Search engine marketing (SEM) the buzz phrase of this decade. The thing any web site owner can’t do without. The thing that will make the difference to your web site getting visitors.
Once you have the perfect web site how do you drive traffic to it? How do you stop your web site from being that invisible shop front down the back of some dingy alley way?
The answer is simple - Search Engine Marketing.
Oh no most web site owners scream that sounds both expensive and complex!
Well let me tell you it needn’t be. It’s not rocket science and you can do it yourself. But like anything worth doing it will take both time and commitment from an individual.
As an owner of a web site you can always be doing something to promote your website and drive traffic to it. In SEM terms here are a few examples of what you can do to assist the success of your web site;
- FREE directory Listings
There are many business directories on the internet, these are not search engines but perform a similar role and on most occasions make a charge to list your web site. However, there are many out there that will give you a free listing to increase the size of their database and the useful information that they can provide to their viewers.
It is worth spending a day surfing for these directories and listing your website with them. The ONLY draw back of doing this is you will receive sales calls trying to get you to upgrade your FREE listing to a paid one. As I have not found a directory that provides a service worth paying for, I advise that you think long and hard before taking up any offers they will have to entice you. Before parting with any hard earned cash ask for PROOF of success from one of their many satisfied customers.
Did you know you can get a FREE listing with www.yell.com again just find the time to go onto their website and register, by doing this you can also get a FREE line listing in your local yellow pages next time it is printed.
By using FREE directory listings your web site will then benefit from the popularity of another web site driving a small amount of traffic to you.
- CHARGEABLE directory listings
As with free directories there are many that charge and work with the search engines to raise their own presence which in turn raises your presence with search engines. Such directories are www.yell.com www.thebestof.co.uk www.city-visitor.com . If you have the budget these may be worth exploring and testing out for short periods of time.
- Pay Per Click Campaign
With the bigger search engines such a Google and Yahoo you can get an immediate first page listing if you pay for it. This may be a good avenue to explore if you want immediate front page exposure.
PPC campaigns involve registering with a search engine and setting a daily budget. This is done by giving them your bank details so they can get payment from you automatically. You then select a number of keywords and say how much you are willing to pay each time your advert is clicked on by a viewer.
Your web site will be listed in the sponsored links area and your web site will appear at the top of the list if you are prepared to pay more that anyone else for your selected keywords, otherwise your web site will be ranked according to your budget.
You will only incur payment with a PPC campaign if a viewer actually clicks on your advert to access your web site. Don’t panic about incurring massive charges, this won’t happen if you have been wise about setting your daily budget. The campaign will only run for as long as there is money left in your budget. The second you reach the end of your budget allowance your advert will STOP appearing in the sponsored listings for viewers to access.
When doing these campaigns it is advisable to monitor them VERY CLOSELY, as you could find that you have paid a much bigger bill than expected at the end of the month.
- Chat Rooms
Have you ever been in a chat room? There are many chat rooms on the internet that are specialised to certain areas / products. You never know there may be one relevant to what you do. Find one visit it and be helpful when there. Offereing FREE advice in chat rooms is a great way of building up relations with potential customers and directing them to your web site. Solve one problem for someone and wait for referrals from them. Don’t forget everyone has family and friends who will almost certainly hear about you when you’ve offered good advice for FREE.
- Bulletin boards & Forums
Bulletin boards & forums like chat rooms will give you an opportunity to track down potential customers by offering FREE advice in your specialist field of knowledge. Answer any questions or problems that have been posted by others or start a subject off and get others to comment and respond to your thoughts.
- Blogs
Weblogs are the latest way that the internet shares useful snippets of information for FREE with the rest of the world. If you are visiting a web site, such as this one, that gives you the opportunity to write a blog then do it. Write a useful piece on your product or service that other will find interesting.
There are many ways to get noticed by search engines and point them to your web site and improve your ranking. The ones above can be done by anyone who owns a web site and you don’t even need to be a techy geek!
But remember it is an ongoing task and you need to set up a routine to do the above regularly and keep others interested in what you are doing. Which is exactly what I am doing. So keep your eyes posted for my next blog holding useful stuff about web site design and search engine marketing, or you could speed things up and contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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