In my experience I have learned that you must treat your online business like you would treat a local business. You have to promote yourself. If you were a local business you might hand out business cards, solicit local businesses that might be willing to hand out flyers, drive around with a sign/magnet on your car, etc.
In the virtual world you must converse with others in chat rooms and on message boards, make a name for yourself. Be helpful, honest, and friendly. You have to represent your business at all times. This has unfortunately put a damper on my posting about personal problems, etc. Keep in mind that what you say online can be found pretty easily with the click of a few buttons.
Instead of a sign on your car, put your business advertisement in your email signature, message board signatures, avatars, sign guestbooks with your name, comments, and link to your store. Look for opportunities to post helpful information and get your links out there.
When I get lazy about going out and promoting myself online, I see a drastic decline in the number of visitors to my site.
Look for opportunites to send in business cards and/or samples to other businesses that might be willing to include them in their outgoing orders. Join Yahoo Groups that allow business announcements, sales, and other spam.
More to come...
A resourceful Blog created to help inspire, motivate, and support work-at-home-mom's, bloggers, and small business owners.
Showing posts with label promoting your site or blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label promoting your site or blog. Show all posts
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Email & Newsletter Help
I am in the process of trying EmailBrain. Looks like a fairly easy online program where you can upload mailing lists and send out custom emails. I am going to give it a try, there's 1 Month FREE!
I do experience an increase in hits after posting messages to my yahoo group but sending a custom email newsletter seems much more professional to me.
I will let you know how easy this is to use and whether or not I find it effective.
I do experience an increase in hits after posting messages to my yahoo group but sending a custom email newsletter seems much more professional to me.
I will let you know how easy this is to use and whether or not I find it effective.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Content is the key to success!
Well I have been in business for myself now for approximately 8 months. My first site was built and hosted through High Power Sites. I didn't have a lot of start up cash and really needed a site that I could design myself and not have to hire someone. Well you get what you pay for! I must say $19.99 per month and no sign up or design fees did seem like a really good deal and I would recommend them to anyone who needs an all-in-one deal with no more in their budget than $20 bucks.
The drawbacks....They didn't play very nice with Google, and if there's one thing I've learned in the last 8 months it's that Google is Golden. I would check my StatCounter daily and I was getting no love from any search engines, and when I did it was because someone actually Googled my site's name. I tried creating a Google Site Map through my web provider and it just wouldn't work properly, technical support would just tell me it was an issue they were working on.
So long story short, I have a new site that is professionally designed. Keywords, MetaTags, SiteMaps and all and I saw a great improvement in the amount of visitors to my site. But by far, the most improvement on my search engine referrals has come after I built up my sites content. I improved my Frequently Asked Questions page and actually pasted all my information rather than just linking to it. I also added a page where I talked about the different brands I carry and I posted the content from the Newspaper Article that had been written about me. After these few boosts to my sites content, I began to see hits on my site from tons of search querys. Queries that didn't always apply to me or my business but either way you look at it, showing up on the first page of a Google search is a great accomplishment for me.
So, my advice is that you go to your site now and type, type, type. Create detailed informational descriptions of your products or services, frequently asked questions, how-to guides, policies, post tips and articles, treat it like a blog if you have to. The more content you have, the more keyword combinations you'll have for showing up on Google searches.
Good Luck!
The drawbacks....They didn't play very nice with Google, and if there's one thing I've learned in the last 8 months it's that Google is Golden. I would check my StatCounter daily and I was getting no love from any search engines, and when I did it was because someone actually Googled my site's name. I tried creating a Google Site Map through my web provider and it just wouldn't work properly, technical support would just tell me it was an issue they were working on.
So long story short, I have a new site that is professionally designed. Keywords, MetaTags, SiteMaps and all and I saw a great improvement in the amount of visitors to my site. But by far, the most improvement on my search engine referrals has come after I built up my sites content. I improved my Frequently Asked Questions page and actually pasted all my information rather than just linking to it. I also added a page where I talked about the different brands I carry and I posted the content from the Newspaper Article that had been written about me. After these few boosts to my sites content, I began to see hits on my site from tons of search querys. Queries that didn't always apply to me or my business but either way you look at it, showing up on the first page of a Google search is a great accomplishment for me.
So, my advice is that you go to your site now and type, type, type. Create detailed informational descriptions of your products or services, frequently asked questions, how-to guides, policies, post tips and articles, treat it like a blog if you have to. The more content you have, the more keyword combinations you'll have for showing up on Google searches.
Good Luck!
Need a Press Release?
Well, I've mentioned it before, how much fun I have writing short articles for Cloth Diaper News, and I am always looking for ideas for new stories. So if you need a Press Release for your store or site, if you are going to be running a sale or promotion, introducing a new product or brand, then contact me and I'd be happy to write about it!
Plus, I always love being a new product tester...lol
Plus, I always love being a new product tester...lol
Really Cool Free Templates for Blogger
If you like my template or if you need a new template for your Blog, then you need to check out Final Sense. They have such cool and unique Blogger templates and they are so easy to use and install. I just love mine! Check them out.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
WinkFlash
Did you know that you can order postcards printed on photo stock through sites like WinkFlash for as little as .12 each? Plus sites like WinkFlash usually offer the first 50 prints free. I have found this to be a really affordable way to print postcard size fillers and flyers to include in my outgoing orders. Give it a try, they turn out really great.
Want to be a writer?
Cloth Diaper News is looking for contributing writers and guest writers. I have been having so much fun with this. I feel like a real reporter. I get an idea for an article, email my leads and ask for an interview, and then I write a short piece and post it. Not only is it fun, but it will get you some additional exposure for your name and business. Click here for more information on becoming a volunteer writer.
Interested in creating a successful Blog?
I am no expert in creating a successful, high-traffic blog, but here goes nothing!
Step 1: Create a Blog
Step 2: Create Tracking Code, I use StatCounter, to allow you to view your traffic
Step 3: Promote. This is by far the hardest, it takes a lot of time and effort. As far as I have learned so far, part of a blog's value is determined by PageRank. PageRank is determined by the amount of links back to your blog or site on the internet. More importance is placed on links appearing on big sites than on links on another persons blog, but every little bit does count. Here is a link to find out what your PageRank is www.whatsmypagerank.com. Here are a few faq's about it
Step 1: Create a Blog
Step 2: Create Tracking Code, I use StatCounter, to allow you to view your traffic
Step 3: Promote. This is by far the hardest, it takes a lot of time and effort. As far as I have learned so far, part of a blog's value is determined by PageRank. PageRank is determined by the amount of links back to your blog or site on the internet. More importance is placed on links appearing on big sites than on links on another persons blog, but every little bit does count. Here is a link to find out what your PageRank is www.whatsmypagerank.com. Here are a few faq's about it
Q: What is the highest Page Rank you can get?
A: PageRank is from 0 - 10, with 10 being the highest number awarded
Q: What Is a PageRank?
A: PageRank is a numerical value which represents the popularity of a website. This is status given to websites by www.google.com
Q: How is PageRank Used?
A: PageRank is one of the methods Google uses to determine a page's relevance or importance.
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