Scott Lindsay's Articles in Website Promotion

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Web Marketing And The Potential In A Multi-Site Design The concept of web development may include more than a singular ecommerce website. I have talked about the subject of web development in light of positively constructing a website. I’ve also talked about the mentality needed to envision the entire site prior to launch so you have some idea of where you want to go. The goal also included the need for a plan for growth and site expansion. This article looks at the subject from the point of view of a corporate office with ... Traffic Building And Finished Home Work One of the quickest ways to drive traffic to your site is to key in on a hot topic. If you have a site dedicated to why butter melts on summer days and then you place a series of supporting articles on your site you may not wind up with as much traffic as you’d like. This may be due to the fact that this is an issue most people don’t really think about much – or perhaps they’ve already learned the secret. However key in on a controversial topic like the death penalty or ha... Site Promotion Tools – Fifteen-Minute Fame A recent statistic indicates that nearly 25% of Americans as well as Canadians have been either directly or indirectly captured on film for use on television. Generally this is the result of local television news coverage, but it could also be because of television game shows, talk shows, reality TV or other audience driven programs. Any Warhol once said, "In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes." The Internet makes that more possible than ever. A funny v... Web Branding And The Cashew Apple South America and India are prime growing locations for the cashew apple. Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of the cashew apple? Perhaps that’s understandable because in colder climates we never get to taste the succulent fruit, but we are accustomed to the center ‘meat’ that is processed and delivered to our stores in the form of cashews. In India they make candied cashew apples and remove the fibrous center and throw it away (the center nut is what most of the world enjoy... Site Promotion Is Business Promotion Go to virtually any trade show and you are likely to find all the pens, yardsticks, key chains, cups, plastic bags, Frisbee, magnet and handheld fans you will ever need. You might even find the stray lanyard, dog collar or walking stick. Each items is prepared especially to present the booth visitor with an impression of a specific business utilizing either an item visitors will likely use regularly or may be unique enough to remain memorable long after the event has concl... Site Promotion Tools – Who’s Your Customer? Site promotion tools can be enhanced when you pay attention to the many details associated with knowing your target demographic. A demographic is a specific age range and even economic range the primary individual will likely be who may use your product or service. Radio stations will target a specific age group. They may even target a specific gender. These media outlets attempt to learn as much about their audience as they possibly can. One group even refers to their ... Web Branding – Does It Really Work? Not everyone is as convinced that web branding is as important as I believe it to be. The opposition to the idea is that to some web branding feels like some intangible function that can neither be quantified nor explained. Some business owners believe web branding is a simple matter of pasting a logo and positioning statement on a website and related promotional items. For others it is some ethereal method of bringing consumers to your website. In my experience the not... Site Promotion Tools – The Epitome Of Self-Marketing One of the more intriguing ideas in site promotion is to develop a secondary website that is essentially designed to provide a no cost service to customers. Some sites I have visited recently are geared almost exclusively to meeting the needs of site visitors. The site owners may not even have the personal expertise to meet the needs, but they have worked to develop a community of individuals who can. In this scenario a site owner could develop, let’s say, a community o... Site Promotion Cyber Or Traditional? If you’ve ever attended a trade show then you know you will be bombarded with freebie promotion items. Sure there are the popular items such as promotional pens, key chains and note pads, but you will likely encounter unique items such as private label bottled water, customized battery operated fans, water globes, bobble head dolls, envelope openers, mouse pads and Ethernet retractable cable complete with company logo. The above is just a small sample of the laundry lists ... Site Promotion Tools – Never Stop Learning Site promotion for your online business is something that takes on a life of its own. Site promotion is not relegated to one specific site promotion tool. If you find one tool that seems to work for you it may not be long before it is not as effective as it once was. The best answer to which site promotion tool to use is – all of them. Try not to settle simply for whatever Site Promotion tools you already know. This can be an easy habit to fall into, but it is rarely b... Site Promotion Tools – How Many Sites Do You Need? Site promotion tools are an important element in making sure you give online users the greatest opportunity to visit your website. It is likely you have infused your site with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies, and you have included site link information in any forum posts and blogs. You might have gone so far as to develop Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. You are relatively comfortable with the conversion rate based on site visitation. You may even believe you’ve d... Site Promotion Tools – A New Visual Experience A great way to advance your strategies in site promotion is through the use of visual arts. Often this is accomplished through video, but it can be done with photography to great effect. Following the Greensburg, Kansas tornado in the spring of 2007 a radio station known for their audio presence took their new web site design and demonstrated that a visual presence could be an effective means of enhancing the experience for online visitors. Two different photo slide sho... Traffic Building – Click A Friend Being a smart online business owner you have worked hard to make sure your site is search engine friendly, attractive to customers and is easy to navigate. You’ve also made sure there is some semblance of clean white space so your site doesn’t come across as too busy. In fact you are happy with the way your site is being received. You’ve been working at traffic building and all statistics indicate traffic has increased. You’ve provided freebies for your visitors that sign ... Traffic Building – Cyber Foot Traffic Have you ever seen those television commercials that are essentially mini-movies? They can’t play the entire production so they cut it off at a cliffhanger and display a computer graphic with a web site name and an encouragement to come by and see what happens next. The curious will visit. Children’s toys and cereals will also include website information in their television ads encouraging kids to drop by and discover a whole world of fun waiting for them. Even fishing... Site Promotion Tools – Is The Cart Before The Horse? Have you ever wondered why it is important to submit your website information to directories? It’s a valid question. After all, if a search engine will eventually crawl your website isn’t it enough to simply make sure the site is infused with beneficial Search Engine Optimization (SEO) procedures while avoiding potentially time consuming directory submissions? If you have used comprehensive optimization strategies, but have failed to submit to web directories I’d like the ... Site Promotion Tools – Click Responsibly You’ve heard the old adage, “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”. The premise is if you help me then I will return the favor and help you. This is the notion behind “Click Exchange” programs available on the net. Many online businesses see Click Exchange as a viable alternative to paid advertising. If Click Exchange works they may not need to alter their Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies either. What is Click Exchange? The selling point of Click Exc... Rss – Taking It To The People If you are business blogging (b-blogging) you are likely finding Real Simple Syndication (RSS) an informational bonus for you in developing knowledge-based content for your blog or website. In reality you have participated in the successful marketing of someone else’s blog. Obviously this is good news for the blog you are gleaning information from, but it can also be a positive lesson for you as well. Let’s follow this line of thinking to its logical conclusion. 1) ... Autoresponders: Coming Back For More There was a time when having an autoresponder was a significant perk in ecommerce web design. The early versions of autoresponders would only allow for a one-time auto response. This meant that online business could send a thank you note, catalogue or an ‘about us’ email, but that would be the extent of the auto response messages the system could send. The business owner could only make the choice of one item to send to all customers. If the owner changed what was sent it was... Site Promotion Tools: What’s In Your Toolbox? The wonderful world of site promotion tools is really about learning skills and either adapting them to your need or adapting you thinking to adequately utilize the tools available. As with the toolbox out in the garage you have many tools and not all of them are used for the same purpose. For example you wouldn’t use a crescent wrench as a screwdriver and you wouldn’t use a hammer as wire cutters. Some site promotion tools can be adapted for use while others may have a... Site Promotion Tools: Behind The Scenes Did you know that you can learn a lot from your competitors? I know you are thinking that’s a lousy way to begin an article. Of course you can learn from your competitor, right? This means being able to observe their website, see what products and services they are offering and even check on their prices. You can view the layout and design features – so OF COURSE you can learn from your competitors. However, there is an element of observation you may have never considered... Site Promotion Tools: Coming Soon Means Hasta La Vista One of the best site promotion tools is to promote your site only when you have it fully online. This advice may seem like a no brainer, however you can find plenty of sites that list one or more pages as “Coming Soon” or “Under Construction”. It is estimated that websites have about three seconds to convince web users to stick around. If a consumer hits a page (no matter how cute you create it) that advises them to come back later the effect will be something akin to sho... Web Branding: Integrity Exposure Ask twelve different marketing experts about web branding and you will likely receive twelve different answers. What may be most unusual is the fact that all of them could be right. Web branding is a way of presenting a face to your customers. Web branding draws from the heart of what you are doing as a business, why you are doing it, whom you are doing it for and how you intend to do it. Web branding may include a logo and positioning statement. These items will be vi... Site Promotion Tools: Niche Knowledge Do you have a website that has spurred numerous knowledge-based content on a very specific subject? Did you know that the use of your old knowledge-based content can be used to promote your website in a new way? There are numerous site promotion tools at your disposal; however there may be one that can be successful in converting knowledge seekers into viable prospects. As you continue to develop new material for your website, the old content is often relegated to a cyb... Site Promotion And Social Networking There was bound to be a mechanism the blended so many site promotion tools into one package and now it’s here. The advent of sites like myspace has allowed the blending of blogs with forums and instant messaging mechanisms that take a more comprehensive approach to site promotion. Understandably there have been some concerns about a social network system like this, but the premise provides an unusually strong sense of community and provides so many tools in one conformable... Site Promotion: Wheel Reinvention Not Required The delivery of relevant information is an important key to the success of any website. However, if you are an netrepreneur and you have come to terms with your inability to develop new content for your website there are a couple of options you should consider. 1) Freelance Writers You can work with an existing writer in developing content for your website that enhances the quality of the overall site and works to improve your site rankings with the various search engin... Site Promotion: Experts Welcome The use of newsgroups or specific forums may have benefit to site promotion. While it may seem that you are wasting time by interacting with people who may never visit your website, the truth is the expertise you can provide is generally welcome by many forum owners and visitors. By helping other forum members gain clarity on the use of a product or service you effectively become an ambassador for the product you carry. I can almost hear you asking, “How does this bene... Site Promotion: Three Primary Targets When you are seeking to get the word out about your online business there is more than one direction you should consider when developing a plan for site promotion. By accepting only one approach to site promotion you will likely find that there your prospect growth remains stagnant. When these three broad applications are followed you have covered the primary means of site promotion. 1) Online Promotion * Pay Per Click (PPC) * Press Releases * Free-to-use Articles ... Ecommerce: I Second That Emotional Connection “We are much more emotionally attached to products for which we feel some involvement. So true personalization and customization makes a real difference.” – Donald Norman (author) There is a psychology to the products we use most. In truth, there may likely be a product that is less expensive and equal in many primary ways. However, the use of a product has certain emotional ties that link the product with a particular response. We may not be able to articulate why the pro... Using RSS: When It’s Ok To Keep Up With The Jonses “Peer pressure has many redeeming qualities. It is the pressure of our peers, after all, that gives us the support to try things we otherwise wouldn't have.” - Bill Treasurer Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds have a feeling of being en vogue. You know, the type of feeling that has you jumping into the river just because your friends are. The kind of thing your mother warned you about. The truth is RSS feeds are sweeping the Internet community, but for reasons far gr... RSS: 101 You don't have to look far to find the initials RSS on many of your favorite websites. Maybe you see the term "RSS Feed" and wonder if this is a special agricultural product for livestock or possibly something you'd purchase at an electronics shop. The initials RSS actually stand for ‘Really Simply Syndication’. Some in the technical field also use the initials to correlate with ‘Rich Site Summary’ or ‘RDF Site Summary’. No matter what you call it, RSS is a means of red... RSS Integration: Personalized Online Marketing As with most online marketing strategies there is a link between the various facets of marketing. For example there is a compatibility link between a business blog (b-blog) and a forum board. There is also a link between a b-blog and a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed. Allow customers to decide what is most important. By using an RSS feed in conjunction with your b-blog you are extending a courtesy to your valued customers. They can choose to be ‘fed’ blog entries t... Blogs And Forums: A Two-Pronged Approach When discussing online marketing there is the inevitable comparison between a Business Blog (b-blog) and an online forum. The feeling is that the two serve essentially the same purpose and it is a simple matter of defining which approach may be best for your company. The comparison between these two approaches is something like comparing apples and oranges. They are both fruit, but that’s about the sum total of their similarities. B-Blogs A b-blog is designed to allo... B-Blogs: A Business Prerequisite “How does business change when everyone is a potential publisher? A vast new stretch of the information world opens up.” – Stephen Baker and Heather Green As a Business Blogger (b-blogger) you do not need to reinvent the wheel and you don’t even need to be an especially gifted writer. Simple software solutions are available to allow you to blog with confidence even if you feel technologically challenged. Link and Click One of the principal benefits of blogging is you... Blogging: Effective Marketing Weblogs, or “blogs” were introduced in 1997. As with most new technology the initial users of blogs were those gifted in the field of technology. The growth of blogging began as the user interface became more simplified requiring no knowledge of HTML or other specialized coding. Today blogging is used for personal as well as business applications. In the domain of business blogging (B-Blogging) many businesses are seeing the value of a b-blog and are allowing key person... B-Blogs And Customer Connectivity Do you have a business blog? Do you have a goal in mind for what you’d like to accomplish with your blog? Do you have topics you won’t discuss in your blog? Sometimes referred to as b-blogs, a business weblog can be a vital link to existing customers and prospective clients. Many of the best b-blogs provide visitors with a look at the… 1. Company represented. 2. Individual heading that company. 3. News that affects the company and its customers. 4. Links that may ... Boost Traffic With Linking Strategies Optimizing your website for high ranking on the SERP is a step by step process. Great content, SEO optimized pages and an amazing website layout are not enough to bring traffic. Being on the Web means being a part of the Web and not an isolated entity. Google places no importance on solitary websites. To get Google’s attention and increase traffic, you need solid linking strategies. However, it is not only Google you should consider when you collect links. All other search en... Keyword Density Keywords… always keywords! It’s amazing how much of a headache they can be. You spend hours and hours researching, planning, making lists, and calculating keyword density, for what? To be successful online, to reach those high SERPs all webmasters and online entrepreneurs dream about: to be number one. You are ready to pay the price; you are ready to choose a company that promises you top ten results guaranteed. Guess what? There are no warranties; there is no keyword secr... Web Branding Matters – Part Two Brands grow in time. They appear over night but they can die as fast if you fail to address at least four of the crucial aspects of the branding process: 1. You need to understand your clients, their needs and the market. When you write about your products don’t write something like “buy this product because it is good”. Write “this product is good because…” and start naming its features. And ask yourself: is this product really necessary? 2. Reinforce your brand with o... Web Branding Matters – Part One There is a new concept in branding: online branding. If you want to know exactly what that means, you only have to take the traditional definitions of branding and adapt them to the Web. Then you’ll get a simple definition: online branding makes your visitors believe that you are the only answer to their problems. Every business has a brand; so don’t go around saying “I don’t need a brand”. You have a business, the business has a name, and you’ve created a website, so… wel... Use Forums To Generate Traffic There are plenty free tools you could employ to generate more traffic to your website. While the novice at Internet marketing will use traffic exchange sites or buy traffic, the experts will advise you not to opt for such methods. You’ll hear from many SEO advisors: write articles, blog, post in forums. I suppose it’s clear how writing articles and blogging can help: you target a specific audience with high interest topics. People are going to read your articles and blog p... A Guide To Website Promotion – Part Three Let’s take a look at what you’ve learned so far: search engine strategies, building links, and promoting your website through traditional media and emails. While search engines, emails and linking strategies are usually free, traditional media needs a special budget. If you have a good budget for website promotion, here are some online strategies you might want to consider: 5. Online Paid Advertising Strategies If you want your online business to bring you rapid results... Using eBooks To Boost Traffic And Sales Ebooks are among the most versatile marketing instruments on the Internet and the best part about them is that they can be used to promote: your business, your knowledge, your products, and your website. You could give them away for free or you could sell them on your website, or through affiliates. Ebooks are cheap to produce, easy to advertise and could, in return, transform you into a genuine “guru” of your area of expertise. As with any online business, first thing you... Site Promotion Tools: The Press Release One of the most powerful site promotion tools is the press release. A quality press release submitted to the right news distribution portal will definitely bring important revenue if its content is of interest, qualitative and actual (yes, that’s what press releases are for!). News distribution portals and services are used by thousands of journalists all around the world. If your press release has it all, you’ll probably see it published in thousands of other locations: o... A Guide To Website Promotion – Part Two Now that you are familiar with the most important search engines and linking strategies, you should not ignore other promotion tools that will enhance your website promotion efforts. 3. Traditional Media Strategies Website promotion should be a mix of online and offline strategies. Traditional media tools apply successfully to increase traffic and get more visitors. Promote your website URL on business cards, stationery and company documents. Don’t ignore the impo... A Guide To Website Promotion – Part One A great deal has been written about website promotion, yet many businesses fail in attaining visible results: increasing traffic, getting more clients and so on. Why? Because many online entrepreneurs do not exploit the proper website promotion tools at their fullest. Here is a list of website promotion strategies you need to consider if you want a successful online business. 1. Search Engines Strategies Probably the most important website promotion strategy is to ra... Writing Promotional Articles-free Advertising? Out of the various ways to promote your website, there is one that simply does not fail, does not cost a fortune and brings remarkable results: website promotion through articles. While writing and submitting information is not such a big deal, writing articles that will really promote your website implies certain skills. You shouldn’t despair if you are not an experienced journalist or writer. If you follow some simple criteria you cannot fail. You’d probably expect that ... Site Promotion Through Web Awards Website promotion is not an easy task, because thousands of new websites are created each day, each of them striving for a position in the first search engine results, some using ethical techniques, others try to fool the search engines. If you want to achieve a top 20 position you have to compete against spam content sites, black hat SEO sites, made for Adsense sites and powerful websites created by the most skilled web developers. The good news is that are not so many we... SEO – Best Linking Strategies Linking is not such a simple process. While there are still many webmasters and SEO experts implying that the more links pointing to your site, the higher rankings in Google and other search engines, this is not entirely true. It doesn’t really matter how many links you have, if they are not valuable links. What determines the value of a link? The value of a link to your site is given by the value of the website pointing at it. For example, if you have a link on an industr... Blogging – Pros And Cons The “blogging revolution”… how many times have you heard that? I’d call it the “blogging invasion”. It seems that any one, no matter how novice to the Internet, can master a blog: there’s no need to know HTML and it’s free. These are the first “pros”. But are they really “pros”? Let’s see: if any one can master a blog, it means any one can have a blog and write whatever he or she has in mind: a dream, a recipe, a funny story about a cat, a poem, a diary, a sleazy comment a... Website Basics - Factors Influencing Your Website's Success An online presence is very important for any type of business: it's probably the most cost-effective type of advertising available today. Numerous small firms use the web to sell their products and services while many companies don't really see the web as a marketplace (yet they do have a website that plays the role of an "online business card"). No matter what you want to do, inform your clients or sell products online, you need to know a few "website basics" in order to be ...