Internet Marketing Strategy and Philosophy

These pages are not intended to duplicate the wealth of information available on the web that describes how to do search engine marketing and design. This site provides in-depth instructions for optimising a web site (site architecture, design, marketing and promotion). In addition, we offer free tools with a focus on designing for promotion, as these items are concerned with the marketing launch of a new web site or product.

We have emphasised search engine placement and search engine optimisation throughout our website, and this page covers other promotion programmes in some detail. As the web evolves, this page will be updated with new online promotion techniques, tools, and links to make your life easier. Visit Bruce Clay, Australia - Pty. Ltd. frequently to pick up new thoughts, ideas and industry information. Read on for information that also covers how-to steps for Top-10 keyword advice, search engine marketing, web site design, submission, keywords tools, links, email, awards, press releases, and newsletters.

We have spent a great deal of time gathering information on how to design web sites with search engine marketing in mind. In sifting through the information, it became clear that most people had a narrow familiarity with a section of the beast, but that no one had described the entire internet creature -- certainly no one had described internet search engine marketing as an integral part of the design process. Ranking was viewed as a facet of the launch, but not as a facet of the design.

That fact alone causes the consulting business to prosper.

Let's start with you. Since you are here, there is a good chance that you already have a product and wish to maximise the launch of that product. The downside is that if you cannot successfully launch your product, you become one of the thousands of companies littering the webscape with their great, but unrealised, potential. The upside is that you have the potential to become a brand name with a sought-after product, resulting in wealth and fame. Right now the choice is yours. This is where you will make it or break it. You cannot afford to do search engine marketing incorrectly if you choose to be a winner.

The overall e-Commerce transaction process involves:

1. Attracting prospects to a web site (aka search engine marketing)
2. A properly designed site that encourages visitors to browse (aka Web Site Design)
3. Leading the visitor to a completed transaction by offering products easily and without undue complexity (aka Web Site Navigation)
4. Addressing concerns (perceived risks) that can scare off the potential buyer if left unanswered (aka risk avoidance)

Completing an e-Commerce transaction is like buying a house. First, you visit a realtor and scan through books with descriptions of properties, you look at flyers with descriptions, or maybe just discuss some new addition to their inventory. This is very much like scanning search engine results, ezine articles, or reading press releases. They are all external to the actual property and as promotional pieces, they describe something in terms that you may care about. From this promotional material you make a list and then go and visit the property. On the web you would view search engine marketing materials and then click where you are interested.

Second, you drive to the property with the realtor to see what it looks like. Sometimes, before the car even stops you will say "no, not this one" and drive off. Other times you will stop and take a look. This is often referred to as "curb appeal" -- the property appears to match your needs. On the web, this is usually the first impression of your home page from the perspective of the visitor. Does it meet their needs? Does it offer the solution to which they are seeking? Does it "hook" their curiosity?

The average home page loads in 48 seconds but the average visitor leaves in 35 seconds. Over 80% of all visitors visit only one page. (Check your server logs now, you may be doing even worse.) Does this tell you something? It should. Hence, another component to search engine marketing is building a compelling home page that addresses the visitor's needs and wants without them having to scroll down, and absolutely presents text in under 20 seconds. As you can see, web site design is critical or your site message may not even be read.

Third, now that the realtor has shown you a property that seems to be what you like (at least from the curb), you want to go inside and see if it solves your problems. On the web, this is called navigation, content, value-statements, it is a process to allow the visitor to buy without undue complexity, and a way to answer any last minute questions so they will not abandon their acquisition over a minor issue. Let the human factor (when needed) contribute to the sale. Search engine marketing gets the initial interest, but the web site makes the sale. If properly implemented, this will turn a visitor into a customer.

Most sites do not do these steps properly. According to ActivMedia, the average Web site earns less than $1,000 per month. You should do better.

But let's start at the beginning....

Considerations:

This section pulls together thoughts (in the form of an annotated checklist) about the process of introducing an unknown product to the masses and doing this successfully. It is probably too late to alter the product for your current launch, but it is important that you consider some web site design criteria for future product releases. Given that you have the product in a reasonably releasable state, have invested significant time and energy in developing that product, and are just looking for launch information, such will be the focus of this section.

It is prudent to assume that it will take months to design a competent web site and to promote it properly. If you are looking for a positive cash flow from the Web in under six months, you will probably be disappointed. We suggest that you have patience with this project, that you have staying power (financially), and that you be dedicated to properly implementing a successful Web strategy. It is not uncommon for a site to take more than a year to generate a living for the small business owner doing it themselves, so have a backup plan at all times!

Do you have any intent to sell your product yourself?

This is an important question. Many product development organisations are great at the design and development of market-driven products, but they cannot sell their own products. There are business models in existence that recommend that you take your product to a large company with retail shelf presence and "sell" them the sales rights. These partners will typically commit to 25,000 units at approximately 5% to 15% plus the wholesale cost of the goods, if they will even commit to anything. And you will probably be paid on Net 60 terms after the end of each calendar quarter. On a $100 retail product, you would get $3.75 plus your material costs times 25000 units, or about $100,000 profit. How much did you say you spent to develop this product in time, money and expertise? Let's assume that the scenario mentioned above is not your choice or you would not be at this site.

Do you have any intent to sell this product through a traditional retail channel?

Here is the problem: traditional retail stores won't acquire products directly from a start-up. If you have other successful products on their shelves, and if you can demonstrate that you have a big bank account (so that you can issue refunds for returned goods), then they may carry your products. But that is very rare during a product launch period. The retail stores you want and need are typically on contract with major distribution outlets, themselves often billion-dollar businesses. For a company to get a contract with these distributors takes money and time, and you probably can't afford to participate in enough marketing programmes (depending upon the product this could be easily over $100,000) or take the six months necessary to get onto their price list. The best time to get onto their list is when you are already a success (have their stores asking them for your product), and since you are in a launch stage with no market presence, this is not in today's cards. So, let's assume that this is not your first choice, either.

Have you decided to sell this product via the Web?

Important - please read this overview concerning Web Marketing.

There are several advantages to a web site sales effort, not the least of which is cost and control. But the steps necessary are similar to opening any store. It is clear that the product cannot be sold in retail until you have made it at least somewhat successful.

Also, if you decide to sell this product on the Web, it is important to consider your direct and hidden costs. Designing, building, and "putting up" a web site will cost a few thousand dollars, with a small but professional commercial site starting around $5000, and a 20 page site starting around $9000 and going up from there. Obviously, doing it yourself can save a lot of money. At the very high end, Amazon.com spent over $20,000,000 on Web presence in their first year. Web development costs include your time and energy, as well as consulting fees paid to professional Web site designers.

In addition to these fees, there is the cost of monthly site hosting, typically a few hundred dollars per year. Then there is the biggie -- the fact that it can cost an average of $9,000 to $90,000 per year to maintain your site on a daily-ish basis. Large sites hire their own Webmasters, so these sites obviously spend towards the top end of this curve. Small sites either do it themselves (poor choice unless you spend a lot of time on the Web for other business reasons) or hire part-time consultants to provide Webmaster services. So the question becomes one of your time, aptitude, and desire to design and maintain your own site. If you choose to do it yourself, be prepared to spend a lot of daily time in the care-and-feeding of your site.

On the average, with some content update and revision, plus improving presentation, allow 10% of the development time each month for the care and feeding of your site. If it took 100 hours to build it, then allow 10 hours per month to maintain it.

Remember, your web site is a tool to generate business, and any time spent away from your core business expertise to maintain your tool (especially if you are not a web expert) is probably time poorly spent. If you choose to subcontract to a consultant, be prepared to spend significant money for these services. If you choose to do neither, or cut back on the site maintenance, be prepared to have a site that is, at best, average, and probably not even that. The successful sites require constant attention. If you are not ready to commit to that level of support, then accept that your site is just for web presence and forget using it to generate serious revenue. We suggest a quick review of our Design and Development page.

Web Scenario - money is no object:

Contract with a capable Consultant and empower them to orchestrate the entire process. This is like planning a wedding in a month instead of many months. Since your ability to sell your product is dependant upon this launch, you would need to involve an expert to ensure a successful launch. But, be prepared to spend at least $5,000 for the initial launch.

Web Scenario - money is tight:

Contract with a capable consultant and produce a list of tasks. Most consultants will customize the launch to fit your product and needs. Many of these tasks will be suitable for implementation and follow-up by your staff, while some are best left to the consultant or their sub-contractors. Discuss this with the contractor - it will be a great way to save money and to keep informed of the details of the process. If you review most web service businesses, they focus on tasks instead of the entire picture. If you knew all the steps needed, you could orchestrate this launch yourself instead of using a consultant--provided that you knew what was needed and where to look for the right sub-contractors. To be safe, let us assume that you will use a consultant to manage the launch and that you will be doing some tasks under their direction.

Assign competent staff to perform your tasks. Under the leadership of the consultant, your staff will be directed to perform many of these tasks in a specific way. This is a very specific team relationship between the consultant and your staff, and communication is key to making this work economically.

Empower the consultant to do the rest and you will find that the process will be completed successfully.

Web Scenario - no money at all:

Be creative. The following checklist, adapted to your specific product and market, will need to be done to the best of your ability. However, several of these items are quite complex and require specific skills. Consulting is the right solution, and for the right product, some consultants (us included) may be willing to work part time for expenses plus equity. It sure beats losing. But if you need to launch now and without a consultant, continue reading.....

Checklist:

It is critical that you spend time on the Web. If you do not actually see what your competition is doing, or try to locate a lot of varied topics, you will have difficulties grasping the scale of the following projects. You should be Web educated and this is the best first step!

The average web surfer consumes information at a record pace, they have a lot of time for amusement, they hunt for free items packed full of curiosity value, they will tell you about themselves whenever and if you can make it worth their while, and they are blunt--telling you exactly what they think about your product. They know that you want their business, that you want to impress them, and that they are in the driver's seat. And you thought this was going to be easy!

Determine What You Have To Sell

This should be obvious, if you are already in the midst of a product launch, you should at least know what your features are and have the appropriate pre-launch documentation available.

Determine Who Already Needs What You Have To Sell

You should be informed about the needs and wants of your potential end users and how "on target" your product promotion is. Selling a solution to satisfy that need is far easier than selling the need and then selling the solution. As a result, it is up to you to clearly describe your product, not in terms of how great you think it is, but rather in terms of "what is in it for the user" -- why should they buy your product. Make this message clear to enough people, and they will want your product. Especially if you present your product in a way that motivates the viewer emotionally, and they end up feeling that they must have whatever you are selling. Search engine marketing and design must be integrated to achieve this objective. There are some GREAT sites that discuss "Solution Selling" techniques. These techniques focus on hooking prospect pain issues, so that you can grab and retain their attention. Once you have their attention, if you have built a product and find that it does not meet all or enough of the needs of your market when compared to your competition, then you must seriously review your product promotion strategy.

Search engine optimisation cannot make up for a market-product mismatch.

Additionally, it is important to consider the features of your competition in performing this review. You want to be "first among equals" in all areas, if not distinctly first in most. Be equal to then better, not just different. If the consumer feels that they have a good solution with a competitor, tell them you are the same before you tell them that you are better. If you cannot match their current "solution vision" then you cannot upgrade their vision to be your solution. Your promotion materials need to adapt for this conversion to your solution.

It has been said that the biggest reason web products fail is: the product is wrong for the web, the seller loves their product too much to adapt it to the web, or the seller does not have a differentiated offering. It is clear that the seller must believe in his/her product and also be committed to this project for a long time, but they must also be willing to change their product vision to meet the needs of the consumer.

Determine What They Will Pay for What You Have To Sell

If you have any competition, now is the time to absolutely know what they do to sell their products on the Web, and at what price. There are several steps to keep in mind:

1. Study the latest demographics by visiting Jupiter Research for information about Web usage patterns. These reports are certainly interesting and they provide audience demographics that might be essential to pricing decisions.
2. If you offer a product (rather than a service), start with generic keyword searches by visiting the search engines and searching for products in your category. If you follow the link to the product description page you find the statistics and description for the products in your keyword groups. Make a note of the company name so that you can visit their websites later. This only finds web products available from this dominant site, and may miss some products available from the company web pages or Malls. Specific Steps:
3. Use your favourite search engine (try the major engines) and look for your keywords. This is a little more tedious since you may get articles in the list. Identify products that are not already on your list (these may not be available for demo, but they are probably available for sale).
   1. Repeat this process at the major Internet Mall sites. Even eBay would be good.
   2. Repeat this process at the ZDNET site.
   3. You may visit the above sites directly while you have their links available in the search results, or enter the names from your list, but you must visit each web site on your list.
   4. Their Web pages should also have a Products page with a description of their products and an Order page with detailed pricing information. All of this information is necessary for you to complete a features and pricing comparison chart. If you have any concerns that they might be serious competitions for you, then download and evaluate the trial copies of these products. Know thy competition.
   5. Perform a review of all product features, pricing and value.
   6. Try to consider yourself in the role of the VP of Marketing for your competition. What is their search engine placement, channel focus, and sales strategy? Who do they consider their competition and why? Consider that your competition may have brand name recognition, and thus, can command a higher price for their product. If you know and understand your competition's strategy, you may survive.
   7. If the competition sells their product in a retail channel, they may not be able to compete on a price-point basis. Use this to your advantage.

Develop a Web Site Using These Web Site Design Principles:

1. There are obviously "things" that a Web architect must know. Much of this is contained in this site and many others linked to this site below. You still need to have a minds-eye image of what is possible before you spend too much money doing it. We recommend that for optimal search engine placement that you start by reviewing this site once, then on the second pass spend more time on the Web by "surfing" my links, and those linked from our links.
2. Write the text and "storyboard" your site much like creating a good product specification. Use a word processor to lay-out all of your pages. Make sure that the flow is simple for the novice Internet user. Try to keep the body content of each Web page to between one and two 8½ x 11 sheets of paper, or if heavy information, minimize graphics and limit the size to no more than six pages. Focus on making the message clear. Creativity, and how quickly the page loads, is more important than the use of extra artwork for the sake of looking "cute". And when this is finished, call a Marketing Consultant first, definitely before you call a web page designer. Message and Placement sell on the web. For artwork, we recommend JupiterImages.
3. It is important to consider some aspects of e-Commerce: web-based commerce with a human touch is very effective in most cases, especially with 60% to 70% of all shopping carts being abandoned. Do not design around human contact if it increases the ability to sell your products. Factor it into your design. While this may be against the Amazon.com hands-off model, some firms like FaceTime Communications are integrating AOL Instant Messager into their website e-Commerce applications to answer last minute questions. Reports are that buy decisions increase six-fold if questions are answered. Customer Service is evolving, and it is alive and well on the web.
4. Double check the site architectural concepts.
5. For all sites that you identify, go to their web site and visit their home page. Choose the browser option to view their Home Page HTML source (this might be a complex process). Scan these sites for search engine placement keywords and terms to make sure that your list is complete. The steps needed to determine what may work best for your site are on our Search Engine Optimisation Tools page. Do This Now!
6. Marketing is everything. It brings potential buyers to your door. But proper design is vital, because without effective design, as was mentioned earlier, the buyers who see your home page will leave before it finishes loading. The average home page loads in 48 seconds, and the average visitor stays at a home page for 35 seconds, obviously many leave before the page finishes loading.
7. Create/Design the site by taking content and art, mixing it with navigation and style, testing it on family and friends, and always listen to comments, grunts, pregnant pauses, and blank stares. Specific advice on development of a page is at our Quality Site Criteria page and we suggest that you visit it now, before you code your first Web page! Try not to copy a page layout from another site. Use your own words, ideas, and artwork whenever possible, making sure that the message in the image matches your text. Make sure that the visitor knows what you are saying/selling at all times.
8. Carefully consider the use of database tools, visual tools, and java tools. These are areas receiving a lot of interest, and technology work, and they might be right for your site. Carefully consider your options since some could adversely affect search engine placement.
9. Use the smallest graphics that you can to relay your message. It is estimated that 20% of all Web users surf the Web without graphics enabled! But always have graphics if it helps sell your product. Don't add graphics just to be neat -- an animated mail box is really not something to add to a commercial site.
10. Follow these rules (mandatory for Free Site Listings):
    1. Make sure the site is rated for Family Viewing (keep it clean)
    2. Be courteous to other authors at all times -- respect their copyrights, trademarks, and intellectual property.
    3. Make sure the site is NOT a multi-level marketing site, a network marketing site, or a get rich quick site (although some MLM sites can get into the free lists if they are not moderated).
    4. Make sure the site is NOT graphically overburdened. Minimize the use of CAPITAL letters, large fonts, and extensive graphics, especially animation.
    5. Make sure the site Home Page loads quickly and informs the visitor what you have to offer them right up front. If using sounds, use MIDI files whenever possible instead or WAV files, and default to "off" unless sounds are short. Be careful, some browsers crash when sound is enabled.
    6. If you entice visitors with a FREE OFFER or CONTEST, make sure you explain how to obtain the gift or prize in an obvious manner. (FREE is good, but contests usually don't work and there may be legal problems).
    7. Always choose to communicate information rather than to display wiz-bang nifty technical skills. These gadgets are a no-no to many free sites even if mandatory for some award sites. Animation, although exciting to see sometimes, is a definite distraction on most pages and actually decreases sales. Avoid it unless there is a purpose for it.
    8. If you are going to be selling a service or product, take the time to establish a merchant account and accept credit cards. The good news is that this is easily implemented with or without a store. The bad news is that it takes effort to set it up. It is strongly suggested that you visit our page on e-Commerce considerations and follow those instructions carefully!
    9. Consider a page of Testimonials. We find that it helps with prospects, award applications, and maybe even with free site reviewers.
    10. You must visit a few sites to appreciate the range of artistic contribution a website can make. Browse your competition. Look at Award Sites (discussed later).
    11. You must visit NetMechanic and get a FREE site Tune-up! This is not an optional step! If you alter your content on a regular basis and you think you are going to be active on the Web for a long time, we suggest that you subscribe to this service.
    12. Invite critiques. This is most easily done by joining a critique site such as coder.com.

These are guidelines to make sure your site is reasonable. But remember, the content of your site is the key. You must compel your visitor to stay, learn, and eventually do business with you. As with a direct mail piece, you must "hook" your viewer within seconds of their arrival, or they will be gone forever. This is marketing, pure and simple. This is NOT just web site design, nor is it only search engine marketing, and it is certainly not cloning a neat page from another industry. You cannot afford to be a "me too" site if you want to effectively utilise the power of the web as a sales tool.

Need More Help? - Lorem Ipsum

Obtain A Domain Name And Site Host (ISSP)

Like it or not, this step in search engine placement needs an Internet Server Solutions Provider (ISSP) and Internic registration. [An ISP usually does email and connections versus an ISSP that offers full-service site hosting.] As an agent, most consultants can get this process arranged in minutes.

Need More Information on Top Level Domains? - How to Select a Domain

To see if your desired domain name is available, click here.

It is VITAL that you obtain a domain name. If you ever need to change ISSP's, the process of changing registrations with hundreds of directories and search engines is more than a career! And since search engines may register each page in your site, the number of entries increases times the number of pages you have. We strongly suggest that you get a domain name NOW!

As the owner of the site, you can certainly shop for price and features, but at an average monthly cost of under $25 per month, what counts is ONLY how clean the site is (no spam penalties), reliability, speed, and core support services. Even if you have plans to operate on your own computers connected to a high-speed link, this should initially be at an Internet Server Solution Provider (ISSP) facility. It can always be moved.

Ask your Consultant who is the most responsive to their needs. As for obtaining a domain name, this is easy and is available for minimal fees (Registration is between $40 to $70 for two years depending on the service used For serious takers wanting top search engine ranking for competitive terms we require dedicated IP numbers for each URL promoted, raising this fee but worth the investment.

In well over 99 percent of all cases, the owner of the website has never visited their ISSP. Why? Because it isn't cost effective to do that. The ISSP can be anywhere in the world and provide suitable services. And if you don't like the ISSP, change! Our site offers free debugging of your cgi-bin scripts in private cgi-bin libraries as well as unlimited email aliasing and autoresponders.

Now would be a great time to order new stationary and business cards with this updated information. Revise your FAX cover sheet, and perhaps your phone messages once the site is live.

Internet Marketing Through Links (Search Engines, etc)

"Every day over 340 million web users rely on search engines to locate new businesses" -- Financial Times

Before submission you must have prepared your site for search engine placement. If your site is not prepared for top ranking then a submission service can only give you many, many poor rankings.

After revisiting our Search Engine Optimisation Tools page (you absolutely MUST visit this page!), you are ready for your initial placements.

There are many Web businesses offering to list your site with search engines or directories for FREE for some sites, and for a small fee for other sites. The key is that over time, the categories change, the registration format changes, and there is a great difference between being submitted and being registered. At present, there is a 25% mortality rate for search engine sites every few months, and those that survive do so by upgrading categories and registration formats.

Search engine placement requires some homework. Before making this commitment, make a written note with the below information:

1. Your Web address (URL) in the form of "http://www.yoursite.com/"
2. Your email address in the form of "yourname@yoursite.com"
3. The title of your Home Page in the form of "yoursite -products for {need}"
4. A 40 character product description
5. A ten to twelve word site description (your site TITLE probably)
6. A twenty-five word site description
7. A forty word site description (keep in your paste buffer). Consider using this text at the top of the displayed area on your home page.
8. A list of sixteen to twenty words best describing criteria that a prospective visitor would use in a search engine to find your site
9. A complete list of keywords (up to 1000 characters) sequenced with the most important first (possibly from your HTML Keywords line)
10. A one paragraph description of your product(s)
11. Send $10 to the address at the bottom of this page [just kidding - wanted to see if you are still awake].
12. Of course, address, phone number, fax number, and webmaster name.

Important: Before placing your site you need to visit our Search Engine Optimisation Tools page to make sure that your keywords are optimal.

The sequence is to first submit to the major sites by hand. In fact, this is mandatory for a solid search engine placement strategy.

If you intend to do your own search engine placement, then you MUST see our special tool offerings. It is difficult to analyse, let alone understand, the usage of words on a web page. It is hard to generate effective pages that route traffic to your site. And it is at times overwhelming to analyse the overall rankings of your site even with the best position monitors. Isn't it worth an average of $15 per month to have access to tools that make these tasks easier and more effective? Visit our Free tool sampler page to see what we mean.

There is no indication that your search engine placement effort is hurt by frequent submissions, but too often and this may be considered spam. Submit all of them, but one at a time and one per week. Additionally, some of the larger engines are said to be ignoring add requests from "mass submission" sites, although this is not well documented nor confirmed. In fact, this seems to be improbable based upon the data being submitted, but it is possible that the IP address of the submission site is being filtered instead of some item in the data.

As a result, use the Major SE URL Add page for the major engines as needed (not more than once per week), and when using ALL others do not resubmit to the major engines from these other submission tools.

It has been said that 90% of all of your Search Engine visitors originate at one of these major engines. If this is true, then your time is best spent doing hand registration with these major engines and then only doing the other sites when you have free time.

Major SE URL Add page (do this weekly for 4 weeks).

We suggest that you pace yourself, adding only up to five URLs per day as a maximum, and not submitting more than one time per week. As a result, performing the above add requests as scheduled will allow you to remain within the acceptable range for most search engines.

Also note that the engines will regularly discard submissions without processing them. By resubmitting you have a higher probability of having one of your submissions "take". Also, some indexes appear to give preference to "fresh" submissions as determined by the date of last update of the page and the last submission date. So you should update your site often and resubmit at least twice per month.

More than one registration engine (use them in the order presented and definitely use them all) should always be selected and used. It is obvious that they are not identical, and their lists are quite different. In general, you are submitted to award sites, many free-for-all pages (contains thousands of free links), and the top engines. But use them first to spread the word fast, then go back and focus on the big hitters.

At this point it is unclear whether you have already reached the point of diminishing return--where much time spent is time wasted. This is where you should decide to use an inexpensive automated tool or continue with hand submission from "submit page" lists. In almost all cases it is best to browse sites like Eureka! for pages where you could hand-submit your site.

After placing your site, use the SEOToolSet™ to see how well you have done. This handy set of tools will use your search criteria to determine your position in search responses. Since some search engines take weeks to add your link, don't be surprised if you don't get listed for the top twelve engines. We would use this on a regular basis to make sure things haven't changed while you weren't looking.

Please review our pages on Pay per Click (PPC) search engines and how they contribute to this area.

An additional source of links comes from Award programmes and Reviews. Such programmes require the same information as the above links, they take time, many are useless but a few are great, and they are harder to find than just about anything on the Web. It may take a while to win yourself a few awards, but they are certainly available to those willing to invest the time.

Note that a link like:

http://click.hotbot.com/director.asp?id=1&target=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ebruceclay%2Ecom%2Fweb_rank%2Ehtm&query=search+engine+Search Engine Optimisation&rsource=LCOSWF

does not count in the search engines as a direct link, although it may actually bring the visitor to your page. You will not receive credit for having this link though. Simply put: such links do not contribute to the popularity of your site. This type of link is commonly found in search engine results pages and in third-party affiliate programmes.

A handy tool for checking your Reciprocal link counts is linkpopularity.com. It gives you a very quick count of your links in AltaVista, Google, and HotBot. Clicking on the counts gives you the specific links. Click here to see our link counts.

It is worth mentioning Webrings as a source of traffic. Sites are "joined" into a link that allows visitors to your site to visit similar sites. Although a webring may increase traffic via Webring visitors to your site, there is no evidence that this is significant traffic. Join carefully, since this is as much of a path leading away from your site as a path leading to your site. I recommend that you not participate in webrings unless there is evidence that this is a significant traffic source.

Internet Marketing Through Public Relations

It is an art to produce and distribute press releases properly. We have selected sub-contractors to handle this sensitive matter under our direction. It usually takes me several iterations on a release before it meets our approval, so you should not accept the first thing given to you either.

There are about 1,000 internet accessed editors that can receive a copy of your release, although most will ignore it if it is anything other than newsworthy. The thing to remember about editors is that many are NOT online! The email machine is down the hall, away from their desk, so it is a slow and tedious process to get their attention strictly with automated services that send out a hundred releases each day. Really, hundreds each day -- check it out. If we were print editors, and we had to journey to a shared email machine, why would we find your press release special when compared to the hundreds in our queue? It is truly an art.

Visit the branding methodology section of our site for additional help.

For hard copy, personalize the address (always!) on a cover letter and sign it, distribute this document with a 35mm colour slide suitable for printing in a magazine or newspaper, and possibly a product sample. It costs a little more, but the print rate increases significantly.

To see if you have appeared in the press, visit Newsindex.com. This site searches for your keywords (use your URL). The ability to produce a well worded press release, followed by the ability to distribute it to the right people, and finally the ability to get it to become news are three different skills. I suggest that this "free press" comes with a cost (production and distribution) and that you should plan on about $250 per page, per press release plus costs associated with printing, samples, photographs or images, and (in some cases) postage. The costs for a personalized campaign will be much higher.

The key advice here is that the press release must be differentiated from the thousands of others in your category. For instance, advising the world of a new site is not particularly newsworthy. Advising the world of "the formation of a special association, club, or group that offers [something really special]..., visit at...." is far more newsworthy, and will likely get the attention of editors and get your release some attention. Editors really love a press release that helps them do their jobs more easily - so write the release well and make it print-ready. No fluff.

Internet Marketing Through Banners and Print Media

A banner is designed to direct people to visit a site. For every 200 banners displayed, on average only one person will click the banner. It is not the role of the banner to sell your product! Never forget that. The banner is a traffic cop, usually only designed to divert people to your site or to establish brand-name awareness. You will fail if you try to sell with the banner! The banner has the attention of the visitor for a few seconds, so artistic quality should be low and message "hook" should be high. The goal is NOT to have pseudo-traffic to your site if visitors are of no benefit to you. Of course, they could tell two friends that tell two friends, etc., but if you can be targeted with your banner, consider that an advantage. To design a comprehensive banner search engine placement programme, visit our Web Banners page now.

One way to use banners to get people to your site is to "divert" them from other sites. This is the case where a banner position for product B is for keywords associated with product A. As an example, using a search engine, type in "Ford" as your search word and see a banner on the search results for a competing car company.

To check your brandnames, use Bannerstake, a site you can use to find out if your competition is using yours (or any) specific brand names as keywords on leading search engines.

It is also important to understand where Classified Advertising on the Web plays a role in your announcement process. If you visit my search engine hub and search for "FREE CLASSIFIEDS" you will get hundreds of listings. Many of these are directories of free listings, so you will only find a few that are very valuable. But the major issue is the nature of your product, and the nature of the listing. For instance, does your product really belong in a listing for Health Foods?

Most Web surfers are more interested in information than saving money, so focus on information "hooks" rather than "SALE!" (but FREE is always a big catcher). And never advertise a contest because it costs money to give away a product, and most visitors don't purchase from your site if they are there for the contest.

Autoresponders and Faxback services fit in this category, as well. If you are actively promoting your site via any press release service you should assume that some of your press releases will get printed media coverage. In cases where the reader does not have access to the Web, they may still have access to a Fax or to limited email. In these cases, it would be prudent to identify information provider services that fit this need in advance.

"Sales" is, and always will be, a numbers game, meaning that having more equally-qualified prospects will always result in more sales. Don't ignore autoresponders and faxback services as valid information dispensing sources that supplement your website. The trick is to do everything you can until and unless one proves to be far superior to the rest. Many times your ISSP will have an Autoresponder for free.

Along with Search Engines, this is the biggest drawing card that you will get to create site traffic. It is critical that this programme be done properly. Without visitors, your Web programme will fail. This programme requires a consultant to be highly effective. To have something basic to generate some traffic is easy, and with the proper tools you can do this at home. To have a great programme that generates traffic takes special skills.

Most Web advertising agencies advocate the use of the Web as a "branding" and "sales starter" tool. Web advertising is an extension of your current marketing and advertising programmes, but it is not the same. We feel that while it is smart business to properly advertise on the Web, it is only effective if the goal is increased commercial commerce. Running a Web advertising programme to give away free content is usually not a good thing. So, if you are considering your site to be a revenue generation activity, make sure that your advertising is focused on bottom-line revenue deliverables instead of simply image. Make sure it is able to be measured, and definitely make sure it is profitable.

Visit the branding methodology section of our site for additional help.

Simply put, the consumer must have a need and demonstrate a willingness to fill that need before advertising is effective. If the content is desired by consumers, and if the technology to deliver that content in an effective and concise manner is in widespread use, then you have access to consumers. And given a large available consumer base desiring your content, products, and services, then advertising makes sense. But you cannot create a need with advertising, you can only offer to fill a need that already exists.

Internet Marketing Through Strategic Relationships And Reciprocal Links

Strategic relationships take many forms. They are called partners, associates, affiliates, resellers, and more. There is often a mutual reward for the relationship, sometimes involving commissions, finders fees, referral bounties, and maybe barters. These relationships are usually quite rewarding to the participants, with the largest site developing programmes worth millions of dollars per year. Most sites consider banner exchanges, or perhaps affiliate programmes initially, and wait until their traffic justifies a larger programme. These programmes are discussed elsewhere in this page.

Perhaps today's most emphasised search engine marketing exercise is the development of links to your site from other sites. Some of these major search engines are now beginning to allow "reputation" to improve search engine placements. Reputation is determined by counting the number and quality of other sites that link to your site, so the more links there are from other quality sites to your site, the better your ranking. Additionally, if the other site itself is well respected, then their link to your site is worth more. For instance, a link from the Microsoft.com site is better than a link from BobsPage.com (no disrespect meant, Bob).

As a result, the second area of concentration should be obtaining links from as many top sites appropriate for your topic as possible. These sites receive a lot of traffic from various sources outside of the search engines, and as a result they can potentially direct as much traffic to the site as the average search engine.

Every time you visit a website that caters to the same market, contact that site and suggest a cross-link. An example is: visitors who are interested in Peanut Butter would most probably be interested in Jelly as well, even though the products are quite different. Find non-competing but subject-related sites and invite a cross-link relationship. One major tool to assist in this search are search engines or directories. For instance, you may feel that you are a great product in Category-A, Sub-category-1. Look for products in Category-A, Sub-category-2+ where the company has no intention of competing with a product in your segment.

This is a search-intensive process followed by an email or phone intensive follow-up process. A handy tool for checking the Reciprocal link that goes to your competition is linkpopularity.com. Entering the URL of your competition gives you a very quick count of their links in AltaVista, Google, and HotBot. Clicking on the counts gives you the specific links that go to their sites. Some of these sites might also be willing to link to you if they also link to your competition. Additionally, a Consultant can certainly help in this area.

While no single reciprocal link site generates as much traffic as your largest search engine, our links collectively total more visitors than any one search engine.

Certainly the process of identifying potential link sites is non-trivial. But then once identified, you must research each site so that you can identify the individual page where you would like the link, write the text for the link and make sure it fits within the context of the target site, and then issue a well written professional plea for a link. This plea must be anything but a form letter. It must demonstrate a knowledge of the target site, it should state why you think you compliment their material, provide the suggested link text and URL to your site, and state that you think their site might make sense as a link from your site. On occasion there will be two or more requests needed before there is a reply from the site. The process can clearly take a lot of time and effort, and is best accomplished by personnel who know the web and how to design websites.

Visit the search engine optimisation methodology section of our site for additional help.

Internet Marketing Through Email Discussion Groups And News Groups

Read carefully - never sell your product in any way or form in a newsgroup or discussion group. You join these groups to obtain information about what the market needs, and to keep an eye out for new competition, and just slightly to sell your product.

And always, if your posted message has a product name in it, respond only and directly to the person posting the question or to the list manager. Never respond without helping (the message is key), never attack, and try to only use your signature address to reference your site or products. Blatent advertising is a definite taboo violation.

This is a sensitive area, but it is worth your time to join a few groups. We have found that joining newsgroups is easy (takes a matter of five minutes, but follow-up can be a chore at times). Be prepared to get a lot of mail if you join a lot of groups. No, it is not as effective as search engine placement, but some newsgroup postings do find their way into indexes and popularity counts.

To find out if your site is being discussed in discussion forums, search either Google Groups (used to be Deja News) or visit Dogpile and enter your search term and select "Usenet". Be prepared for honest feedback, both good and bad, from this community.

A Forum is basically a board where you may post questions and comments, and where others may reply. For an example of a forum, visit the Search Engine Watch Forum. If you have a topic and can find an appropriate forum, you get to demonstrate your expertise which may get you visitors. Be careful, you want visitors because of what you know, not because of what you sell. Obviously you must find a forum that meets your product promotion needs for this to be a significant branding opportunity.

Email and news groups are a favourite traffic tool because they reach exceptionally targeted user communities. These readers are pre-qualified as interested in the topic, if not the specific products, that you want to offer. For search engine placement, a great ezine resource is to use Larry Chase's Web Digest for Marketers.

Internet Marketing Through A Bulk Email Program (Careful!)

According to Forrester Research, a Broadcast Email Ad is up to 15 TIMES MORE LIKELY to Result in a Sale than a Banner Ad!

Okay, so direct mail works great in real life but the internet is different. Bulk email is hated by many and worshiped by none. The question isn't whether it will help or hurt (image isn't everything?) but why you should do it. For instance, if you wanted to offer good news about a free offer, it could be great. Mail is never junk if it solves a problem for the recipient. However, if you wanted to sell something nobody wants, it could be bad. The most significant difference between direct mail and email is that direct mail is paid for by the sender (postage) while with email the entire Web pays the price in performance, and sometimes in service provider fees. So, if you ever do bulk email, make sure that the mailing list is limited to willing subscribers that know that they are subscribers, and that your message solves their problem. Do it right, and they will tell two friends, but do it wrong and they will tell everybody!

Opt in lists are a must. Double opt in is the best way to go. Visit the email discussion section of our site for additional help.

Consider this, with email just about everybody without a filter will at least read your subject line. Make it interesting enough to a targeted audience and you could find this the most cost effective internet marketing tool available to you. But do yourself a favour, debug your email before you send it to the masses. Too often email is sent with a bad URL and no other way to reach the sender. Bad email. Note that e-zine ads offer many of the advantages of direct email, without the risks.

Interesting enough, all it takes is one person to complain. Spam is considered illegal according to federal statute. US Code Title 47, Section 227(a)(2)(B) specifies that a computer/modem/printer meets the definition of a telephone fax machine. Then, according to Sec. 227(b)(1)(C) it is unlawful to send any unsolicited advertisement to such equipment (fax-like machines), punishable by action to recover actual monetary loss, or $500.00, whichever is greater, for EACH violation. How many $500.00 checks do you want to write? So your email had better be to a subscribed mailing list.

Legislation requires the following headers in outgoing emails:

• This message is sent in compliance of e-mail bill: SECTION 301, Paragraph (a)(2)(C) of s. 1618
• Sender : [full firm name and street address]
• Phone : [full phone number]
• E-mail : [valid email address!!!!]
• To be removed from our mailing list, simply reply with "REMOVE" in the subject

Even with such notices, email legality remains questionable when sent into some states (Washington comes to mind). Using a service is clearly recommended to avoid legal complications!

We have information on CAN-SPAM for you to use as a guide.

Even within a subscribed list, some will complain. Email is often useful in developing top-of-mind recall but that is hard to remember over a barrage of SPAMMING accusations that are apparently unavoidable, even with subscriber lists. And, if you are not careful, you could trash your credibility.

Include Human Interaction

In our opinion, the lack of answers causes most shopping carts to be abandoned prior to the sale. If you are operating a site with an intent to sell a product, then you have considered an e-Commerce implementation, probably complete with a shopping cart and all of the necessary technology to support it. The least understood component of this process is what causes visitors to enter deep into a site, select products, but not buy them.

It is important to consider some aspects of the sales process: web-based commerce with a human touch is very effective in most cases, especially with 60% to 70% of all shopping carts being abandoned. Do not design to avoid human contact if human contact increases the ability to sell your products. Factor it into your design. While this may be against the Amazon.com hands-off model, some firms like FaceTime Communications are integrating AOL Instant Messager with their website e-Commerce applications to answer last minute questions. Reports are that six times as many visitors will buy if questions are answered. Customer Service is evolving, and it is alive and well on the web.

Measure Progress And Change Only One Thing At A Time

The measurement of results is vital to making money on the Web. This is a never-ending cycle. Any company will be looking at statistics (as misleading as they may be) because they are able to indicate relative performance. Put the measured statistics into a spreadsheet and review them daily. We suggest that (at a minimum) you report visitors (versus hits or requests) and average time spent viewing your site. If the average viewing time is less than the time to load your page then there is obviously a problem!

If you tune your programme properly you will see a gradual improvement in each of the overall averages. But do not believe that you have a statistically valid sample until you have had about 10,000 Web visitors. Only then can you project future traffic, and even then it is subject to the whims of the internet and your competition.

Forecasting is like driving a car blindfolded while getting directions from somebody looking out of the rear window. Where you were may not be a good indication of what lies ahead.

Another issue to consider in statistics gathering is that a normal site is altered on a regular basis, so you will be measuring a moving target. For instance, you may (should) be regularly:

1. Adding/Changing Content
2. Updating Search Engines
3. Adding reciprocal Links
4. Posting in Newsgroups/Targeted Subscribed Email
5. Running e-zine ads and maybe opt-in direct email ads
6. Responding to Competition (Price/Feature/Content)
7. Adding Media Programmes (Banners, Press Releases, etc.)

Although these activities can take a serious amount of time, these are the things that are needed to assure web success. If you care to do it right, you will spend at least 15 minutes per day on these items (about 6 hours per month). This gets to be a major distraction from your core business, and it is why consultants offering search engine placement services for a minimal rate are doing so well. This is a service that we offer on a monthly retainer.

Visit the analytics methodology section of our site for additional help.

This is a rule. Change too many things (even two things) and the results cannot be tracked back to either change. How do you identify what works best for your target market if you change too many things at the same time? Market testing is like product testing. Isolate each stimulus and response to see what works and what doesn't.

Place This Icon On Your Website

For those who have actually followed the above methodology and process and feel that they have a site that was improved through these steps, please proudly display the image to the left by adding this META code (or the equivalent) to your page:

"Clay's site exemplifies the perceived trust, reliability and credibility that result from giving away free expert advice on the Web. At first glance unprepossessing and text heavy, this site nonetheless offers comprehensive, stellar information on effective website design, promotion and search engine registration. Clay's site is a must-visit for Internet marketers, for both the quality of its information and its modeling of what works on the Web." - Larry Chase, Web Digest for Marketers