Promoting your business on the internet

I’m a big believer in executing the business fundamentals first, then moving on to more advanced areas.  This article will focus on the basic blocking and tackling of promoting your business on the internet.  The basic concepts involve submitting your site to search engines and directories, building up a network of links, and ultimately bringing the right people to your site.

 Before we jump in and start promoting your site, let’s make sure that your site is ready for promoting.  It doesn’t need to be perfect, but it needs to some basic things.  Like all parts of a good marketing communication system, your website had better communicate three important concepts. 

1.      What you do

2.      What makes you different

3.      A call to action

I’ve covered these in detail elsewhere (send me an email if you want a copy), but take a minute to look at your website, and try to look at it with a fresh set of eyes.  Forget about your original plans, or how much time and money you’ve put into it.  Treat it as if it was a display ad in the yellow pages, or a classified ad in a magazine.  Does it tell people what kind of business you’re in?  I mean that very literally.  If you run a hardware store, do the words “hardware store” exist?  Are you a discount hardware store?  Are you a hardware store with specialty items and a professional staff?  I’m sure that you get the idea.  Does your web site say in words what kind of business you’re in and what makes you special? 

Here’s a good test. Use a tool to see your website the way that a spider would.  Does the text contain enough information to tell people about your business? 

Your site should also offer a call to action, and tactical offers.  The internet can provide information, but what makes it special is its ability to be interactive.  Does your site tell people how to get in touch with you?  Is your address there?  Is your phone number?  Is an email?  Have you given people a good reason to call?  If you don’t ask people to do anything, they probably won’t.

Open for Business

One of the first things that you should do is announce to the internet community that you are “open for business”.  Just because you’ve created a site does not mean that anybody, even your mother, knows that it exists.  I recommend that you start by "announcing" your website to the major search engines and directories.  The goal for this first phase should be to get your site listed and indexed by 300 – 500 other websites over a three to six month period.  That will provide a foundation for you to build from.  I recommend a three step approach, search engines, directories, and a press release.

There are probably many more search engines and directories you realize.  The major search engines include Google, Yahoo, MSN,  Alta Vista, and Ask, but there are hundreds of others.  Directories are another great starting point. There are both free and paid directories.  The largest ones are Dmoz.org and yahoo.com, but there are literally thousands of others.  There is a new breed of directories, such as alivedirectory.com, websortings.com, and linkforever.net that offer low cost ways of getting basic listings. Taken together the combination of search engines and directories provides the basic foundation to enable people to find you on the internet.  If 100 – 500 backlinks seems like way too many, it is probably worth mentioning that Nielsen/NetRatings estimates the digital media universe (as of February 2007) at 491,845,552.  

One word of caution about backlinks is in order.  You are judged by the company that you keep. Your links should all be appropriate for your business.  Think about it, where would you buy a set of golf clubs from, a business that you found that Tiger Woods recommended, or someone in Liberia that is also offering you prescription drugs.  Every link that you accept in, and every outgoing link that you have says something about you. That’s also why you need a blend of trusted reputable paid directories along with the large free ones. 

The final piece of your internet promotion foundation is a press release.  The internet was designed to share information.  The are thousands of websites that are happy to run good quality stories.  Your press release should be an interesting story about your business.  It should cover all of the basics, but also have a newsworthy angle.  If you don’t know how to write a press release, there are plenty of skilled public relations people that would love to help you.  It may help you to think about your local newspaper, and whether they would run the press release or not.  If its not good enough for the local paper, then find something more interesting.

As I mentioned before, this foundation phase of promoting your business on the internet should have specific goals, like building 100 – 500 backlinks over 6 months.  I would plan on spending between $500 - $1000 during this period. 

Here’s a rough plan of action.

           Month One: $150

1.      Submit your website to Google, Yahoo, Dmoz – free

a.       This will give you some experience in the process, you’ll also find out why the basics are really important.

b.      DMOZ feeds AOL, Google, and hundreds of search engines, but takes a while, so get started! One word of caution, explore around DMoz to find the right category for your website.  Plan on spending one day orienting yourself to the different directories and their submission requirements before you actually start submitting.

2.      Sign up with Websortings    

        Websortings.com. The price is $39.95 for a featured listing and 2 additional listings in other categories.  You also get the ability to list 3 "deep links" within your site.  The main reason that you should use them is that along with the listings, you will also get a tool that tracks your backlinks, along with monthly tips on building up your internet presence.  If you can't pay for them, create a link to them on your site and get it for free. Sign up for the free newsletter.

3.     Sign up with a couple of paid directories.  Check out alivedirectory.com, link4ever.net, and avivadirectory.com

Month Two:  $200

1.      Write a press release

a.       My recommendation is to spend $200 and get a professional to write it for you.  Come up with a list of ideas ahead of time, then call them. Try a local newspaper reporter or college journalist.  Then send it out locally.

2.      Add some pages to your website for links.

a.       This should not look just like a list of links, rather it should be a place for you to highlight your customers, your suppliers, with good words to describe them.  In the long run, your real business network is where your attention should be.  

3.      Send out the press release to local newspapers and media.

a.       Be a part of the community that can help you the most directly.

4.      Submit your website to search engines and directories manually

5.      Find some online communities where you truly have some expertise to offer.  Introduce yourself to the community gradually, get a feel for how they communicate, who’s who, and whether it’s a good match.  (You are judged by this too.)

Month Three:  $150

1.      Put your press release on the internet new wire, these services run from free to $50 range.  It will help tell the story of your business.  Your internet address should be in the press release, along with a good reason for visiting your website.

2.      Pay for a submission service to submit your website to appropriate search engines and directories over an appropriate time period.  There is a wide variance here, but there are companies that will submit your website to the major information sources for a fee in the $75 – $100 range.  Be very clear in your instructions regarding the types of directories that you are interested in, and that they should be both diverse and appropriate in nature.  In this case, you are looking for quality as much as quantity.  Ideally, the submissions should be spread over a couple of months.  NativeCommunications.net offers this service for $99.95 and it worked for me.  

3.       Talk to your customer and suppliers.  Having set up some pages on your site, and started to promote your business, you can now start to talk to your customers and suppliers about how you can help them.  Start a contest for your customers.  Ask your suppliers for recommendations on how you can help each other.

4.    Add a signature to your forum postings.  Don't start out selling, start out by building trust.

So in summary, the foundation plan will cost you about $500 and take about three months.  You should wind up with an excellent starting point for using the internet to promote your business.  During this phase, you will measure your success in PageRank, and backlinks. You will have achieved enough presence that people that are trying to find you should be easily able to find you. Some new prospects that are looking for what you have to offer will start to discover you. More importantly, you will also start to connect your internet activity with your customers and suppliers.  This will become the base from which you can begin to actively promote and market your business using the internet.  The next phase will include Keyword advertising, copywriting, and banner advertising, as well as, other parts of your marketing communication system.