Search Engine Marketing

There is no point in your business having an online shop if customers can't find it when they go on the Internet.

There are a number of things you can do to steer customers towards your web site.

These include:

• notifying search engines - there are about 12 major ones
• publicising your site through related web sites that have similar interests, many individuals go to sites after seeing a link, an advertisement or a mention on another site
• negotiating tie-ins with other sites
• word of mouth
• advertising in traditional media
• adding your web site address to all emails, letterheads and other stationery and business vehicles
• mailing or emailing your customers with a newsletter
• getting into local online business directories, such as those produced by local Chambers of Commerce
• including an email this to a friend button on your site

When you choose your Internet address (URL) or domain name, try to make it simple and easy to remember so that customers will be more likely to go to your site rather than those of your competitors.

Get your web site listed on search engines

If you want to build your audience it is essential that you are listed in web directories and search engines. But this can be a difficult and time-consuming process. Web directories, such as Yahoo!, require you to register before they consider your site for inclusion. Some also require payment. Most web directories have pages explaining their registration process.

Search engines, such as Google, use "spider" software that automatically crawls through the web looking for new sites. Search engines usually do not require you to register to be listed. But your site will be competing with many others. Steps you can take to get your web site listed or to improve your search ranking include:

• thinking about how people are going to find your site, pick key words that you think they may use to search
• get as many web sites as possible to link to your site - many search engines rank sites according to how many other web sites link to them
• writing a description of your site and the services it offers and placing it prominently on your home page
• being patient - it can take several months to get into search engines 

For more information on our Search engine optimisation packages see our Online Marketing section.

Pay Per Click

While many users will be satisfied with getting free clickthroughs from the search engines, for some people it pays to pay for traffic. There are many sources of paid traffic on the internet, including banner ads, newsletter sponsorships, and so on, but the "big boys" are: Google Adwords Select, Overture (formerly Goto.com) and Espotting. These top three PPC companies can generate terrific profits if managed correctly.

The point with pay-per-click is this: if the average visitor to your site generates £0.30 of profit for you (after counting all your costs!), and you can get the visitor for less than 30 pence, then you make money. So it's crucial that you be able to track your visitors and determine how much they are worth to you.

For more information on our PPC packages see our PPC section.