Once you have a website, will potential customers find you? In most cases, they won't. You need to help them find you by promoting your website. This is significantly different from traditional advertising, such as placing a Yellow Pages ad. You have to be listed in search engines in order to be found. To draw even more customers, you need to actively lead them to your site.

Here are a few ideas on how we can help you attract new customers to your website …

Search Engines

Step number one is to get listed on the major search engines. There are hundreds, even thousands, of specialized search engines. But only 15 or so engines are used by the vast majority of people. These major engines are where we submit your site and focus our efforts to make you more visible. Read More >>

It's more than just getting a listing in the engines … it's submitting the site properly, using the right keywords, and building other criteria right into your site – such as hidden tags, descriptions, keywords, relevant text, etc. – to achieve a high ranking in the engines.

In essence, we optimize your site so the search engines will understand your product or service. Then the engines will rank you higher when prospective customers search for what you have to offer. The goal? To have a listing about your site appear in the top 10 or 20 sites found by the search engine when typing a search term that is relevant to your product or services.

Co-op Links

Another valuable way to help people find you is through co-op links. These are links to your site that appear on other sites dealing with a similar subject as yours. Essentially, they are courtesy listings of other sites that visitors might want to check out as they address the same topic that brought visitors to that site in the first place.

For example, you might exchange links on sites operated by your suppliers, vendors, distributors, trade association, chamber of commerce, or any site or organization that deals with your industry. Typically, you return the courtesy by including a link back to sites that list you. We'll show you how to set up co-op links … and can even handle all the details for you, if you wish.

Advertising

All your advertising should list your website prominently. Not only ads, but also your stationery, business cards, and communications of any kind to customers or prospects. Your website address should appear everywhere. Many companies run advertising solely about their website. Making people aware of your site can be that important.

We'll consult with you about your audiences, your best ways to reach them, and our recommendations. We can also provide direction, creative services, production, and placement of advertising as needed. In many cases, we're better prepared than a traditional advertising agency to create compelling advertising that brings people to your website.

Banner Ads

Banner ads are the display or space ads of the Internet. You've seen them – colorful, rectangular ads promoting another website – and a mere click on the banner takes you there. These banners can be a very effective method of driving traffic from related websites to your own site. Similar to co-op links, they are bigger and bolder.

Banner ads were among the first methods to generate huge traffic on the web. In recent years, statistics showed that responses to banner ads have fallen. Banner ads weren't "targeted" to the audience. That is, they would appear anywhere on the web. By wisely targeting related, relevant sites to sponsor your banner … and by using more color or including animation … banner ads are proving to be an excellent source of qualified visitors to your site.

Opt-In E-Mail

E-mail has come into its own – and is a powerful, highly targeted way to reach prospects and customers. At time this type of advertising takes the form of straight e-mail messages, and other times, an e-mail newsletter or announcement. A universal standard for using e-mail marketing is that prospects and customers must first give you "permission" to e-mail them. That's why it's called permission marketing, or opt-in e-mail.

Various methods can be used to obtain this permission. Some offers right on your website can entice people to sign up for opt-in e-mail. Other communications on other media can also be used, or you can buy a list of customers who have indicated an interest in e-mail offers and information. We'll help you plan your opt-in e-mail strategy, determining the type of email marketing that suits your company image.