Internet Marketing Methods
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How to promote/market a new web-site using free methods on the internet?
Well, being into Internet promotion in a big way, hopefully some of the things below will help you out.
1) Search Engines
Firstly, remember that having great search engine placements doesn’t necessarily guarantee loads of traffic. And loads of traffic doesn’t necessarily equal loads of business, but that’s another story….
I have clients that have spent literally HOURS submitting to search engines, waiting the requisite 6 weeks and then wondering why they aren’t placed anywhere.
The answer??
Titles, Tags and Text:
The title tag of each page needs to be descriptive – no ‘Home Page’ titles, there’s no point in that – decide on your keyphrases and make sure some of them are in the title.
Tags – META tags (among other things) – now you’ve probably all heard of META tags, and most of you probably have them in your sites, but if they aren’t formatted correctly, if the keyword ratio with the keywords in your main text isn’t right, then they’re doing you no good at all.
Not all of the search engines use META tags – there are many other things that come into play when looking for good placements – titles, comment tags, keywords in text, links to site (occasionally), frames make a difference (in a negative way) with some engines, alt tags on images, etc etc etc.
Text – content, content, content – if your keyphrases aren’t in the content of the site, what hope do you have?
2) Autoresponders
Autoresponders are an oft-unused form of marketing.
What is an autoresponder?
An autoresponder sends out a pre-written email when someone
emails a particular address.
For example, if you email 12steps@nikkipilkington.com you will
automatically receive a copy of an article by me, giving you 12 tips on promoting your site offline.
You are able to request these documents whether or not anyone from my company is online – that’s an autoresponder
Why use an autoresponder?
An autoresponder gives you the chance to respond to often
asked questions without even having to be online.
It allows you to make articles available without having to do anything yourself.
Price lists, etc can be updated quickly and easily.
A copy of every request is forwarded to you automatically, so you have an automatic contact list – these people have
requested information about your company – you can easily
follow up this interest.
People are more likely to read and inwardly digest information sent to them via email – they can print it out and read it offline; most people just scan through web pages.
3) Link Sites
There are thousands – hundreds of thousands – of link sites out there;
link sites for specific subjects
free-for-all link sites where anyone can post a link
link sites that no-one ever visits because they are listed on a multi submission program
link sites that actually work
Think about it – if everyone using these multi submission tools is submitting to (say) 400 link sites – who is actually VISITING these sites???
SUBMIT BY HAND – yes, it takes time, yes, it’s a pain in the @$$, but at least you know your ad is there – don’t rely on some software program telling you it’s there – because the chances are, it isn’t. I have yet to find a program that actually manages to submit my ad to the sites
it claims it has done – even when getting the confirmation email and checking afterwards, my ad wasn’t there in most cases.
4) Classified Ad Sites
Classified sites are very much like link sites – there are so many of
them and only a few are worth placing an ad in.
We’ve spent a long time evaluating classified sites – placing test ads for various types of business and collating the results to see which sites work best for which industry.
It’s a difficult and long process, but again, posting by hand is the key. That and having a great ad 
)
Take the time to find decent sites.
5) Newsletter/Ezine Adverts
Newsletter and ezine advertising brings one of the best response rates of any other form of advertising I have tried on the Internet.
The best thing about it is that it is possible to target your advertising so well, that you almost KNOW that the people reading it are interested in your product.
Do you sell a gardening product? There are gardening tips and ezines out there.
A household product? Find the house and home type ezines.
A sure fire business opportunity? There are ezines dedicated just to this.
Find the ezines you are interested in and find out the ad rates!
Some will do an ad swap, which won’t cost you anything!
Also try searching for the type of ezine you need in any search engine.
6) Opt In Email
At NikkiPilkington.com, we don’t believe in unsolicited bulk emailing – also known as spam.
We use only legitimate opt in mailing lists from respectable list brokers – and so should you.
Sending spam results in flaming, lots of bounced messages, and most of all, loss of business reputation – IT’S NOT WORTH IT!
A search for list brokers on any search engine should point you in the right direction – companies like Postmaster Direct http://postmasterdirect.com have produced good results for our clients.
7) Signature Files
What is a signature file?
At the end of each and every email you send out you should be promoting your company and your website.
It could be something as simple as just your company name and address – that’s a signature file.
All of my clients are promoted by their signature file, set up as stationery in their email client
See! It;s easy!!! ALWAYS have a signature file – if you send out 10 emails a day (and here I send out over 400 daily, plus autoresponders) that’s 10 chances to promote your site!!
Lisa Bryan has a great article on sig files available from (I believe) mailto:signature@wrdwrks.com
Online Press Releases
There are many places online to submit your press releases, but many people forget about the online press release, and concentrate on the offline one.
Some places charge a fee, some are free (http://www.prweb.com”>http://www.prweb.com”>http://www.prweb.com)
Some ezines and newsletters accept press releases.
A well written press release can bring in the traffic like nothing else on earth!!
Offline is great too – we have had clients featured in The Sunday Times, The News of the World, The Independent, Cosmopolitan, Food & Drink, .net, Internet Works, Internet Magazine and many more.
10) Mailing Lists
Mailing lists provide a great way of keeping contact with your potential clients – at the end of each email will be a link to your website, encouraging them to visit again.
Whether it’s a simple “We’ll tell you when this site is updated” list, or a daily tips list, it’s a great way to keep in touch.
Run it yourself, or get someone else to run it for you if you can afford it.
11) DON’T FORGET TO PROMOTE YOUR SITE OFFLINE TOO!
So there, I guess that’s enough for now – I think you’re going to be busy!
Sorry it was so long and hope it has helped you make the most
of your site.
MLM Techniques for Online Marketing
