Let the Internet do the work for you!

Effective Internet marketing is based on a common sense approach to communication.  You need to clearly state your message and then make it easily available to your potential customers.

Here are some tips on some simple yet effective ways to publicize your website:

• Mention your website to all your customers – provide a business card with your website address
• Distribute a press release to the media and local Chamber of Commerce
• Request that your suppliers and customers provide a link to you from their website
• Submit your website to trade associations that encompass your industry
• Add your website address to all your promotional materials
• Request reciprocal links from other sites
• Create a link to your website in your e-mail signature
• Mention your website on your outgoing voice messaging system
• If you have a brick and mortar store, place a link to your site on your receipts and invoices
• Capture your customer's email addresses to use in an email marketing campaign
• Request a listing in local directories as well as Google Maps Local Business Center
• Create a Facebook page for your business
• Publish an E-Mail newsletter

The most important, and least expensive method to market your website is to make it easy for "Spiders" to find it. Major search engine companies use software programs known as Spiders, or "Bots" to explore the internet to index and catalog what they find. Once a search engine finds your site, it will browse it and capture bits of imformation for inclusion in its massive search database. Although the exact methods and criteria that search engines use to catalog information vary, there are a few basic things that your site must have in order for there to be any chance of being indexed.

• Keyword-rich page title – A descriptive title for each page, maximum of 8 words. This title will appear on the search results page and will be hyperlinked to your site.
  
• Descriptive Keywords – These should be the words that people are most liklely to search for.
  
• Description META Tag – A sentence that describes the contents of the web page.
  

Keywords should also be included in the first paragraph of your content. Most search engines will only scan the first paragraph. Do not stuff in as many keywords as you can. Some sites detect this and will not include the page (and possibly your entire site) in its search results page.

Make good use of "header tags" such as H1, H2 and H3. These tags are usually the name of the article or section and should contain a keyword or two. Keywords should also be used in the "ALT Attribute" of your images and photos.

The keywords that you use should correspond directly with your content. Search engines will not give you a favorable ranking if they find keywords that are irrevelant to the content.

Size does not matter!

No matter the size of your business, a website can give you the same market exposure as your largest competitors.  Compared with traditional marketing campaigns, Internet marketing is extremely low cost.  The internet, by its very nature, gives you global exposure, and your website works for you 24/7.

Think of driving down the highway at 70mph, with the billboards flashing by.  Which one catches your eye? 

Internet browsing is a similar scenario.  Your potential customers may have located your site by entering certain keywords into a search engine, and your site appears along with many others that share the same keywords.  As your potential customer starts clicking on the different sites, you may only have one shot at making a good impression.

Within a few seconds, a visitor will make the decision to take a better look at your site or leave.  Research has shown that this quick decision is based on:

• Appearance – A professional, uncluttered layout with attractive colors
• Usability – Easy to find information
• Branding statement – What is your purpose?

The key to success, whether you are a small business or a large corporation, is a website that makes a visitor stop and want to take a better look.  Research has shown that an attractive site that clearly states its purpose is most likely to create the desire in visitors to stop and browse the site.

The sites we create are purposed around your goals.  By developing and using key words that describe your business or product, search engines will list you and when visitors find you, they will realize that you have what they are looking for.

Our websites are compliant to the latest standards in XHTML/HTML, CSS and PHP.  We use these technologies as the foundation to create compliant sites that are both functional and attractive.