Why Online

Over 167 million people in the US alone now use the Internet. As such, companies can’t afford to miss out on this opportunity to achieve more reach and sales. A web site can serve as your communications, sales and product delivery channel…all in one.

Getting Started

As with any marketing or sales channel, your web site design, functionality and promotions should fit in with your overall marketing strategy. Unlike traditional marketing, however, creating a web site requires an understanding and application of both technology and marketing principles.

We suggest that you develop a web site plan to include your objectives, target audience, key strategies, resources, budget and timeline. Click here to request a professional web site plan outline that we use with our clients.

Following are some additional things to keep in mind.

Basic Terms:

• A web site is simply a collection of pages linked together and stored or hosted on a company's server/computer so that it can be viewed on the Internet.
• The home page or index page of a web site is usually what you see when you first type in a URL in the address field of your browser (Netscape, Explorer, etc.).
• So what’s a URL…it stands for "uniform resource locator". But, the important thing is that it’s the specific and unique address of a web page on a server. Example: http://www.keen.com
• Some URLs can be quite long, especially if you are using a free web site hosting service. Example: http://www.geocities.com/madtwo_99...and on and on.
• Most companies register with a Domain Name Service (DNS) to get a shorter, URL address.
• A domain name is like a FBN or "fictitious business name," such as "Tom’s Cigars". Online visitors can use "tomscigars.com."

Critical Resources and People

Creating a web site requires the use of many online resources and typically a team of designers, developers and other skilled professionals.

Resources:

• Internet Service Provider (ISP), such as Earthlink or SBC Yahoo, that will enable you to connect to the Internet.
• Hosting service provider, such as Easy-Affordable Web Sites, that can store your web site’s files and graphics for viewing on the Internet.
• Domain Name, as defined above. (many times the domain name can be obtained and registered for you for free as part of the hosting package)
• Your logo, corporate graphics and/or identity system requirements for the web designer.
• Others, depending on your needs:
  • Online registration and payment processing services.
  • Database for storing customer, sales or product data.
    
  • Dedicated servers.
    

People:

• Web Producer – develops the web strategy and manages all of the other people and tasks required to produce and promote the site.
• Web Designer – focuses on creating a design and the navigation for each of the pages. If the site doesn’t include e-commerce, they will also take care of all coding.
• Web Developer – specializes in creating or customizing the backend functionality, databases, and servers often required for e-commerce or by larger corporate sites.
• Copywriter and Editor– writes the copy or adapts it from existing printed material for each of the web pages.
• Search Engine Optimizer (SEO)– this is a relatively new role that has emerged, yet the SEO is critical in terms of developing the right titles, descriptions and content required to rank the site in the top search results.
• IT Specialists – If a company is large enough, it may also require an IT person or service to manage and maintain their dedicated servers and the security of the data stored within them.
  

Basic Web Promotions

After you've launched your web site, you still have to promote it both online and offline in order to generate traffic to it. And yes, these promotions should integrate with your overall marketing strategy. Site optimization is important, but don't forget about the other items.

Site Optimization
Establish and increase your rankings on the top search engines by using this simple approach.

1. Determine your keywords
   Overture's free advertiser tool will help you determine the best keywords to use when generating your metatags, the code that many search engines use to rank your site pages. While Overture isn't representative of all search engines, it serves as a good gauge of what keywords are being used.
   
   WordTracker is the service of choice for professional web developers since it provides an extensive list of keywords based on searches across multiple search engines. Keywords can also be easily downloaded and pasted into your keyword metatag.
   
   
2. Generate your metatags
   Submit Express provides a free tool for generating the code you'll need for search engines to find and rank you. Do this before you submit to any of the search engines.
   
   
3. Incorporate keywords into your copy
   Aside from metatags, many search engines look for keywords in the copy and alt-tags of each page. For a particular keyword search, your page will tend to rank higher if that keyword occurs multiple times throughout your site or page. This is called keyword density.
   
   
4. Submit manually and directly to key search engines offering free submissions. They don't guarantee inclusion, but you will be considered.
   • Google
   • Yahoo Search Index - now powers AltaVista, Lycos and other search engine listings, as well as Yahoo's. This is different from the Yahoo directory or Sponsored listings, however. See next section below.
   • Open Directory - AOL, All the Web, AltaVista, Google USENET, Google, HotBot, Lycos, Northern Light and Yahoo all draw from Open Directory.
   • Others - look them up on Search Engine Watch, a service offering a ton of free tips on search engines.
     
     
5. Consider Pay-for-Inclusion with some of the other major search engines. Since 2003, Overture has joined forces with Yahoo to take over many of the low-cost Pay-fior-Inclusion sites out there, including Inktomi, FAST, Lycos and AltaVista. However, a few independent directories exist.
   
   Ask Jeeves/Teoma - used by many for their advanced question/answer response search functions.
   
   Yahoo Directory - Yep, even though Yahoo is in cohoots with Overture, it still offers a direct and express way to submit to its directory. However, submitting will cost you $299/year.
   
   
6. Consider one of the two major Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Programs
   (if you need fast, immediate traffic)
   
   Trellian is an Overture Site Match partner. Site Match allows you to be included in AltaVista, Overture and Yahoo for a flat fee of $10-$49 + a Pay-Per-Click fee of 15c to 30c, depending on the category. It also offers offers guaranteed URL inclusion to a network of search engines and pay-for-inclusion sites: All-business, AskJeeves, Entireweb, etc. But, be careful about Overture. You should always set a per-day limit, or you could be charged $1,000's in one day.
   
   Google's Adwords program offers a cheaper 5c Pay-Per-Fee minimum charge, and has a much better backend administration program that will let you set daily limits by ad and group.
   
   
7. Consider third-tier Pay-Per-Click Programs
   They don't generate as much traffic as the big guys, but are a lot cheaper - starting as low as 3c per click. For a list, click here.

Other promotional ideas?

• Email all of your existing customers to let them know your site is up or refreshed.
• Develop free, but valuable content for your site. This will add credibility to your company and service. The content can also be used for other marketing purposes.
• Include an entry or exit pop-up window, offering a free report or newsletter, to collect prospect emails for future promotions. Here is where you can offer up the free content.
• Leverage viral and sequential approaches in all your email marketing efforts. Viral marketing could be as simple as including a button on your site for "Tell-A-Friend".
  

Want even more ideas?

Contact us at: info@mxservices.net

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