When it comes to running a successful business, marketing is
essential. For a small business, marketing often seems like a daunting
task - especially when it comes to marketing your business on the web.
Many
times, budget-minded business owners fear that small business marketing
needs to be expensive in order to be effective. Fortunately - this
isn't true. Here are five simple tips for small business owners who are
looking to save dollars, while still running an effective online
marketing campaign.
1. Optimize Your Website
There are three simple steps to take so that you can be sure that your website is working for you.
The
first is to use a descriptive title for your site as well as keywords
and a description that allows search engines and site visitors alike to
know what they will find when they visit your web page. Once that's
taken care of, make sure that you are placing keywords appropriately in
the text of your website.
Your keywords should be specific to your
products and services, and should be chosen with consideration for the
terms prospective customers would use when searching with Google or
Yahoo or whichever other search engine they use.
Finally, these
keywords should also be used in the alt image tags as they relate to the
photos and illustrations that you post to your website.
2. Market Your Website with Articles & Distribute Press Releases
Article
marketing is an extremely effective way to draw visitors to your
website. By creating an informative short article that relates to your
business, your area of expertise and your keywords, you can show readers
a bit more of what they'll find from your business - which you can link
to in your resource box at the bottom of the article.
Online
press releases are another effective marketing tool. Like conventional
press releases that let local newswires pick up a story about a new
staff member or a new product line, online press release distribution
will allow you to get the word out to those who publish online
newsletters or who review products and services like those that you
offer.
Both articles and press releases published online create
valuable, relevant inbound links to your website (via the link to your
site in your resource box at the end of each article or press release).
Search engines place a great amount of value on the number of inbound
links you have to your site, so this is an excellent way of building
popularity with the search engines, as well as your human customers.
Both
article marketing and distributing press releases will enable you to
establish yourself as an expert and your company as a source for
products or services. Each is effective, and often, submission to
article directories is free - that's right, free marketing for your
business, all it takes is a little bit of time.
3. Start a Blog
It's
a common statement when it comes to Internet marketing: content is
king. A blog - short for a weblog - allows you to create fresh content
at regular intervals, driving traffic and search engines to your
website.
Like article marketing and press release distribution,
having a blog allows you to establish your expertise about the products
and services that your small business offers. Unlike article marketing
and press release distribution, however, a blog allows you to begin to
carry on a dialog with your current and prospective customers.
Your
blog works like search engine magic for your website. By linking your
blog to your website, you draw the search engines to your website. Your
site will rank higher and your customers will have a much easier time
finding your site.
4. Commit to a Link Building Campaign and Submit Your Site to Directories and Search Engines
As
a small business owner building and promoting your business on the web,
having quality inbound links is important. Links allow your site to be
found by those who visit similar sites looking for the products and
services that your company offers.
Links - like those at the end
of your articles and press releases, like those that link back to
individual products or services from within your blog, and like those
from others who have purchased from you in the past - help to improve
your site's search engine rank.
By submitting your business'
website to relevant directories and even to industry-specific - niche -
search engines, you'll begin to generate additional links. More
importantly, however, these niche directories are increasingly used by
those looking for very specific sites. Having your listing present will
make it even more likely that your prospective customers will find your
page; that makes them a particularly valuable marketing tool for your
business, and, again, it's often free to submit your site.
5. Look for Joint Ventures with Other Like-Minded Business People
It's
not uncommon for small businesses to work together - a movie theater
and a restaurant offering coupons for a discount if you spend the
evening at both places. In my past life working with large corporations I
realized that the largest companies grow by means of joint ventures all
the time. However, many small businesses do not look into joint
ventures when it comes to marketing their businesses.
Is it always
easy to find the right joint venture for marketing your business? No,
of course not. But it is possible to find like-minded business owners
whose customers could benefit from your products or services just as
your customers could benefit from those that they offer.
As a
result, both small businesses will be better able to extend their
outreach and develop a wider customer base. If you are going to enter
into a joint venture, search for companies with similar goals and a
similar customer base but a different type of product or service. Stay
on the lookout, keep an open mind and you just might find the perfect
opportunity to market your business to a new audience.
A perfect
example of this principle is a recent joint venture I did with a company
who specializes in teaching business credit skills to small business
owners. This company markets to the same clients that I wish to add to
my customer list, but they offer a completely different service. By
working together, we were able to market our services to each other's
mailing lists, resulting in both of us attracting new customers we would
not have had otherwise. The great part about this joint venture was
that there was no out-of-pocket cost to either of us - just our time and
a little creativity in coming up with suitable promotions to each
other's lists!
Taking your business to the web does not need to be
difficult, nor does it need to be expensive. By taking a creative
approach, small business owners on a tight marketing budget will be able
to find traffic and increase their customer base.
Focus on
reaching the search engines: use the right keywords and use them
appropriately. Let people know that you have the information they need
with articles and be sure to get the word out by distributing press
releases. Interact with your customers with a high quality blog, and
focus on getting great links. Lastly, take advantage of partnerships
with like-minded business owners.
