Promoting Your Online Store Offline

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Anthony

There are many different ways of promoting your website and online store on the internet, but what about promoting your store offline?  Some of your most loyal customers may not even know you have a website even though they’re in your brick and mortar store every week.  Letting them know you have a website gives them the chance to browse your inventory online, and you may find they buy more once they are able to shop your website.

Here are a few different ways you can promote your website offline.

  • Put your website address on your receipts.  There are many different cash registers that can be programmed to print out custom receipts that include your business name and web address.
  • However, if you don’t have one of these registers and don’t want to pay for one, you can print your web address on a business card and give one out to each customer.  You can also put a small stack of them by the check out.  You might want to ask each customer if he or she knows about your website so you don’t waste cards by giving multiples to the same person.
  • Put your website on any flyers or coupons you hand out.
  • Include your website on your official business cards and on your signs.  You might even want to put it on your front door using static cling letters.
  • Give away promotional items with your website address on them.  These items might include things like pens, pencils, or notepads.  One pen could be passed around or seen by a dozen people or more.
  • Make partnerships with other businesses that aren’t in direct competition with you.  For example, if you know someone who runs a restaurant while you run a hardware store, offer to trade some of your business cards or promotional items for theirs.  This is the offline equivalent of link sharing, and it works.
  • If you’re a new business or are just launching your website, paying for an ad in the local paper may be a good use of money.  You might not want to do this all the time, depending on the cost.
  • Get a magnetic sign made up that includes your web address and attach it to the side of your car.  You’ll become a mobile billboard!  This has become much more effective since smart phones became so popular.  People can look up your website right away instead of waiting until the get home (if they remember when they get home).
  • Finally, despite all of the advances in technology and all the new marketing tools, word of mouth still remains one of the absolute best ways of getting your business name and your website out there.  Tell someone about your website, and if they love your business, they’re likely to tell others.  This really is the best way of getting the word out that your business is now online.

Of course, if you really want to get your website out there, you’ll want to combine at least three of these methods.

Articles and posts written on the ImpliWeb official company blog represent those of the author and not those of ImpliWeb Limited.

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Spamming Verses Promoting

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Anthony

Last week, we talked about promoting your website using articles and how to do this without outdated keyword stuffing techniques and other unscrupulous methods.  We thought we’d take that discussion one step further and look at spamming verses promoting.  There are a lot of different ways to get your website and your company name out there, but some of them cross the line into out and out spamming.

Why not spam?  After all, if you can get your name out there in over 100 places in ten minutes using spamming techniques, why not do that?  There are several reasons.  First, it rarely works.  You may be able to spam your web address, but most people recognise spammers and won’t visit their site.  Spammed comments on blogs, for example, almost never have anything to do with the blog.  People will ignore them, and the blog owner will most likely delete them (or simply not approve them if the comments are moderated).

Promoting using comments or message boards needs to be done very, very carefully.  You don’t want people to think you’re a spammer.  Once you get that reputation, you’ll see your traffic drop, not increase.  Few people deal with spammers these days, so it’s better to be extra-careful and avoid using any spamming practices.  The risk of being blacklisted is just too great.

So how do you successfully promote your website?  Write carefully, and be personal.  If you’re writing articles like the ones we talked about last week, make them informative.  Don’t fill them with a lot of fluff or useless information, and make certain everything you write is correct.  If you want to put the same information up on different article sites, rewrite the article.  Don’t publish the same one 100 times.  Not only will readers eventually find the duplicates and realise you’re spamming, but also many of these article sites ask for exclusive articles.  They will delete your account if they find you’ve posted the same article over and over.

If you’re commenting on blogs as a way of promoting your website, be sure to actually read the blog post and write a comment related to it.  Of course, you should really be focusing on blogs that are related to your industry anyway, so chances are, you’ll be interested in the blog you’re reading.  You can post a knowledgeable comment that establishes that you do know about the subject.  This will substantially increase the chances that readers will visit your site.  If you’re commenting on a blog that isn’t related to your business, you may still get some hits.  Just be sure your comment is on topic.

Message board posts are the same.  While message boards don’t seem to be as popular as they once were, they still get a good amount of traffic.  Make your posts intelligent, well-written, and on topic.  While you’re posting just to get your link out there, you don’t want people to think that.  This means you’re going to have to put some work into your posts.  Yes, you’re doing marketing, but you also need to participate in the discussion and the community.  If this means putting a little more time into your posting, don’t stress over it.  It’s worth it to legitimately promote your site and not spam.

Articles and posts written on the ImpliWeb official company blog represent those of the author and not those of ImpliWeb Limited.

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Promoting Your Business Online via Articles

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Anthony

When search engines first started crawling the web and indexing pages, one of the main things they analyzed was the articles and text on your site.  A site that more frequently discussed a topic was ranked higher than a site that only mentioned that topic once or twice.  Of course, website developers quickly realized that all they had to do was use keywords a lot on a site to get it on the first page of search results, and the practice of “keyword stuffing” became common.  Today, Google and other search engines are much smarter, and keyword stuffing actually gets a page ranked lower.

However, just because keyword rich articles no longer have the power they once did does not mean an online business should discount them completely.  In fact, there are a number of ways to use online articles to draw business to your site.

DO continue to use keywords and keyword phrases on your website itself.  Just don’t go overboard.  The main thing to remember is that you’re no longer writing for a search robot.  Instead, you want to write helpful text for any live person who is visiting your site.  Keywords should flow naturally in the text and not stand out or make reading awkward.  If you’re discussing a process, a product, or a person, it will be easy enough to use the name of your subject in the text several times.  It can be more difficult if you want to use a phrase like “flower delivery in Wembley, West London.”  It’s going to stick out if you use it more than a few times, especially in a short article.

DON’T use keywords that can’t be used naturally.  You might look at your site statistics and see that someone reached it by using the search phrase “red flowers Wembley free delivery.”  While you can certainly use a few of those words as keywords, the entire phrase as-is just can’t be used in any way that doesn’t call attention to itself.

DO write articles and post them on other websites.  These sites can include your own blog, article sites, and even reviews and Wikipedia articles.  Some of these sites have strict policies about keyword stuffing and promoting, however, so be sure you write articles that met these guidelines.  Articles posted to your own blog can obviously be focused more on promotions.  Be sure to include links to your site in your post.  If you can’t work one in, it’s ok to add the link at the very bottom of the blog article.

Articles posted on other sites should be well-written and designed to entertain or inform readers.  On many sites, the article itself cannot have any links it in, but you can include a resource box or an “about the author” box that does feature a link.  Remember to avoid keyword stuffing and to be as informative as you can.  Articles that aren’t helpful to the reader will often be removed by site moderators.

It sounds like a lot of work to put articles on these sites.  Do they really help?  Yes, they do, especially if you have articles on a wide variety of sites.  People do actually search article sites for help on certain topics, or they might see your article mentioned on a related article and go read it.  Anything that gets your name and, especially, your website out there has the potential to bring in more customers.

Articles and posts written on the ImpliWeb official company blog represent those of the author and not those of ImpliWeb Limited.

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Do You Need a Company Website?

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Anthony

You might think that’s a silly question.  Doesn’t everyone need a website these days?  After all, so much is done online that it seems ridiculous not to have some sort of online presence.  However, the internet has changed in just the last five years, and now the term “online presence” doesn’t automatically equal website.

Many businesses have found that using social media sites like FaceBook and Twitter are much more important than having a traditional website.  These social sites allow business owners and employees to interact with their customers in what is almost an informal setting.  Websites, on the other hand, do not allow for much interaction.  Yes, you can have a message board or a blog that users comment on, but how often do your customers actually post?

When it comes to FaceBook and Twitter, however, people are on them all the time.  They’re not only there to connect with your business but with their friends, family, and other businesses that they’re interested in.  They can quickly and easily see what you’ve posted and respond to it if they choose.  It’s beneficial for you, too, because your promotions are almost instantly seen.

But back to the topic at hand—do you need a company website?  Answer the following questions to see if the answer is yes.

  • Do you need to interact with your customers?  As mentioned above, websites aren’t necessarily the best way of doing this.  If yes, you may want to focus on social media instead (and definitely use it in addition to your website).
  • Will you sell products online?  If yes, then you certainly want a website.  You’ll want to go a step further and make certain whoever puts your site together knows how to implement a shopping cart system and high security.  This is vital if you will be dealing with customers’ personal information and credit card numbers.
  • Will you post daily or weekly specials?  If yes, a website can work for you, but you’ll want one that is set up to easily post new information.  Again, social media may be a better way of getting your specials out to your customers.
  • Will your information change often?  Websites are, traditionally, a more static medium than social media and are better for information that won’t change often.  That’s not to say that websites can’t change daily—today, that’s very much the case.  However, people are more likely to find your information if it’s on a website instead of a social media site, so if you won’t be updated or changing your online content often, a website may work better for you.
  • Do you have the time to put into social media?  With websites, the main time sink is usually building the initial site.  Once that’s done, the maintenance phase usually isn’t so bad—just update what needs to be changed daily, weekly, or monthly as needed.  However, for social media marketing to truly be effective, you need to be posting something at least once every few days.  It doesn’t always have to be promotions.  You can post funny links or even comment back on what your customers have said.  However, you need to be doing something.  It can take a lot of time, so if you can’t commit to keeping up with it, you may want to go with a website.

Articles and posts written on the ImpliWeb official company blog represent those of the author and not those of ImpliWeb Limited.

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How to Use Reddit to Promote Your Online Business

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Anthony

Reddit has become one of the most popular destinations on the web – fans call it the ‘front page’ of the internet. This site allows people to submit a link. This content is then commented on by members. Reddit is made up of thousands of subreddits that cover every conceivable subject; each of these subreddits will have a loyal following of subscribers. If a link proves to be popular it can potentially be read by millions of people; this is a wonderful opportunity for anyone hoping to draw attention to their business.

How to Use Reddit to Promote Your Online Business

Just going onto Reddit and submitting links to your website will not be an effective strategy for getting noticed. The members of this link sharing website are sophisticated and they can spot the hard sell a mile way. In order to promote your business on this website you will need to be subtle. Here are a few ideas for how you can promote your content on Reddit.

  • If you link to an article that appears to be spam or is stuffed with keywords then you will be ignored. It will also harm your attempts to engage with this community in the future. Make sure that you only link to quality content or be prepared to suffer the consequences.
  • If you only post links on Reddit then you will not have much success. You also have to engage with the community by leaving comments on other links. By doing this you will accumulate ‘comment karma’ and this will make it easier to pick up ‘link karma’. It is suggested that you leave at least 10 comments for every link you submit.
  • When leaving comments try to say something meaningful and unique. Saying something controversial can be effective, but it will mean that you will probably make enemies. If you always just say nice things then you will probably be ignored – unfortunately the squeaky wheel tends to get the oil.
  • If you want your articles to be taken seriously on Reddit they will need to be professionally written. They will also need to be a lot more than cut and paste of information already available all over the web. The article that is most likely to do well on Reddit will involve personal opinions and controversial statements.
  • It is usually not a good idea to link directly to an article about your products. It is best to link to something more interesting on your site and then hope that visitor will explore what you have to offer. The more interesting your link the more likely they are to do this.
  • Don’t keep linking back to your own website. You should only do this occasionally; mixed in with plenty of other useful links to content elsewhere on the web.
  • If it becomes obvious that your main reason for being on Reddit is that you want to promote yourself it will mean that you can expect to fail.

Articles and posts written on the ImpliWeb official company blog represent those of the author and not those of ImpliWeb Limited.

 

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How to Make a Profit for Your Small Business with January Sales

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Anthony

January is a good time to promote your business. This has traditionally become a time of year when people are looking for a bargain. These people know that many suppliers of goods and services will offer good deals at this time of year so it makes sense to do some shopping. If you are a savvy small business owner then you will want to make the most of this opportunity. In this article we will be examining some of the ways that you can make a profit for your small business in the January sales.

Tips for Making Profit for Your Small Business in the January Sales

Here are a few of the ways that you can make profit for your small business in the January sales:

  • For the January sales you can offer a stripped down version of your products or services for a special sale price. This basic package will attract people to investigate what you offer and many of them will ultimately decide to go with the full package any way; especially if you make it possible for them to upgrade. This is one way that you can benefit from the January sales without really discounting the cost of your goods; in fact you could almost end up making more money per unit if you go about it the right way.
  • In order to benefit from the sale fever in January you need to let people know what is going on. This means promoting your business on the web or in the real world. It is best to begin preparing your campaign now so that you are ready to that you can begin attracting people by the end of December.
  • You do not have to spend a lot of money advertising your product. A low-budget advertising campaign can be highly effective if you know how to use social media. For example if you were to create a funny YouTube video this could go viral and attract a lot of people to your website. You can also use Twitter and FaceBook to promote your offerings.
  • If people do not know you have a special offer for January it is unlikely to benefit your website. You need to mention the offer on your landing page; ideally it should be impossible to miss. Don’t be afraid to put huge January sale signs all over your site even if you only have one special offer.

Articles and posts written on the ImpliWeb official company blog represent those of the author and not those of ImpliWeb Limited.

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How to Get Your Small Business Noticed in the New Year

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Anthony

The New Year is always a good time to evaluate your business and make changes. That way come January you will be ready to make a fresh start. If things have not been going as well as you might have liked then you will benefit from taking a new approach in 2012. In this article we will be discussing some of the ways you can get your small business noticed in the New Year.

How to Get Your Small Business Noticed in the New Year

Here are just some of the things you can do to get your small business noticed in the New Year:

  • If you do not have a website for your business then you will want to rectify that situation right away. Having your own website is no longer just a great way to promote your goods in services; it is something that your customers will expect you to have. If you do not have your own site it will make you look a bit old-fashioned and amateurish; you will certainly be losing money because of it.
  • Having a website is one thing, but in order to really promote your business you will need to make it work for you. The most usual way of doing this is to keep on adding fresh and interesting content. It doesn’t really matter what you put on your site so long as it is going to be of value to your customers. It is no longer effective to just create an online site promoting your business and leave it at that; you have to be always adding new content or it will die.
  • If you are not comfortable with writing regular content and adding it to your site then it is worth paying somebody else to do it. The days of just adding any old junk to your site is gone; it is worth paying more for professional online writers.
  • YouTube videos are another hugely effective way to promote your goods and service. More and more people are now going directly to video searches when they want to find out more about a business. If you have no video promoting your business then you will miss a chance to connect with these individuals. You do not have to spend a lot of money no video; all you need is something that is entertaining and gives your business a bit of a personality.
  • Social media is another promotional avenue that you will want to make the most of. The thing to realise when using social media sites like Twitter and Facebook is that it is all about connecting with people on a personal. If you just use this purely as a means to promote your products it will be hard to get much response; you will be viewed as a bit of a spammer and so most other people online will just ignore you. Try to make friends with people online and treat them like humans.

Articles and posts written on the ImpliWeb official company blog represent those of the author and not those of ImpliWeb Limited.

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How to Draw Attention to Your Online Business over the Christmas Holidays

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Anthony

Christmas is the one time of year when almost everyone becomes willing to spend a bit of extra cash. Almost any type of business can see an upturn in their profits throughout December. This is probably the most important time of the year for you to be promoting your products or services, but it can also be the hardest time for getting noticed. In this article we will be examining a few strategies for how you can draw attention to your online business over the Christmas holidays.

Tips for Making Your Products and Services go Viral over Christmas

If you promote your products and services correctly over the Christmas period there is a chance that they could go viral. It does take a bit of luck as well but you really could find yourself in a position where your cash till is constantly chiming out new sales. Here are a few ideas for how you can make this happen.

  • If you have a blog on your business website then you will certainly want to make use of this over the Christmas holidays. Write a few seasonal posts and add these to your blog every few days. Ideally these should be entertaining and related to Christmas; not just posts where you try to promote your business. If you are not skilled at writing then it may be worth paying a professional to do these posts for you. The great thing about this type of article is that it can attract many new visitors to your website; while they are there they will want to check out what you have to sell.
  • If you do have Christmassy content on your website then you will most certainly want to promote this using social media like Twitter and Facebook. What you do is you link back to your original article. If you are using twitter be sure to add the hash key + “xmas” into your tweet.
  • Another good option is to make a festive video and put this on YouTube. This does not have to be a professional production but it does need to be entertaining in some way; you can look at some of the current popular videos to see what is involved. Most importantly you will want to add a link in the video back to your business website. If you have created something that proves to be topical you could get millions of views; fantastic promotion for your business and you will not have needed to spend any money.
  • People love special offers; especially at this time of the year when they will have so many demands on their finances. This is a good time to have a few special offers on your products. If people feel that they are getting a good deal they will be more likely to buy.
  • You might want to jazz up your website by making it look a bit more festive. You don’t have to go overboard but just adding a few decorations will associate your website with Christmas; this can be a winning strategy and an idea that it is not lost on some of the most successful online businesses.

Articles and posts written on the ImpliWeb official company blog represent those of the author and not those of ImpliWeb Limited.

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How Small Businesses Can Benefit from the Web

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Anthony

No matter what type of small business you own it is almost certain that you will be able to benefit by having some type of web presence. These days most customers who are looking for any type of product or service will automatically begin their search on the internet. This means that if you are not represented online you will be invisible to these people. Unless you have people already queuing up at your door then this is probably not going to be good for your business.

The Benefits of Putting Your Business Online

Here are just some of the benefits you can enjoy by putting your business online:

  • Your current customers will likely expect you to have a website. If you do not offer such a provision then they may judge you to be amateurish or a bit old fashioned. They may even abandon your business because of it.
  • The internet will allow you to connect with a huge audience of potential customers. If you build a successful website you can look forward to thousands of visitors per day and some of these will want to do business with you.
  • A website offers you the chance to showcase what you have to offer. This can be harder to do with customers who just walk in off the street. If you have a well designed website it will show your business in a good light.
  • Social media online lets you really connect with your customers. You can communicate with them in a way that just would not be possible offline. So long as you offer them something of value they will want to connect with you. They may then go on to promote your business for free on your behalf. The amount of potential here is unlimited.
  • The web offers the cheapest options for promoting a business. It will be possible for you to do quite a lot without even spending any money.

How to Promote Your Business Online

Here are a few simple ideas for how you can promote your business online:

  • Probably the easiest way to promote your business online is to use a social media platform like Twitter or Facebook. These are completely free to join and setting up an account is a painless procedure. The only thing to be careful of with social media is that you do not engage in the hard sell; you need to be social and subtle.
  • If you are going to launch your own website then it is worth paying for a professional design; this does not have to cost you too much money. It is also going to look better if you buy your own domain name.
  • As well as written content you can promote your business using video and audio content. YouTube videos can be a wonderful way to bring attention to your company; these do not have to be of professional quality.

Articles and posts written on the ImpliWeb official company blog represent those of the author and not those of ImpliWeb Limited.

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Tips for How to Become a Successful Entrepreneur

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Anthony

If you want to become a successful entrepreneur then the good news is that this probably is an achievable dream. So long as you are willing to put in sufficient enough effort there is a good chance that your ambition will meet with success. The reason why most wannabe entrepreneurs never manage to turn their dreams into reality is that they are just not prepared to do what it takes. The fact that you are willing to do what it takes already puts you miles ahead of most people.

Tips for How to Become a Successful Entrepreneur

Here are just a few of the tips that will come in useful if you want to become a successful entrepreneur:

  • One of the keys to entrepreneurial success is your attitude towards setbacks. Some people are faced with problems in life and their reaction is to become overwhelmed by it all. Other people are faced with difficulties and they get excited because it means that they roll up their sleeves and really get to work. The difficulties that appear on the road to entrepreneurial success are not there to stop you; they are there to stop those people who do not really want to be entrepreneurs in the first place.
  • In order to become a successful entrepreneur you need to be willing to make sacrifices. This means putting your heart and soul into building your business; everything else needs to take a back seat. If you only like to do the bare minimum at work and hate working overtime you have no business even considering becoming an entrepreneur. In order to build your business you will probably need to put in 100 hour weeks and be willing to go weeks without a day off.
  • If you want to be a successful entrepreneur you will need to have a lot of faith in yourself. This is particular true if you have a business idea that is a bit unique; let’s face it most of the best business ideas are a bit outlandish. Other people are going to tell you that your ideas are unworkable, but you will need to have the inner belief to be able to push ahead regardless. This type of self-belief is vital if you want to build a successful business because there are almost certain to be dark days ahead.

Articles and posts written on the ImpliWeb official company blog represent those of the author and not those of ImpliWeb Limited.

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