Beyond the Search Engines

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Before I start, I'm breaking the habit of a very long time by recommending a Search Engine Optimization company.

If you've ever read my articles or heard me speak, you'll know how wary I am of doing this, but I am very impressed by Bloofusion, based in Silicon Valley.

And now, on to the tips . . .

Pay Per Click

I hate to say it, but paying for listings may be the only totally reliable way of ensuring your position in search engines. It can be expensive, but I do like the notion that paying per click allows you to really consider the cost / benefit of acquiring a customer.
 

Make sure that you can track the results of your Pay per Click campaigns, including conversion rates (i.e. how many people actually respond to you from a click-thru visit).

• The best known pay- per-click model is Yahoo Search Marketing (previously known as Overture).
   

  Although the more sought-after keywords can be pretty expensive, there are still many opportunities to bid on cheaper phrases. The top three results from Yahoo Search Marketing are displayed on many other major search engines (in "Preferred" or "Sponsored" listings), so these do give you considerable exposure.

  
  Get creative about the search phrases that you bid on - there may be alternatives to your most popular keywords and mispellings that will also bring you good traffic.
   

• Good Keywords is a free keyword selection tool that queries several pay-per-click search engines.
   

• Also, try out Google's AdWords service. These are text-based ads that appear in small boxes to the right of the search results for your chosen keywords. You have some control over your wording, although the length is strictly limited, and you can change your campaign at any time.
   

• Looksmart offers several different types of advertising in their Ad Center. There are alternative plans for large or small businesses.  If you are signing up for the first time be sure to read the fine print and calculate your minimum monthly expenditure before making a commitment.

  
  

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Free Submissions

• Yahoo! has morphed, yet again, into a natural search engine (like Google) and offers free submission.
   

• Google prefers to find new sites linked to existing sites in it's database.  If you can't wait submit your site for free here.
   

• You can find a list of free and paid search engines and directories at Search Engine Colossus.
   

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Directory Listings

Be creative in thinking of all the places that might link to you. Some of them may already do so!

• Check out the online presence of all your professional and trade associations and memberships, e.g. your Chamber of Commerce. Find out whether their Web site includes a searchable directory of members. If so, it's usually worth paying the fee to ensure that your listing has a clickable link to your Web site and e-mail.
   

• Also check out yellow page directories online, such as BigBook.com. If your business is in the yellow pages, then you're probably already listed on these sites, often with maps and driving directions!
   

  For a small fee, you can buy an enhanced listing that will display your business at the top of the relevant search results.
   

• If you provide services, such as consulting or speaking, there are many Web sites that provide referral directories where you can be listed. Some of these are free, although you'll usually have to pay for an "enhanced entry".
   

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Reviewed Content

If you have great content on your site, submit it for inclusion in one of the specialist information portals online.

• A good example of these is About.com.
   

  This site is organized by many subjects, each of which is edited by an expert in that field. Find the appropriate section, and send an e-mail to the editor, with a brief description of your site and your expertise. If they list you, this will produce some very targeted traffic.
  

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Link Exchanges

Take advantage of some of the free collaborative opportunities that may exist - the search engines like to see lots of quality links into your site but may value reciprocal links.  For the best results carefully pick your link partners.

• Look for sites that offer products or services that are complementary to yours, and ask if they'll exchange reciprocal links with you.

  For example, if you sell fine wines, look for companies that sell crystal glasses, and offer to link to them from your site if they'll agree to do the reverse.
   

  To reduce the risk of traffic leaving your site and not coming back, open the links in a new browser window, or use a Javascript to create a smaller window with no address bar in it (like I do!)
   

• A free service called LinkPopularity.com queries Google, Yahoo and MSN for their lists of sites that link to yours.
   

  Of course, you can always use this service to see which sites link to your competitors, and ask if they'd be willing to reference you too!
   

• Although reciprocal linking has become less effective you can still use it.  The key to this technique is to seek closely related sites for the exchange and to bypass sites that look disreputable.
   

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Paid Advertising

The best tip for online advertising is target, and target again! Do some substantive research in your traffic logs to find your most effective keywords.

• If you have a larger budget, Google's Premium Sponsorships program gives you enhanced text links at the top of the Google results page - but the minimum spend for this is $30,000 over three months.
   

• Consider sponsoring an e-zine. These can have very targeted audiences, and well worded text can achieve good response rates. New-List has an extensive list of e-zines. Search by keywords for online newsletters with readers who might want your product or service.

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Public Relations

Never miss an opportunity to get the word out!

• Check out your local media online. Newspapers, magazines and Internet radio stations that have Web sites are always looking for new content. Yahoo! has a good listing of these, starting at the state level.
  
  Newslink lists both national and international newspapers, radio and television stations.
   

• If you're a good writer (or you outsource your writing), submit an article to one of the ever-growing number of newsletter, magazine and trade journal sites online.
   

  There's a searchable list of these at MediaFinder. For a fee, you can subscribe to their full service, which gives you access to contact names, editorial calendars, etc.
   

  Check out "Article Submission Sites" a membership site offering step-by-step instructions for creating an article submission campaign, resources, plus a list of over 1,500 newsgroups, e-zines, newsletters and web sites where you can pitch your writing.
  
  And Idea Marketers accepts articles on a myriad of subjects that publishers are free to reuse as long as they keep your work and copyright intact.

   

  Once you have developed some good content compile it in an e- book or tips booklet and distribute it to your site visitors for free.  Include your products and services with the articles and ask readers to share with their colleagues and friends. 
   

• To get serious about online PR, subscribe to an online leads service, such as Profnet Experts. These services distribute daily e-mails of (usually) high quality, and very varied enquiries from reporters and authors.
   

  If you'd like to pitch for relevant stories, but don't have time to monitor leads yourself, I highly recommend Dan Janal's PRLeads service.
   

• And, if you have real news to trumpet about your Web site, such as an award that it just won, send out a press release. A good resource for this is PRWeb.  There is a fee for distribution.

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Electronic Mail

E-mail is probably still one of the most under-used marketing tools that you have:

• If you haven't already, create a signature file.
   

  This is a short text file that's automatically inserted at the end of every e-mail message that you send. It should contain your name and company, one line about what you do, phone number, e-mail and URL. Make sure that you include http:// in front of the URL, and mailto: before your e-mail address, so that they'll both be clickable for the recipient.

  Check your e-mail program for help with this.
   

• Don't send spam (unsolicited e-mail) indiscriminately, but consider sending announcements via a targeted e-mail service. These have lists of subscribers who have requested information around many different interest areas, so you should have a receptive audience.
   

  One such service is PostMaster Network.
   

• Look for e-mail discussion groups (listservs) that talk about subjects on which you're an expert, whether these are products or services.  Contribute to the discussions, and you'll make great contacts as other readers are impressed by your knowledge, and want to check out more of what you can offer!
   

  Topica and Yahoo! have an extensive database of these groups. 

  And in the same vein, Google now helps you to search and post messages in Usenet newsgroups - you'll use your e-mail address to sign up.
   

• Do you have value- added content to support your products or services, or regular (interesting!) news about your business? Start an e-mail newsletter, or e- zine. Include clickable URL's that direct readers to your Web site.
   

  Use your own database (which is by far the best set of prospects that you'll have), or purchase an opt- in list to seed your e-news. But make sure that any names that you buy are legitimate, and always honor "remove me" requests.
  
  

  Alexandria K. Brown, the "Ezine Queen" offers tips and information on her site on how to start and build your own newsletter.
  

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