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Related resources:
E-Business Checklist
Search Engine Optimization Checklist
Web Marketing Checklist
By André
le Roux
This web marketing checklist is by no means complete,
but it does give you a solid start. Once you've worked through this checklist,
find out if there are any industry-specific ways in which you can market
your web site. You may know of associations or trade publications willing
to give you a mention.
Note About Search
Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing is without doubt the most
effective (and most cost effective) way to market your site. It's so important
that I made a separatesearch engine optimization
checklist. This web marketing checklist is about all the other
ways to market your site on the Internet.
Online
Web Marketing Checklist
1. Create Valuable, Free Content
If you've browsed the Pandecta site or forums, you'll
have read this before: "Content is king". It's the cornerstone
of web marketing! I know I repeat this in just about everything I
write, but it is that important.
No-one will visit your site because they want to
know more about you or your business.
No-one will read your mission statement.
The truth is that your typical site visitor don't give a damn.
Valuable, free content is not that difficult to create
but it will devour your time. While I'm typing this, my wife is in bed
watching a good movie. A Mafia movie. Yum. But I'm here, typing, creating
valuable free content. It's why you are on this site (right?) and it's
what will draw people to your site as well. Don't underestimate this.
2. Publish A Newsletter
More work unfortunately, but an extremely effective web
marketing strategy. So effective in fact that everybody with a web site
is doing it these days. You'll have to put some effort into it if you
want it to rise above the noise. Again, if the info you publish is valuable
and free, it sells itself.
3. Create An E-mail Signature File
Most e-mail clients let you create a standard signature
file that is included in all mails you send out. It is a great web marketing
tool and it costs nothing.
Don't make it too long. Don't describe your product or
service. Just write a teaser that will get people curious enough to click
through to your web site. Make sure the page they land on rewards their
curiosity. There's no point creating a sig file teaser like "Free
Cell Phones" and then not sending them to a page about free cell
phones. That just gets them angry.
4. Capture E-mail Addresses
Most people don't buy on their first visit to a web site.
If you are not following up with visitors, you're losing out.
Encourage your web site visitors to give you their e-mail
addresses. Most people don't give that up easily, so you really have to
give them something in return. If you just say "Enter your e-mail
here to be notified when this web site updates", you'll maybe get
1 sign-up for every 10,000 visitors. Make a more appealing offer than
that. Give them something. Create a PDF report about some aspect of your
industry and offer that as a free bonus when visitors sign up for site
updates - or offer substantial discounts/incentives.
One more thing:
Don't misuse those e-mail addresses once they start coming in. These people
are trusting you with their contact details. This is your chance to talk
to them on a regular basis and win even more trust - perhaps enough to
get them to take out their credit cards. But if you make them angry by
selling their contact details or by sending them all kinds of garbage,
those e-mail addresses loose their value very quickly.
5. Online Advertising
You can either buy ad space on targeted sites or exchange
ads with someone who has more or less the same audience. Banner ads /
banner exchanges is a waste of time in my experience. Text ads work much
better.
You should also consider buying PPC (Pay Per Click) ads
from Google AdWords or one of the smaller PPC search engines. For more
on PPC advertising, please visit the PPC
Forum and consider getting a copy of the Search
Engine Yearbook.
6. Awards
Many good web marketers maintain that giving awards is
not a very effective web marketing strategy, but from experience I know
that it can work. There are two important things you must get right for
it to be successful:
- It must be sincere. If you give awards to anyone willing
to link to your web site, you're wasting your time. Give awards to good
web sites/ newsletters/ discussion forums/ and write a short review
of each.
- Choose an award topic that is closely related to the
theme of your site. Don't give awards for good web design if you are
selling mousetraps. Target the right audience.
7. Articles
If you write many articles or have access to an article
database, offer these articles to other webmasters as free content for
use on their web sites or newsletters. Write a short bio that includes
a link to your site and add it to the bottom of each article. Also state
in the bio that anyone may reproduce the article provided the bio stays
in tact.
8. Ask For Bookmarks
This seems simple enough, but very few people do it. We
have a little "Remember to bookmark this page" button in the
main menu of the Pandecta web site. It's difficult
to measure just how effective it is, but you might as well have it.
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Can you add to this Online Web Marketing Checklist?
Please e-mail me with your comments: andre@pandecta.com
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Offline
Web Marketing Checklist
9. Everything
You already have your URL printed on everything
right? It should be as easy to find as your telephone number. Make sure
it is included in letterheads, business cards, brochures, print ads -
everything. Even the sticker that goes on the company car!
10. Traditional Advertising Media
Ads in newspapers, trade magazines, radio, TV etc. can
be a very effective way to market a web site. As with any form of advertising,
the first thing your ad must achieve is to grab attention. Note that grabbing
attention is only good if your ad can also generate interest - it must
get the reader/listener/viewer to take action.
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Can you add to this Online Web Marketing Checklist?
Please e-mail me with your comments: andre@pandecta.com
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Related resources:
E-Business Checklist
Search Engine Optimization Checklist
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