Got a website but no traffic? Is your small business internet marketing ineffective? Consider these small business internet marketing tips and tricks to help drive traffic to your website:
* Get an automated eCommerce system - These can be really good, very comprehensive and very inexpensive. The good ones can do everything from customer base management to product management to shopping cart to newsletter broadcasts.
* Get a cheap and reliable merchant account provider - You can get merchant account providers that do both the merchant account and internet gateway for you. Hint: your bank is probably more expensive than the discount providers out there.
* Put a link back to your website in your email autosignature - This doesn't need to be obnoxious, just a simple link that email recipients can click on to see your website.
* Do selective link trading - Link trade, but make sure the content on the other website is similar to your own. Don't touch "link farms" with a ten-foot pole; search engines hate them.
* Write articles and include your website address - There are a number of article databases out there. Find some article databases which house content similar to yours and write a few articles. You'd be amazed at where your articles show up!
* Write newsletters - Allow for customers and visitors to subscribe to a newsletter to get regular visibility to you and your company.
* Consider using a search engine submission services - These services submit your site to multiple search engines & directories. Can be helpful particularly if your website is new.
* Set up an affiliates program - Allow for others to promote your products on a commission basis. Again a good eCommerce system should already have this built in.
* Download the Google Toolbar - The Google Toolbar has a nifty feature which shows you the page rank (0-10 scale) of every site you visit. The higher your page ranking the higher your placement in search engines.
* Set up multiple websites - Got three services you perform? Set up three different websites with domain names that match your keywords. Super cheap to do and can be very effective.
* Consider setting up a Google AdWords account - You pay on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis to get your website advertised. Can be effective but also can get very expensive.
Lonnie Pacelli has over 20 years' experience with Accenture and Microsoft and is currently president of Leading on the Edge