Web Copywriting

You are very excited!! You have finally created your own website!! But the trouble is customers aren’t knocking on your website door. Why?

You are very excited!! You have finally created your own website!! But the trouble is customers aren’t knocking on your website door. Why? The most probable answer is that your customers don’t know about your website. There is no magic internet fairy who will knock on people’s door to announce your website’s arrival. The task is up to you. To get your website marketing off the ground you either need to spend time learning and doing it or spend money and get somebody else to do it.

If you are like many small business owners, you have most likely spent the majority of your website budget on creating the site, but have allowed very little money to actually promote it. Don’t despair, below are some great ways to promote your website and business for free.

1. Email Marketing

Your first step should be to send an email to your existing clients announcing the arrival of your website. If you are starting a new business and don’t have any customers, send an email to people you know who may be interested in your offer.

2. Search Engines & Directories

A search engine is a searchable database of websites collected by a computer program called robot. When you enter a keyword, the search engine looks for keywords in its database, and displays any relevant records. There are thousands of search engines and directories. Some of the main ones include: Google, Altavista, Yahoo, Excite, AllSearchEngines, Northern Light, DogPile. To submit your website go directly to the search engine’s website and add your website address.

3. Link & Banner Exchanges

Find websites whose business complements yours and add their website link or banner to your links/resource page. Then contact the company and ask for a reciprocal link. For example if you are a wedding dress designer, you could contact businesses that sell wedding cakes, jewellery, flowers and also venues, celebrants etc.

4. Email Signature

Every email you send should have an email “signature.” This is text that is automatically attached to the bottom of your email message. You can include your name, business name, email address, street or postal address, website details, phone & fax number, company slogan, description, etc. If you are unsure how to do this, check out your email program’s help index.

5. Feedback and testimonials

When you come across a great product or service, send an email to the business owner telling him how the product/service helped you. Like you, most business owners appreciate receiving positive feedback and will most likely feature your testimonial on their website and place a link back to your site! You may even suggest it to the owner by saying “you have my permission to feature this testimonial in your promotional material and/or on your website”.

6. Newsgroups

A newsgroup is a message board on the internet where users come to discuss topics of mutual interest. As a user you can start a thread (topic), post messages and respond to other postings. The best way to find a suitable newsgroup is to use Google Search. Click on the “Groups” tag. Run a search using a keyword related to your on-line business. You can use Newsgroups for conducting market surveys, get new clients, promote your site and get answers to your questions. The idea of newsgroups is to make a valuable contribution and by doing so promoting your business.

7. Office Stationery & Merchandising Materials

It is extremely important that your website is included on ALL your office stationery so that customers can see it over and over again.
Letterheads/Business Cards/Flyers/Brochures/Labels/Packaging/Merchandise bags/
Catalogs/Invoices/Fax headers/Display units

8. Visitor Exchanges

There are many websites popping up on the net known as Traffic or Visitor Exchanges. People become members of these sites with the goal of generating free traffic to their site. The way it works is quite clever. You visit another member’s website and in exchange someone visits your website. Most of these programs work on a 2:1 ratio. This means that for every two sites that you visit, someone else will visit your site.

9. Articles

Writing articles is an excellent way for you to get free publicity. The publicity you receive by having your article published in a newspaper, magazine or website can be worth thousands of dollars in equivalent advertising space. Well written articles yield better results than advertisements and earn you respect from customers, who see you as an expert in your field. The best articles are “tips” or expert pieces. People are looking for guidance and will purchase from the experts who show them how to solve their problems.

There are many excellent resources on internet marketing. I would recommend you pick up at least one and start reading. For more info visit:

http://www.web4business.com.au/BusinessTools.htm

Ivana Katz is the owner of Websites 4 Small Business, a company specialising in the design and promotion of small and home-based business websites. She believes that every business deserves to have a successful website, no matter what its budget is. For more information visitwww.web4business.com.auor emailinfo@web4business.com.au