Basic Tips on Web Marketing 1. Give out freebies. A good web marketing practice is to offer something for free. Make sure what you offer is related to your business. You can offer free newsletters or a free trial period. Offer free articles. Just make sure your byline and site information are on the articles. 2. Practice web marketing with blogs or forums. You might want to start a business blog. If you get readers and feedback, you’ll get more links which will increase your page rank. Think about putting a forum on your site. This will get people talking about your products. You will have to arrange for moderation and answering questions.
3. Think outside the Internet. Consider advertising outside the Internet. Think about advertising on television, radio, or in newspapers. Make sure your URL is in the ad. Look into trade journals and yellow pages. Study ads similar to yours. Advertise through direct mail, classifieds, and postcards. Consider leaflets, mail shots, billboards, and posters. When submitting to search engines, think of industry sites and specialized directories. It would be good to register with directories that focus on your field. You may want to join trade associations that will let you advertise your site. Issue press releases to print and Internet periodicals in your field. 4. Put your URL in print. Think about putting your URL on paper products such as letters, cards, and other print materials. Consider making a brochure. You might want to put your URL on packaging, receipts, and warranties. Think about making promotional items such as pens, shirts, mugs, and bumper stickers. Double check that the printer gets the URL right. It’s best to omit the “http://”part and to print just the www.mysite.com URL. 5. You can use email in web marketing. Advertise in your email signature. Don’t go over eight lines. Company name, address, phone number, URL, fax number, email address, and a short description of your business can be in the signature. Send out email newsletters. This way you can get email addresses from potential customers. At signup, ask for an email address and the first name so you can individualize the email. When you email people (those who have consented to be emailed), make it short with the URL listed. Also send plain text. Some people and email systems don’t like HTML email. Put your company’s name in your email address. Check your email frequently for customer correspondence. You may want email addresses such as “sales@yourcompany.com” or “help@yourcompany.com”. Consider using auto responders. This is sending an automated response via email. Your ISP may offer this service or there are free services. 6. You can practice web marketing with offline customers. If you have customers offline before building a site, tell them about your new site. Mention it in business calls; don’t call just about the site. You can refer customers to your site for more information or special offers just on the site. You can incorporate your URL into a telephone message such as an on-hold message. If you see people in person, you can give them a business card with the URL on it. Stress how it’s beneficial for them to visit your site. You could also send postal mail informing people about your site. It could be an ad or part of a routine letter. A postcard might be more effective. | 
