Tag: Visibility

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Tips to Promote Your Website

In continuing with the last several blog posts on tips and tidbits, here are few of my top tips on how you can promote your website.

1. Promote your website with Google AdWords. If you need visibility and leads fast, Google AdWords is the best place to start. I recommend using AdWords for a boost right after you launch your website until you have enough impetus to garner organic placement and start generating activity on your own.

2. Make sure you are blogging. If you want to wean yourself off Google AdWords at some point, it is important to be actively involved in building unique informational content which over time will help you with organic placement and cause the natural building of inbound links.

3. Make sure you are building content on your website in addition to blogging. You’ll need more than blogging to garner placement. Consider doing articles smartly to get inbound links to your website. I don’t mean spin articles, but rather write thoughtful pieces that provide value.  Use social media to promote your articles, archive them on your website and place the articles on just a few article sites.

4. Use social media to promote your website, add value by not just talking about your own services, but make sure to work to create authority in all you do. Link to your site, your article pieces, and blogs as well as try to engage readers.

5.  Move into the wider world. Get active in your market sector on forums to tape into new ideas, thoughts, and share your expertise as well as learn from others. Share your website and yourself to get your name out there.

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Are Blogs Better Than E-Newsletters?

From my perspective, blogs are better than e-newsletters. Many clients are surprised to find out that they will typically only have between a 10% to 35% open rate with e-newsletters. The reality is that it is simply getting more and more difficult to have your e-newsletter appear in someone’s in box and not their junk mail folder.

Blogs allow for the same type of contact with clients, prospects, and visitors without the person having to share their email address. In my own case my e-newsletter subscriber list is over 1,000 but typically on any given month under 100 people will actually open and read my monthly e-newsletter. In comparison nearly 20% of my website traffic will stop in visit and read my blog.

I still do a monthly e-newsletter, but now use it for a platform for special features, tips, and longer newsy articles than what I post as a typical blog post. I do try to get double duty from my e-newsletters by archiving them on my website and sometimes even breaking out the content as a white paper download in our resources section or special PC instruction.

So, do I feel that an e-newsletter is passé? No, not for some clients. particularly clients who are not blogging and an e-newsletter is the only regular contact they have with clients and prospects. From my point of view the contact is what is important, if the client does not buy into a blog then an e-newsletter monthly or quarterly is a good alternative.

For e-commerce site owners, I have a different perspective on the value of e-newsletters, I consider an e-newsletter crucial in regards to building repeat sales but only if the e-newsletter is used as a perk for regular shoppers and includes coupon codes and promotions.

Anyway you look at it, if you are in business, you should at least start to capture email addresses of clients on a daily basis if you are not already. You may want them for a regular e-newsletter in the future or to announce your new blog.