Web Page Tools & Promotion Resources

During the coming months we expect to offer numerous white papers here, on many aspects of web site design, traffic generating strategies and site marketing techniques. Until the white papers arrive, we offer the following information.

Quality web site design can only bring a web site so far. If you are competing in a small market or have a highly unusual or unique product, a web site built by a skilled online marketing professional will probably suffice. However, the larger the market (think online competitors, not geography), the harder it is to gain and hold a #1 search engine ranking.

If you have launched your web site, it's complete and has been online for more than 6 months, and it's still not meeting your expectations, try using some of these strategies. If your time, resources or energy is limited, give us a call (603-369-1471) and we'll tell you which strategy will best fit your product. And of course, we can also do this work for you!

Article Submission Sites:
Articles are a great way to improve your online presence and make your name known. Doing it though, can be time consuming, and like all online marketing, there are few silver bullets.

If you choose this method, make sure your article has great content, is easy to read, and grammatically correct ~ spelling and other mistakes will only paint a negative impression.

For a decent list of sites to submit your article to, click here: www.ebizstartups.com (Read past the advertising!)

For more information via a subscription service, visit this site, www.articlesubmissionsites.com.

Feeling lost already? Take a correspondence course about writing online feature articles from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. $135 for the class, $175 if you additionally want individual critiques of a profile, a column and a how-to article. See www.dcs.wisc.edu.

Blogs:
Blogs are simply personal or corporate journals written and available online. Anyone can own one, and if you have writing skills and something to say they can be useful tools for getting out your message. They are sometimes stand alone web sites, or aggregated into online communities, usually around a specific topic.

The following sites are offered as places to get your blog:

Blogger.com
Blogspot.com
LiveJournal.com
Vox.com
Windows Live Spaces
Xanga.com

For tips on writing them, consult ProBlogger's article, "How To Write Great Blog Content"

Keyword Tools:
Keywords alone won't guarantee quality search engine ranking, but their incorrect or poor use will absolutely guarantee poor ranking.

Ideally, keywords should be in your domain name, title tags, alt tags, meta tags and approximately 2% of the words in the text of your pages. Each page of an average small business web site should be targeted with a unique combination of keywords. Use of the following tools can help you identify which keywords will work best, and the density of your preferred keywords within your site.

Word Butler - This site will set you back about $150/year (annual purchase) but it can help you identify the best keywords for use in your site.

SEO Chat Keyword Density Tool - This FREE page will help you understand your page's keyword density.

Music:
Music can be used to evoke memories or heighten feelings. Its proper use can be a genuine help to your site but not every site should use it. This is especially true of sites viewed predominately in business settings but for personal use. No one wants the boss to overhear wedding music at the bride's work station so use caution. Also be cautious to only use royalty free music so you don't get socked with annual fees.

Royalty free music does not mean free. There is typically a 'download' fee. Short clips of 15 seconds or less start around $10. Web sites frequently continuously replay the clips (called 'looping') to make 'music' for any length of time. Full length pieces can run as long as 5 or more minutes, and usually range from about $47 to $99.

Some of our favorite royalty free music sites:

BBM.net
The Music Bakery
RoyaltyFreeMusic.com

Photography:
Text impresses the search engines, but photos and graphics impress users. Today's users are increasingly sophisticated. Make sure that your site is sufficiently attractive so no one has a reason to doubt your credibility or quality of services. The rule of thumb is, the higher the quality or cost of the product or service, the more attractive the web site needs to be.

Much 'stock' photography is available, possibly millions of images. Fees are inexpensive but the time to view them, and select just the right one(s) can be enormous. And if you have a nice bed and breakfast in a scenic location, stock photography just can't communicate your uniqueness. Seriously consider a commercial photographer. Today's digital cameras do a great job at capturing images, but a poor job in subtly lighting them ~ and that's the magic the professional brings.

If stock photography will work for you, download fees will cost you as little as a $1 each, but $3 - $10 would be more common. Be SURE to save your receipts in case you are ever asked to document your purchase. Depending on the photography source, lack of documentation can cost you $1,000 or more licensing fees, per image! SAVE receipts.

Some sites we like and use:

Ranking Services:
How well is your site performing? The BEST measure is the cash register. If that isn't humming, start by analyzing your site's traffic. Ask your web site hosting company for site statistics. Then compare your stats vs. the competition. The tools below will help you estimate where you stand. Use these sites to get a rough idea. Our experience tells us the volume isn't particularly accurate but the 'relative numbers' (i.e. you vs. the competition) can be helpful, as well as other information. The user demographics offered at Quantcast are helpful as well.

Alexa
Quantcast

Search Engines, Networking & Profile Pages:
Search Engine Ranking is a precise but voluminous topic. It's been estimated by some that nearly 200 aspects of your web site are analyzed by Google. We typically counsel clients to concentrate on the basics. Important among them is the number of 'back links' or 'inbound links' you have to your site. Inbound links are best when they are not reciprocated and come from quality sites. Anecdotal observations suggest sites or solicitations offering to place you on 'thousands' of web sites are virtually useless and are frequently said to cause search engines to devalue your pages.

If you are not #1 in search engine ranking already, get your site out there! Ask for links to your web site from your business network of associates, community portals and friends:

Town, Town Library or Chamber of Commerce
Business Development Organizations
Trade or Professional Associations
Retail Merchants & Better Business Bureau
Statewide or Regional Websites (think: DirectoryNH.com, NH.com & MadeInNewHampshire.com, etc.)
Suppliers & Wholesalers
Subcontractors or Service Contractors

Create and place profiles in the following business web sites:

GoMyLocal
Linkedin
Manta
Plaxo
Ryze
Sectorpages
SmallBusinessNewz
Technorati
Xing
Yellowbot
YPGuides
ZoomInfo

and the following social networking sites:

Bebo
Delicious
Eons
ExperienceProject
Friendster
Gather
Hi5
Jaiku
Multiply
Tagged
Zude

and if you are daring:

Facebook
Faceparty
GoodReads
MySpace
Meetup
Tribe.net
Twitter

and possibly:

Ratepoint.com

If your organization has an event scheduled, place a listing in Eventful.

If you have an interesting product or service with quality photography, or photography is your service, you may want to try:

Flickr
Photobucket
Snapfish
Webshots

Do you run with a 'group'? Bring it online here:

Ning

Consider 'In-Person' networking too. Consider using:

Meetup

And be CERTAIN your business and your site is listed on Google Maps.

There are several other sites that may be of use to you, depending on your interests, heritage, and location. To see a somewhat expanded list of those, try Wikipedia's list. Keep in mind too that there are often topical link directories online that may offer useful backlinks (lodging or plumbing directories, etc.)

Statistics, Web Performance Tools:
All reputable web site hosting services will have free web site statistics available for site owners. While those tools vary widely they are typically sufficient for the average site owner. However, if you want to get really in depth, you will need an outside tool. There are two we can recommend.

BlizzardTracker
Onestat

Misc. Resources:
20DollarBanners.com - An inexpensive resource for creating quality banners.
BigNoseBird.com - While this site is short on looks, it's long on help! Over 300 pages of tutorials, reference materials, and other free resources.
Graphics Kingdom - Thousands of clipart, icons, backgrounds, bars, interfaces & other free graphics.