If you’re not subscribed to Tailored News (you can by sticking your email address in the field top right of this page – it’s 100% free) then odds are your certifiably insane.
Some interesting information with UK Hitwise claiming that “social network sites now receive more UK Internet visits than search engines…..May was the first ever month that social networks have been more popular than search engines in the UK.”
Of the social network sites visited in the UK, Facebook accounts for 55% of all visits, almost three times as many as the next most popular social network.
The really interesting bit of the graph put together by Hitwise is the steep growth of social networking sites, opposed ot the pretty flat line for search engine visits.
I, for one, certainly expect that growth to continue.
Let’s take Jack’s bike lift web site as an example.
Customers are looking for the product sometimes by doing a search in Google – so we make sure we have high rankings in Google and we might take Google AdWords ads for the sort of terms they’d search for.
2. You’re Looking For Customers
But, you see, not a lot of people know about the product.
But when they see it they think “What a great idea – I could use that.”
So we want to find these people too.
When we’re looking for customers (who don’t realise they might like the product) we find associated areas when we might make them aware.
Step 3 – Started implementing various search engine optimisation strategies (that is, stuff to help your web site get listed higher in the search engines)
You know, despite the strong focus on online marketing strategies to get people to your web site, it’s important to realise that print media can still be effective.
Whether it’s an ad in your local newspaper, school newsletter or industry magazine, as long as you present:
the right information/offer to
the right people at
the right time, print media can get people to your site.
Test & Measure
As with any marketing, do it and measure to see if it works.
If you don’t do that then you’ll be peeing away your money (I was going to say “pissing” but I thought that might be a bit rude…..oh bugger, I just did!).
Step 3 – Started implementing various search engine optimisation strategies (that is, stuff to help your web site get listed higher in the search engines)
I’m the 1st to admit that social media isn’t for everyone, nor is it right for every business.
But social media – and I’ll focus on Facebook and Twitter as social media for our purposes – could well have a very important part to play in marketing your business web site (I recently wrote how Social Media is going to kick Search Ass).
The important things to know about Facebook and Twitter before you start using them are:
you need to understand how social media works (otherwise you won’t use it),
if you don’t use them regularly, then they won’t work very well.
Signing up for both takes just a minute or 2, using them every day can take just a few more minutes and understanding how to use them for maximum effect takes a bit longer.
That’s why Facebook and Twitter can be so valuable for the budding entrepreneur – the value you provide can be provided to hundreds, even thousands of people at a time.
Whilst this article won’t extend to how to use Facebook and Twitter for maximum effect, I’ll finish off by saying the most important part of social media, aside from providing value, is to find your own style in using these valuable tools and stick with that.
Step 3 – Started implementing various search engine optimisation strategies (that is, stuff to help your web site get listed higher in the search engines)
Next up is for your web site marketing is getting involved in your niche.
You see, the best sort of visitors for your web site are people who visit similar sites.
So if you have a swimming equipment web site, you’d get yourself involved in swimming niche web sites.
This might take the form of:
Commenting on related swimming blogs
Getting involved in swimming discussion forums
Offering to buy an ad on a swimming related web site
Providing your product as prizes to swimming web sites who might like to offer your products as a prize
What you’re doing by being involved and engaged in the community is building the awareness of your web site.
The Key Is Providing Value
By far the most important thing to do here is provide value.
Don’t jump on related niche sites just to promote your products or services. You’ll find yourself ostracized real quick.
What you need to do is get on and provide great value to the users of these other web sites in a non-selling way.
When you do this in a consistent way, you’ll very easily build your brand as a related, trustworthy and valuable resource.
Bit by bit, all of those blog comments, forum comments and helpful emails will result in great awareness of your site (along with a decent boost in visitors) and, as a result, greater chance of web site success.
So if you’re not using 
