pages. Otherwise, your choice twenty-five pages could be replaced. On the other hand, even if you register only your choice twenty-five pages, Excite’s robot spider may automatically register other pages you may not want. Therefore, some or all of your original twenty-five pages could be replaced. The point is this: You may not be able to control which Web pages Excite chooses. Don’t pull your hair out if you see different pages registered from month to month.

E-Mail Lists

Utilizing an E-Mail distribution list is a great way to market your products and services to a target audience. You can begin building your own E-Mail list by saving E-Mails during everyday transactions. For example, save the E-Mails from any correspondence you receive to your Web site or from prospects who fill out your Web site's interactive form. When you sell a product or service, ask for the client's E-Mail address. Your list will grow with diligence and time.

If you don't have time to build your own list, you can usually find someone within your industry who has an E-Mail list built up for your target market. Often, they will allow you to sponsor an ad space either at the top or bottom of their E-Mail message. The price can run from fifty dollars to several thousands of dollars, depending on the target marketing and the size of the list.

Other companies rent E-Mail lists called opt-in E-Mail lists: these companies will send out E-Mails for you. The advantage is that they can specifically target prospects within your industry. This service can run as high as twenty cents per E-Mail, whereas newsletter E-Mails can be as low as a penny.

Being mindful of E-Mail etiquette can go a long way in buildinggood relationships with your prospects. For example, only give out your E-Mail distribution list if you have your user's permission. After all, they signed up to be on your list, not necessarily another's. However, if you do have the go-ahead from your users, you may want to consider swapping E-Mail lists with a competitor. This can be a great way to drum up fresh leads.

A year or two ago, the practice of sending a one-time E-Mail solicitation asking permission to place the prospect on an E-Mail list was widely accepted. Today this practice is not as accepted. Most people do not want an unsolicited E-Mail, no matter its content. It is best to steer away from anything that could bother potential future clients.

New Directory Submissions

Open Directory Project (dmoz.org) and LookSmart (looksmart.com) are directories that now "feed" several of the major search engines. The directories are divided into major categories.  Drawing information from these two new directories, some of the search engines default to searching according to categories, not Web pages.

The reason for this major change? Possibly the major search engines are copying Yahoo’s successful format, which has always searched according to category first, not Web pages. Since the major search engines are beginning to search according to categories first and not Web pages, Web page only submissions will cause your site to lose potential hits. Be sure to register your Web page with both Open Directory Project and LookSmart, and use the following tips to maximize your position:

Carefully choose the category which is most closely related to your Web site’s contents, NOT necessarily where you would prefer to be listed. These are human-handled directories; submissions are not automatically posted. For example, Open Directory Project uses 90,000 editors to determine whether your Web page will be placed in their directory or not. If you do not submit your Web page carefully, they may ignore your entry. In addition, register soon, as it can take an average of 1-2 months to be listed.

Final pointers

   1. Learn from the mistakes of others.
   2. Experiment
   3. Be helpful and express genuine concern for the satisfaction of your customers.
   4. Try to turn every negative contact into a positive one. Keep your cool and stay professional.
   5. Treat Internet marketing as an evolving tool.

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