» I'm Online, So Now What?
Generating Traffic for Your Company's Website

by Alex Benson of MCP Media, Inc.

Let's say your company has recently made the decision to expand your market to include cyberspace. You've done your research and designed an absolutely killer website. You've got your URL, you've got your host, and you're ready to rock and roll. Bring on the profits! Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. Your company can have the slickest website on the Internet, but if people aren't finding you, you aren't making any money. The answer to this is, of course, marketing.

Web marketing contains some new procedures and methods, but the underlying principles are the same as in the 'real world'. You must attract people to your product, create a positive impression of your brand, and facilitate an atmosphere that encourages the potential customer to make a purchase.

The World Wide Web is a vast place, with literally millions of different webpages on any subject you can think of. To help sort through this maze of information, most web surfers use a search engine, such as Google, to find what they are looking for. Google uses a somewhat complex method called ‘crawling’ to find information on the web, which is then indexed on the Google servers. This index gives the web surfer their search results, and is updated on a frequent basis.

Google (and other similar search engines) can be an excellent resource for increased traffic, but only if your site appears at the top of the search results. Most people never look at the second results page, so if your site isn’t in the top twenty, you’re missing out on quite a few potential customers.

Though Google’s specific methods for ranking search results remain a closely guarded secret, many companies have had quite a bit of success with a process known as ‘search engine optimization’, or SEO. For a fee, an SEO company will work with your website using several different techniques to raise the search result ranking. While this may seem to be an extraneous expense at first, careful analysis will show that it is not only worthwhile, but a necessary investment as part of your overall marketing strategy.

Search Engine Optimization is a valuable tool for your Web Marketing Strategy, but it is certainly not the whole story. Another highly effective method of generating traffic is purchasing advertising space on other websites. This often takes the form of banners placed on popular sites where your target market would likely browse or having your site appear among the ‘sponsored’ listings in a search results page.

If you choose to use banner advertising, smart ad design cannot be stressed enough. Web users are bombarded with advertising constantly, so only the most interesting and/or informative ads will catch their attention. The key is to give them a reason to be curious about your site, without trying to cram too much information into the small space of a banner ad. Also, avoid misleading ads, such as those designed to look like Windows error messages. This will be a turn off to most web surfers, and will only hurt your brand image.

Most search engines also offer a program where a company pays a fee to appear on a sponsored results list. This list generally appears before the regular search results, and therefore can be another valuable marketing tool. The different search engines offer varying programs, but generally, you select certain keywords and/or geographic areas, and relevant searches return your website in the sponsored results. Depending on your particular product and market, this has the potential to generate quite a bit of traffic.

The practice of ‘link exchange’ can also be a successful and inexpensive marketing device. This is where you make an agreement with another website – generally one that offers a complementary good or service – to prominently display a link to them, and they, in turn, link to you. This can be beneficial by generating extra traffic to your site, as well as fostering useful partnerships with other companies.

E-mail can be a good way to follow up on sales leads and market to existing customers, but do not – I repeat, do NOT – engage in unsolicited e-mail advertising (also known as Spam). Much like the misleading banner ads, Spam nearly always annoys your potential customer. While you may generate a few sales this way, it is ultimately counterproductive when you consider the negative image attached to your brand.

Your Web Marketing Strategy, in the end, should be designed to reach your target market in the most efficient way possible. Remember to stay true to your brand. Just because your company is now in cyberspace does not mean that you should abandon the principles and themes that have brought you success in the real world. Thoroughly research your target market, use the resources at your disposal to reach them, and stay true to yourself.

Alex Benson is a creative writing specialist and for MCP Media, Inc. MCP Media is a Phoenix Arizona based web design, web development, and internet business development firm.