how-to: promote your website ...on the cheap
Post on 21-Oct-2014
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Are you looking for ways to market your small business website with a limited budget? Whether it’s with established sites such as Google and Facebook, or newer outlets like Pinterest, there are plenty of options available to promote your site. Join us for a discussion on finding the best options for your website.TRANSCRIPT
HOW-TO: PROMOTE YOUR WEBSITE
...ON THE CHEAPA Little Elbow Grease Goes a Long Way
+Chris Mohritz | [email protected]
OUR JOURNEY
● Being measurable● Being useful● Being trustworthy● Being search-friendly● Attracting existing traffic
Interupt me anytime for questions & comments
CONTEXT
Two options for developing web traffic:● Buy it, or● Earn it *
Two options for earning it:● Create it from scratch, or● Capture it from an existing source *
* - today’s focus
BE MEASURABLEAlways Follow the Data
WHY ITS IMPORTANT
● "What's measured improves" ~Peter Drucker
● And the entire purpose we’re here is to improve website traffic, so let’s measure it
GOOGLE ANALYTICS
● Every website needs a traffic analysis tool● google.com/analytics
○ How many visitors?○ What pages are most popular?○ What’s the bounce rate?
GOOGLE WEBMASTERS
● Gain a little more insight into how Google views your website
● google.com/webmasters ○ What problems does Google see with your site?○ What real-life keywords/searches are you showing
up for?○ Which searches are you getting clicks for?○ Has your site received a ranking penalty?○ Requesting a penalty review
EMAIL LIST
● Every website needs a method for visitors to be proactively notified of updates ...if they wish it
● mailchimp.com ○ How many opt-ins? (i.e. how many people find
your information valuable and want more?)
BE USEFULIts Just Good Business
WHY ITS IMPORTANT
● Most paper brochures end up in the trash● So let's not create a brochure website
BECOMING A “GO-TO” RESOURCE
● Make the effort to understand your prospects (wants, needs, problems)
● Then do or create something to make your prospect's life better (what can you make easier, simpler, faster for them?)
● Put it on your website
THE AGE OF CONTEXT
● Content may still be king, but its useless out of context
● Focus on best possible visitor experience (give Google what they want ...this)
● Create multiple website entry points (search term-specific “home” pages)
BE TRUSTWORTHYDon’t Look (or Act) Like Spam
WHY ITS IMPORTANT
● On the Internet, you’re assumed spam until proven otherwise
GOOGLE AUTHORSHIP
● Its all about weeding out spam● Show Google you are a real person (not
spam)● Show Google your content is from a real
person (not spam)● Link your Google+ Profile (rel=”author”)● Link your business’s Google+ Page (rel=”
publisher”)● google.
com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets
GOOGLE+ LOCAL LISTING
● Verify it● Fill it out completely (video, photos, etc.)● Find it here: plus.google.com/local
BUSINESS DIRECTORY PROFILES
● Create accounts● Fill them out completely and consistently
(citations ~= backlinks)● blog.hubspot.
com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/10322/The-Ultimate-List-50-Local-Business-Directories.aspx
SOCIAL NETWORK PROFILES
● Create accounts● Fill out completely (logo, photos, seed
content, etc.)● Minimum:
○ Pinterest (business account)○ Google+ Page○ Twitter○ Facebook Page○ Extra credit: Linkedin Company Page
PRIVACY POLICY
● Every website needs one● google.com/search?
q=privacy+policy+generator
BE SEARCH-FRIENDLYHelp Them Help You
WHY ITS IMPORTANT
● Despite what they may think, search engines are terrible at guessing
● So don’t leave this massive source of free traffic to chance
● Very succinctly tell Google what your site is about - the other search engines will follow
UNIVERSAL SEARCH
● Google/Bing/Yahoo● Global SEO● For every page you want search engine
traffic to, think of it as a discrete entry point - build it as a parallel home page
VIDEO SEARCH
● YouTube.com is #2 (1?) search engine - take advantage!
● wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/03/13/explainer-videos
MAP SEARCH (LOCAL BUSINESSES)
● Google+ Local/Bing Local/Yahoo Local● Local SEO● Tons of tips: blumenthals.com/blog● Must have a mobile-friendly site● If responsive, don’t block Googlebot’s
access to javascript & stylesheets (i.e. don’t robots.txt deny /js & /css folders)
KEYWORDS
● spyfu.com● adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner ● Keywords can define website page
structure (category landers, subcategories, etc.)
● Keywords should define meta tags for all pages you want search traffic to (title, description, etc.) - different from actual product name
CONTENT STRUCTURE
● Fix what Traffic Travis says is wrong with your pages (traffictravis.com)
● Go deeper: searchengineland.com/2014-seo-playbook-on-page-factors-178546
ATTRACT EXISTING TRAFFIC
Its So Much Easier
WHY ITS IMPORTANT
● Trying to create your own traffic (aka blogging) is too expensive and time consuming on this noisy Internet
GUEST BLOGGING
● A must if you’re serious about web traffic● Find blogs related to your market and
offer articles (published under your name)● Search Google: “your niche blog”● How can you make the blog owner look
like a hero to their readership?● Try to link Google Authorship if possible
(depends on the publishing blog)● about.com ● answers.com
NICHE-SPECIFIC FORUMS
● Find them on Google: “your niche forum”● Create a forum account● Engage in conversation, don’t sell● Answer questions● Ask questions ● quora.com ● Movies related to your market?
○ imdb.com/boards ● Other products related to your market?
○ Amazon Customer Discussions
HELP A JOURNALIST
● Monitor helpareporter.com● Respond where appropriate
COUPON CODES
● Create a checkout coupon and submit it to:
● retailmenot.com● coupons.com ● mycoupons.com● etc.
PRESS RELEASES
● They still work (and always will)● Cheapo writers: fiverr.com ● Free distribution: prlog.com ● When budget allows, have them
professionally written and distributed (prweb.com)
● Use with coupon codes if applicable
SUMMARY
● Look like a real person and a real business● Create a website that’s really helpful to
your target audience● Help the search engines understand your
web pages● Spread the word (what your site can help
them with)
KEEP GOING (YOU’RE A ROCKSTAR)
● 30 Free Ways (searchenginewatch.com/article/2048588/30-Free-Ways-To-Market-Your-Small-Business-Site)
● 10 Proven Ways (forbes.com/sites/ilyapozin/2012/04/11/10-proven-ways-to-market-your-website)
● Paid ads (Facebook, Bing, etc.)● Retargeting● Google PPC if you’re drowning in cash
