Promote my business

[Johnny]

Hello,

I m an owner of a small business and like to make my presence felt in internet. Can somebody suggest how to go about?
Thanks in advance.

[gregpritchard.virtualcio]

Hi Johnny,

There have been great articles written by the Flying Solo contributors on this topic. I would suggest having a thorough read of articles by Zern Liew, Nicky Jurd, Wendy Buckingham, Peter Crocker, David Lawrence, Melissa Norfolk, among others.

Flying Solo Technology

Once you've had a read of these articles; I would suggest engaging the services of one of the many designers, web developers, web strategists on the Flying Solo contributor list who can guide you.

The question you've asked is quite broad, and does not give the Forum members a specific issue to address for you.

Best of luck in your online endeavours.

[mike@engagemarketing]

Hi Johnny,
while i wouldn't say that website marketing and promotion is complicated, it can be very overbearing if your new too it.

There are plenty of good books, and the internet has more than enough marketing gurus on twitter and posting regular blogs that you can learn it all yourself with a bit of time if you want too.

Otherwise there are a lot of marketing companies around, but I suggest that you pick them carefully - i know a lot of 'marketers' that i wouldnt want marketing my company!

Hope that helps a little. If you need help being pointed in any direction for a book or anything, just give me a buzz!

Cheers,
Michael

[Avatar Consulting]

Hi Johnny

As they say the information you need is found in the Internet and if you spend enough time searching, surfing, and poking you will find the information you need eventually.

Having a website presence is important for most businesses in todays search for more customers and you need to make sure that you dont commit to long contracts and other promises to get you site in the top 10 ranking etc.

Promoting your website

Make sure you know what your customer profile is-so you can target it better
Look at your business brand image and stay consistent to that where possible
Research search engine optimisation and how it works
Research your keywords that your customers use to find similar services as you.
Then spend hours promoting your site through directories and engines.

Fact 1: Unless they work for Google they cannot guarantee any ranking results. Even Google employees can't i believe

Fact 2: Be careful of link farms as they will hurt your ranking more than help

Fact 3: Make sure you website has content that your customers want to see.

I am not a web designer, but i have spent a very long time using the Internet to find information during my time in Business Intelligence and Investigations across Australia. I now provide my knowledge of the Internet Vault to other businesses.

Understand that a flashy designed website does not guarantee more customers will find it. In fact my experience has shown that it often makes it harder for your site to be found by new customers.

Hope this helps you

[Adam Randall]

Originally Posted by Paul Baker

Hi Johnny
Understand that a flashy designed website does not guarantee more customers will find it. In fact my experience has shown that it often makes it harder for your site to be found by new customers.
Hope this helps you

Yep, I dont know why people mistake the word "web site" for "hood ornament"

Design and looks should be about number 5 on the list of priorities.

The amount of companies that spend a fortune on web design and still have "my home page" on their main page as the title is amazing.

I can understand however why SEO professionals (even the really good ones) would want a contract, either that or an hourly rate, because as you say there are no guarantees, there is lack of understanding which loosely translates into "We have not seen results, so we are not paying you"

[Heidi Price]

Originally Posted by Adam Randall

Yep, I dont know why people mistake the word "web site" for "hood ornament"

Soooo true! I am always astounded at the number of businesses who commission a site, and then dont include the URL in their offline marketing efforts.

And dont get me started on the home pages with "hello, my name is........" or "this is my online shop........:

*shudder*

Heidi

[LukeH]

I would spend a couple of hours online learning about the basics of Search Engine Optimisation. There is a lot of free information out there to get you started. Even if you later choose to engage someone to do your SEO, you will understand some important basic concepts of what Search Engines are looking for.

There are of course numerous SEO strategies, but the underpinning principle is quality, relevant, keyword-rich content. Updated regularly. Start with that and you'll be on the right track.

[LeelaCosgrove]

Okay, am I being overly cynical ... or would I be right in suspecting that 'Johnny' and 'Alberto' have the same IP address, oh dear admins?

So SICK of this kind of spam!!!! Happens everywhere.

Ask a question, answer it yourself ... pft.

[Burgo]

Heidi, had to check on my website www.theoneroom.com and home page starts off ' hello my name is.............but Im finding this an advantage...........Im trying to personal, or should it say something else?

[FS Administrator]

Originally Posted by LeelaCosgrove

Okay, am I being overly cynical ... or would I be right in suspecting that 'Johnny' and 'Alberto' have the same IP address, oh dear admins?

So SICK of this kind of spam!!!! Happens everywhere.

Ask a question, answer it yourself ... pft.

Hi Leela, they do actually have different IP addresses but, yes, I do share your cynicism here as we've blocked quite a few spam messages over the last few days. We've taken Alberto's reply (the one with the promo link) offline for now and will keep an eye on future posts.

We've now closed the thread but kept the rest of the discussion online as it still contains good information. Thanks for pointing this out.

If any forum members do see suspect posts, please don't hesitate to use the 'Report Post' link above which sends us a message so we can check it out.

If you feel we have been over zealous in our spam deletion then drop us a line.

Thanks,
FS Admin