The name of the game is targeting.
Your web designer, having analysed the data from tracking system they have set up for the last process, will be able to tell you what key phrases your customers have typed in, which pages of your web site were the most popular and therefore which products or services have attracted your best customers.
There are several tried and tested ways you can attract targeted visitors to your web site. There are no hidden secrets but plenty of tried and tested and genuine, effective methods that will increase your targeted traffic and therefore your profitability.
Attracting New Customers
Before you start spending vast amounts of time and money attempting to attract new customers to your business, first take a long hard look at your web site with your ideal (top 20%) customer in mind. Is it easy to find the products and services they are buying What key phrases did they type in to find your business type, can you see those key phrases clearly on your page and are they in text rather than graphics This is imperative to obtaining high organic search engine listings. For more information, see our guide Start at the Beginning a link to all our guides can be found at the end of this article.
Once the design and layout of your web site is in order, i.e.: customer focussed, easily navigable, optimised for both search engines and customer use, you are ready for the full on Attracting New Customers assault!
There are many options including:
Pay Per Click advertising
Select the Pay Per Click search engine of your choice. Sign up for an account and start by using the key phrases your web designer had identified. You can type these into the suggestion tool at your desired PPC engine for more variations that their users are currently searching on.
For an in-depth guide to setting up and managing your Pay Per Click advertising, see our guide Maximising Your Pay Per Click Campaign a link to all our guides can be found at the end of this article.
Online Newsletter Adverts
When using newsletter adverts place them in publications that are related to your market and have subscribers who would be interested in your product or service. You can find appropriate online newsletters in ezine directories and as you are probably subscribed to a few specific to your industry already - start with these.
Website Adverts
For website adverts, use the key phrase list you made for your pay per click marketing. Starting with the key phrase that gets the most visits per day, do a search at a search engine. Assuming that your web site isnt listed in all the top 20 places, research the first ten to twenty web sites looking for any information which indicates that they sell advertising space on their website, like Advertise With Us. If you dont see any advertising information look for a Contact page or email address and send a message asking if advertising is sold on their website and if so then what is the cost and where can your advert be placed. Once youve finished this research, choose where to place your ads.
Search Engine Optimisation
To find information online most people go to the search engines first. If youre not listed in at least the first two pages of search engine results for your keywords, then youre missing out on a lot of free targeted website traffic. This is a topic covered extensively in our DIY Internet Marketing Guide Start At The Beginning a link to all our guides can be found at the end of this article.
Article Writing
Another way to increase website traffic is by writing articles for your targeted market and submitting them to article directories and online newsletter editors. Your increased website traffic will come from the resource box at the end of your articles. The resource box is like a 4 to 6 line advert telling your readers who you are and encouraging them to seek more information on your web site by clicking on your website link, which you will need to provide.
One advantage of article writing, beside the free increased website traffic, is that it will make you an expert in the eyes of your readers. This will increase your credibility and your readers trust in you causing them to open their minds and wallets to your recommendations.
For more information about establishing yourself as an expert in your field, download out guide Building Online Relationships a link to all our guides can be found at the end of this article.
These are the 5 most tried and tested techniques for increasing targeted visitors to your web site. They are not hidden secrets, theyre nothing new, but they are used everyday by web site owners whose web sites are successful and profitable. So start using one of the techniques today and see how it goes, then try another.
Next month we will be looking at some more Out-of-the-box ideas for attracting targeted customers.
If you have any questions about any of the topics raised or any other Internet Marketing issues, feel free to email me at Newsletter@enable-uk.co.uk I do my best to answer all emails or to cover the issues in future editions of this newsletter.Feel free to forward this newsletter provided that it is sent in its entirety with all links intact.
To use this newsletter in any other format, please email for permission to Newsletter@enable-uk.co.uk
Internet Marketing Tips Newsletter is a monthly publication of Enable-UKCopyright 2005 Enable-UK.
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When starting a web business, the first step is generating a business plan. Once completed, it is time to move on to the particulars of your site.
Research
Are people actually buying your widgets from other sites To find out, you could check stock of stores and Web sites, ask for friends opinions and find more data online, in media and at the library. If it turns out people are not buying very many widgets these days, now may be a good time to change you business plan. Also research what your competitors are doing and if there is any way to improve upon their business models.
Web Site
After you have a business plan and done some research, it is time to begin building your business. Though it is not essential for a web entrepreneur to have a web site, for our purposes we will assume one will be required. Other methods of making money on the web are quite possible, such as by creating an opt-in mailing list or selling products though services such as eBay.
Host and Domain
In order to have a web site one must have a host and a domain name. Think of the host as the home of your web site and the domain, such as www.widgets.com, as its address. Domain names can often be registered for less than $10 per year. Free hosting is even available, but a user of such services is required to have the hosts banners on their site, which is not particularly desirable.
A host should have reliable customer service, have very high uptime, meaning your site is accessible on the web as close to 100% of the time as possible, and give your business room to grow. You dont want your host to crash if you get ten thousand visitors in one day. If you need programming or ecommerce, you will want to make sure your host will support your needs. Server stats are also very handy.
Build It
After you have a home and address for your web site, you will need to build it. There are two roads you can walk down. Many web entrepreneurs choose to build their own sites and learn as they go. This is often desirable if you are interested in HTML and programming, have time to spare and dont require a professional polish. Many sites that make money promoting affiliate programs attract an audience that expect a rough, non- professional site to lead them to a polished sponsor site where they will spend their money.
The other road is to have a professional design your site for you. This is the best solution for many. Like a construction worker who knows the best way to build houses and can do it better and faster than the average layman, so it is with web design. If you are planning on selling a product or service directly, it is essential to have a sharp image by which your potential clients will judge you. With so much information and so many web pages available, surfers often move on after only a few seconds. A professional design will ensure you will be making the most of each visitor that views your site.
Now you have a plan, a product or service and a web site to sell it with. This is all very nice and all, but without people viewing your web site, you cant make any sales. You need a solid marketing plan to get the visitors to you site, by which you can make sales.
And thats the subject of our next article.
Halstatt Pires is an Internet marketing consultant with - an Internet marketing firm in San Diego offering automated web site systems through