Your site is completed, but you are not done yet. Site marketing consist of attracting visitors to your site, generating return visits and turning visitors into customers. Internet promotion and marketing includes the traditional marketing avenues as well as some internet specific ones.

Initial Marketing

• Adding your email and web page address to print publications and business cards

• Create an email signature file with your web page address and marketing key words

• Articles in trade and other magazines

• Posting to search engines and directories

• Advertising in traditional media

• Exchanging links with related companies (not competitors)

• Web advertising (banner ads)

The internet professional you hired to create your web presence should be able to help you with any internet specific marketing. Your site should be submitted to at least the top 20 search engines. In order to do this, you should create a list of the top keywords customers might use to find you and write a two line marketing blurb describing your site and the services or products you provide. Search for focused or niche directories related to your business and for strategic business alliances online. Consider purchasing banner advertising on a select number of sites (either high traffic sites or targeted sites).

You can gain some free publicity via press releases. Either write one yourself, or have it written by a marketing professional. If you don't have the expertise in-house, the investment in a professional press release will be worthwhile. Submit the press release to: local magazines and newspapers, trade journals, online magazines.

Ongoing Maintenance

On an ongoing basis you should monitor site traffic and demographics. Analyse traffic and promotion patterns. How well did specific advertisment increase traffic to your site? Is it worthwhile to run another ad or look at another venue? Look at the traffic on specific pages. Is the traffic highest on the expected pages, or is there an area of your site that should be further developped and other areas dropped? It is important to keep web material up to date and have consistently changing material.

Every few months you should sit down with your whole team to examine what direction the site should take, and how effective the site is in meeting your needs and the needs of your clients. Annually or semi-annually you should look at possible site redesigns in order to keep your company objectives focused, the site fresh and exciting, the content up to date and appealing to return visitors.

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