In many cases when you start a new website you are really starting at the bottom of the barrel.
Your competition probably has more money than you, they certainly have better rankings and more repeat visitors. How can you compete with that when you are on a shoestring budget
First off, you need to get one idea out of your head that has been beat into it by countless marketing sites, E-books, and experts.
YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE SUCCESSFULL OVERNIGHT!
However, you can make regular and weekly progress and overtake your competition, both in rankings and sales. There are a few things you are going to have to do though.
1.) You will need to track your statistics, website visitors, and keep track of the Search Engine Bots. If you need to learn more about statistics, may I reccomend http://www.track-it-now.info . Statistics and paying attention to them are one of the important things that successful webmasters all do. You should know at the end of the week what each visitor to your website was worth.
2.) Work harder at your important tasks. Many webmasters started a website because its perceived as an easy way to make money. Its not, so get that idea out of your head right now. Start managing your time smarter. If you spend 20 hours per week surfing the Internet, chatting, or just goofing around, stop and divert that energy into something productive like link building. Im a professional freelancer and I still get stuck in the old habit of just sitting in front of this computer and getting nothing done. I recently got so frustrated with myself I actually made a blog post out of it. I will be adding tips and tricks to be a little more productive and how I cut some of the fluff out of my day. It would be great if others contributed as well. http://stmadeveloper.com/blog/p=7
3.) You are working harder, but are you working smarter I dont mean you have to be smarter than your competition. I mean that you need to become smarter on a certain subject. For example, there are 1000s of programmers like myself who can work with PHP. I have made myself a niche working for Internet marketers who dont want to explain terms like downline builders, 2 teir affiliate programs, etc. It doesnt matter what subject matter your website is, you just need to know more about one aspect of your content or service than other people.
4.) Make sure you are productive and earning at your real potential. Chances are if you are keeping track of your statistics (see step one) you know that every visitor is worth X dollars or cents. If your really tracking, you can tell how much value you are getting from traffic to certain pages or from certain advertising methods or SE keywords. If you have a method that is just sending you visitors that never purchase or stay just stop using it and put more effort into those things that are returning a value. If you have set your value at $30 per hour to meet your income goals, you better not be concentrating on things that return pennies per hour, right
5.) Make sure you have the tools and services you need to communicate with your visitors. It might be live help ( http://track-it-now.info/helpcenterlive_tutorial.htm ) or it might be something like an autoresponder ( http://emaileasy.info/7.html ), but you better have some way for your visitors to contact you and ask you questions.
6.) Dont expect overnight success. Growing a site takes time and effort. However, dont get discouraged. Daily effort turns into weekly growth. One day you will wake up and find that your efforts have paid off.
7.) Use your expertise to help others. Did you know that if you have something you are knowledgeable about that you are being looked for right now There are thousands of forums, newsgroups, and communities on-line that would benefit from your advice. If you spend the time to help them, you will see an increase in traffic and of course revenue. Many forums allow a signature which is similar to the resource box for this article. People do click on those signature links when you help them. Since you have already taken the first step and built some trust in your knowledge dont you think they will be more likely to use what your website provides.
8.) Do not be afraid to get some help. There are 1000s of freelancers and other helpful people that make their living on the web. Farming work out to those freelancers may just be worth your time. Here is an example: You are running a finance site. You need to get a new layout, new graphics, and Search Engine optimization done. You could spend days working on all of that, and since you are not an expert you end up with an inferior website both in looks and functionality. Your two days of effort cost you money in lost sales, but the poor website will cost you thousands over the next year. A few minutes with a competent designer would have cost you a few days pay, but you end up with a great functional and attractive website. Which way is better
Edward Charkow is the lead programmer and copy writer for Stmadeveloper. Stmadeveloper provides top notch niche sites that focus on high paying keywords. No technical knowledge is needed since they do the creation, content, and promotion. Visit Stmadeveloper at
Promoting a Website is not an easy task. New Website Developers may have the impression of building a Website and sales are generated. This is far from true. There are millions of Websites. Within those millions, there are bound to be competitors. To rise above, or obtain a portion of the market-share, developers need to utilize an effective promotion campaign.
Establishing a Website is not much different than a brick-and-mortar business. Open a Deli in the heart of a City and millions of potential customers will pass daily. In contrast, open the Deli in the suburbs, and there would be one quarter of the potential customers. Obviously, the City would be much more expensive to get started and maintain, but the revenue should provide for the added expense.
The same holds true in Website Promotion. However, the landscape is different. There are no streets and sidewalks customers have to use. Therefore, our businesses need to be found by customers in a variety of places. It needs to be brought to the potential customer, or viewable from wherever they may be lurking.
Where do we start with Website Promotion
One of the topics sweeping the developers world is Optimization. The internet will naturally bring potential customers, if the site is optimized properly. Computers work hard on matching relevant information. This is a huge benefit to e-business owners.
Before promotion begins, or altering existing efforts, understand the Internets backbone. Why has the World Wide Web become popular Most should agree, information retrieval rules. Internet users dont have to sit down and watch television waiting for local weather. They dont have to wait for news of interest. They dont have to drive to find the best prices. They dont have to look through cook-books to find a recipe. They dont have to talk to salespeople for a car. Today its all on the, information, super highway.
As a developer, focus on information delivery before beginning promotion of a Website. If a page can be divided into two topics, make two separate pages. Over-use of graphics can present problems too. While its nice to make a Site pretty, most people dont care. They want the information or products they are seeking. Sectors such as art could be an exception, but for the most part, lots of graphics are a waste. People read on the internet. Give people something to read, not just something to view.
Promotion Budget
If launching a new campaign, it may take time to decipher an effective budget. There are simple variables that should be considered with budgeting. Given the potential scope of a Website, advertising should be devoted to different areas of the site. For example, paying to promote the free portion of a Website is not logical. In contrast, a free forum may sell advertising. The advertising segment of the site should be exploited.
There is a simple formula to develop a budget. If a site is new, it takes some research and investment to draw an accurate conclusion. Put simply, consider the following; how many potential customers are required to make a sale From each sale, how much profit is generated Of the profits, how much is invested into advertising This identifies the value of potential customers. If ten customers make one sale, and ten dollars are allocated towards advertising, each customer is potentially worth one dollar. However, room for growth could be made by reducing the value of a potential customer or increasing the advertising contribution. A competitive sector may force reduced profits rather than reduced value of potential customers.
Comprehensive budgeting could be applied to aspects of the business. Promote each aspect as a unique entity. For example, a Website that sells music and movies could have separate budgets for the segments. This could reveal vital information to the survival of a business. Implement effective models that assist in tracking expense and results. This is fairly simple with website statistics and tracking tools.
Free Traffic Promotion Keywords and Phrases
When it comes to free traffic, its about information retrieval. People utilize tools that provide information accurately and quickly. These tools rely on the developers interpretation of a Website or page (On-Site Optimization). What is the Website or page about What phrases are people looking for that want to use this site Information retrieval is a complicated double-edge-sword between people surfing the web and people creating the web. When the people creating the web do not create clear and focused pages, people surfing the Web cannot find them.
Free traffic is a gift from creating user friendly pages, clearly focusing on a specific topic, and the result of promotion efforts. It stems from a good balance. While free traffic primarily comes from Search Engines, it also comes from referring sites. People will write about a Website in blogs, forums, or on their personal pages. People will add links to Sites they like.
If developers hunt for free traffic, problems can arise. Hunting for free traffic has made developers try tricks that got the site removed from Search Engines. This can present a big problem as they are a large source of free targeted traffic. Keep free traffic in mind while promoting a Website, but dont make it the focus of promotion. It will come naturally over time. Take it as a gift and an acknowledgement that a Website has been optimized well, presents clear information, and is promoted in the right places. Although some may argue the point, dont anticipate quality free traffic to begin immediately. It takes extensive thought, advertising, and planning for this to happen, especially within competitive sectors.
Promoting in Directories
One place to start promoting a Website is Website Directories. Most directories are organized by topic. Some are more comprehensive than others. In addition, there are, Niche, directories that focus on one topic. For example, there are directories for shopping, reference, art, and automotive sites. In contrast, there are general directories that provide all the niches.
Finding an appropriate place within a directory may be difficult. Directories can a large structure. However, a comprehensive structure benefits advertisers with targeting. Comprehensive directories enable developers to classify a Website. For example, it maybe possible to promote a site the sells speakers, for cars, but only domestic cars, and ones that are late model. In addition, some directories may implement regional indexing. Targeting an index in a directory can be complex, but it can be a great benefit too.
Dont expect to rush from directory to directory and establish a bunch or references. Each directory is unique. Take time to understand how the directory is structured, what they expect as a title and description, and how the suggestion process works. Seek similar sites; take note of where they appear, and how they are described.
Directories are generally affordable solutions. Most Directories are indexed by search engines. They help search engines understand a sites focus. In addition, they are a reference point for some people. It may be a good idea to seek-out one or two directories a week, or as appropriate to a budget. Finding good directories will consume a lot of time. However, once a link is added, it will remain there for a long duration.
News and Media Promotion Public Relations
Public Relations an important factor when promoting any Business. News and Media channels are the vehicles that convey information to the public. News about a business can make a huge impact on the public. Good news can make lots of people remember a business. Some developers release news about every change or added feature to a Website. Ironically, some developers never utilize this area of promotion.
There are a variety of distribution sites that will expose news releases to numerous channels, for a modest fee. In addition, most will offer free options. It may be a good idea to utilize free options for news that is not very important. For example, adding a, Calculator, to a Website probably will not gain much attention. However, anything that may be important to the public needs to be announced.
If it can be added to the budget, outsource public relations efforts. PR companies have knowledge of what the media likes and contacts that make them valuable. PR specialists can be found in almost every City.
Ezine Articles - Provide Rich Content
Writing articles is a powerful promotion tool. Some developers refer to this as, Viral Marketing. There are Websites that require content. Content brings them traffic. Traffic builds valuable ad space.
Article Distribution sites assist promoters with circulating articles. Many Ezines rely on Distribution Sites for their content. Post an article to a distribution site and the article is, up-for-grabs, to anyone. The article begins to circulate the internet like a virus. Everywhere it appears, reference is given to the author and their Website.
Advertising on the Web
There are a variety of reference websites. Generally, these sites consist of Forums, Article content, and Online Chats. They rely on selling ad space as the main revenue stream. While some reference developers are, trying to rich quick, there are sites that offer affordable solutions to promote a Website. With free traffic in mind, seek-out text link advertising venues. Look for sites that charge a flat fee. Sites that charge per click or by the impression usually mask links for tracking. This does not build good recognition with search engines.
Seek relevant opportunities for promoting the Website. If the allows people to buy tennis shoes, a sports reference and information area may be prove beneficial. Another might be a reference site about footwear. Trial and error will reveal good advertising sources for promotion. Regardless of the site being promoted, there are reference areas that are valuable promotion tools.
Promotion Summary
The internet moves fast in certain aspects. When it comes to Website promotion, it moves slowly. Modifications that are made to a Web Page are not going to be seen the next day. Significant results appear months later. The most important area of promotion, is keeping accurate records. Website promotion is complex. Developers need to consider on-site and off-site optimization, targeting, and ad construction. The right mix can provide a significant advantage over the competition.
Michael Medeiros has an extensive background in business and advertising. He is the proprietor of the Mjmls Classifieds ( ), which is an open-source advertising solution for businesses and individuals.