| |
 |
| |
Promote and publicize your website economically!
One of the most common and worst mistakes you can make when
setting up a new website is to build it and then tell no one
about it. If you build it... the WON'T come. We've met people
who've built websites that tell more folks about their new
cars than the website they just spent seveal thousand dollars
on. Make no mistake, you'll need to spend something. If you'll
read the tips below, you will be on the right path to promoting
your website without spending thousands of dollars more.
Learn how to promote your retail jewelry website on a budget:
- Banner advertising on local websites.
Make a list of local websites that likely have a
lot of traffic from local residents. Include websites
for local television stations, radio stations and newspapers.
Include local gazettes & periodicals; local successful
businesses. Especially include popular local sports and
weather websites. Every region has several of these.
- Link exchanges with other popular local sites.
You may wonder how this will help drive traffic to
your website. It won't directly. Most people do not spend
hours digging through the Links pages of other people's
websites. But search engines do. They will typically index
all the pages of a website. If a link to your website
is on a popular website that has already been indexed
by search engines, it won't be long until the search engine
finds your site. That WILL directly help drive traffic
to your site. You must dedicate a page or area of your
website to do this however. You will need to add links
to websites you are trading links with. Someone MUST contact
owners/operators of the sites you want to trade links
with to initiate a link exchange. This is a mostly manual
process and requires the dedication of some time.
-
GemFind Link Exchange program.
Swap links with us! Our website is already in the
major search engines and it is indexed periodically. By
including a link to GemFind on your Links page (and GemFind
doing the same in return for you), your are ensuring that
it is just a matter of time before major search engines
like Google, MSN, etc. find you. Request
a link exchange with GemFind. Your link will remain
on GemFind Links page as long as your site is active and
a link to GemFind remains on your Links page.
- Pay-per-click programs are powerful ways to receive
traffic.
Want to show up in major search engines and you want
it now? This is for you. Major search engines like
Google,
MSN,
Yahoo
all have some form of "pay-per-click" advertising opportunites.
Essentially with a program like this, you sign up, deposit
a little money in your new account, bid on some search
terms (e.g., 'diamond bracelets') and everytime someone
CLICKS on your new sponsored ad they are directed to your
site and your account is debited for the amount you bid.
Easy enough right? Yes, but there are a few things to
watch out for. Don't get overly greedy for traffic at
first. These programs are likely new to you, so you are
obviously unfamiliar how they operate. Start with low
bids and see what kind of traffic you receive. Also -
observe the rate that your deposited money diminishes
as you receive clicks. The rate of account depletion can
be logarithmic in relation to your bid amount.
Example: You bid 10 cents for the search
phrase 'diamond bracelet'. Your account receives 23
new visitors in one day and is debited $2.30. You think,
"This is great!", and up your bid to 20 cents. You get
twice as many visitors right? Wrong. The next day, you
are surprised to see your account was debited $16.80.
What happened? You received 84 visitors that day! You
are not only paying more per click, but because your
ad is displayed higher up in search results, you are
receiving more clicks! So go slow! Start small at first
and get a feel for it. Figure out what you can afford.
Pay-per-click programs can be excellent tools to drive
some traffic to your site. Don't get a sour taste for
them by jumping in feet first.
Don't target generic terms. Think you're going
to wrestle the top spots away from Blue Nile, Yehuda or
Tiffany for the search term "diamonds"? Maybe for a few
hours you will. Then your account will be empty and you'll
need to make another deposit. Besides - do you really
want traffic from people searching on such generic terms?
Seems like they might not know what they want or might
want something you don't even provide. Find some more
specific search terms that really encompass the traffic
you want.
- Use Email Campaigns to bring people to your website.
One of the best ways you can communicate with your
customers en masse and invite them to visit your website
is through email. In order to do that, you will need your
customers email addresses, so start collecting them right
now! Even if you're not ready to run an Email
Campaign through GemFind, you have to begin collecting
your customers email addresses. With a list of email addresses,
you can notify customers easily about all kinds of things:
upcoming events or trunk shows; new designer lines; holidays
greetings; special gift certificates or coupons; the launch
of your new website! Let GemFind put together an Email
Campaign for you today.
- Local radio and television advertising.
If you don't do it already - look into it. Don't
assume that something like this is prohibitively expensive.
Thirty second radio spots can be had for $100. Television
ads are more expensive, but once you've created the commercial,
the only significant expense is air time. Start small
- run your commercials on cable channels. You don't need
primetime NBC or a spot during Desperate Housewives to
be effective. You just need to be seen/heard.
- Billboards are a great way to promote your site and
business.
Billboards can be extremely effective. With thousands
of motorists passing by a full color billboard with a
hot, new, full-color Tacori or Scott Kay ring on it, you
will receive a return on your investment. Web visitors
and more walk-in traffic to your store. The billboards
don't need to be enormous either. They don't need to be
on I-95, I-40 or whatever your closest major highway is.
Like pay-per-click... start small. See how it works for
you.
- Local newspaper and gazette ads.
Check on the price of a quarter page or more in the
local papers and free "style" gazettes. Put a stunning
picture in there and put your company name and website
(much less prominent) down below it. Catch people's eyes.
Your logo isn't going to do that - but an amazing necklace,
bracelet or ring from a new designer line sure might do
the trick. Make sure your website address is clear, distinct
and written in something bigger than 8pt font type. People
can get to your website in thirty seconds. It usually
takes a bit longer to get to your store.
- Put your website address on everything you have.
Don't wait until you run out of business cards or
letterhead. Throw out the old and order new immediately.
Make sure that wherever your company name is, your website
address is just below. Let people know in everyway you
can that you have a new website. The website is open 24
hours a day, 7 days a week. You're not.
|
|
