Smart business people know that an internet business promotion strategy is essential for driving traffic to their websites. No matter the size or scope of the business venture, a well-thought-out strategy can make the difference between successful website and one that languishes in obscurity. As with all business functions, the owner or management team needs to make the time and expend the effort to establish promotional goals and then list the objectives for turning those goals into reality. Of course, there may be stumbles along the way, but these setbacks can be turned into educational opportunities for those with the grit to stand back up, brush themselves off, and keep moving forward. The tools for effective internet business promotion are not that complicated, but that doesn’t mean they don’t take time to implement and to keep current. On the contrary, promoting a website, when done right, is an ongoing task. Fortunately, there are many free and low-cost resources available, both online and in print, that provide information on these various tools and how to utilize them to one’s best business advantage.

One important tool is search engine optimization (SEO). Search engines have certain criteria and formula that are utilized to rank websites. According to the internet business promotion experts, these complex formulas include such elements as the number of times key words are used on a site, the number of links to and from the particular website, the website’s content, and how often the content is updated. When an individual enters a search term on a search engine’s website, the results are ranked according to these complex formulas. With the effective use of SEO, a website owner or manager can take steps to increase the site’s ranking when relevant and pertinent search terms are entered on the engine’s site. The strategic use of certain key phrases usually increases a website’s ranking. Blogs are essentially a no-cost method for establishing an online presence, but buying a domain name for one’s blog may help improve its ranking. A personalized dot com name seems to have more legitimacy in the engine’s complex formulas than a blog name. Individuals can find a great deal of information on this and similar topics to help with internet promotional strategies. This counsel and wisdom can come by turning to the experts for assistance.

Another tool in the internet business promotion box is the effective use of informative articles. Article-writing is actually a two-prong approach: articles on the company’s website and articles written for other internet sites. As an example, let’s say that a small business owner is the sole proprietor of an online store that sells all kinds of fish supplies, including aquariums and all the little gadgets that go inside of them, fish food and medications, nets, and other equipment. The proprietor’s website is designed to make it easy for potential shoppers to select the items they wish to purchase and to proceed efficiently and securely through the checkout process. But before shoppers can make purchases, they have to know about the online fish store. The proprietor writes a series of articles on the proper care and handling of fish and includes them as content on the online store. Perhaps one article discusses the right way to set up an aquarium. Another one may be targeted to beginning aquarium owners while a third provides the more in-depth information that an avid hobbyist would appreciate. By using internet business promotion strategies, these articles may appear in the results when certain phrases are entered into a search engine. The visitor reads the article and may make a purchase. This is the first prong of article writing.

The second prong of article writing is to write and post articles on other relevant websites. For example, the sole proprietor may contribute articles to an encyclopedia site or a how-to site. Perhaps, the internet business promotion articles could be placed on in the fish section of a pet supplies online store. To be effective, these articles should have a link back to the proprietor’s own online store. This way, visitors to other sites may follow that link back to the proprietor’s store and make purchases. The articles themselves can be written by the proprietor or ghostwritten by a professional writer. Large companies may not be as interested in this strategic tool as sole proprietors and partnerships that have a relatively small market share. These owners know that they have to do everything possible to promote their businesses on a small budget. Writing articles for the online store and other websites helps them to establish themselves as experts on the particular industry. In this example, the sole proprietor is establishing himself as an expert on aquarium fish.

Another aspect of internet business promotion is to encourage visitors to return to the site. This can be accomplished by utilizing email marketing techniques, such as providing an incentive for the visitor to subscribe to a periodic newsletter or to agree to receive promotional messages via email. Perhaps the visitor will receive a coupon for a 10% discount by signing up for the newsletter. This way, the sole proprietor can build a database of visitors. Experts can assist the proprietor, if necessary, to set up the necessary software applications to create newsletters, manage an email distribution list, and respond to customer feedback. A loyalty program can be created for frequent shoppers. These are great techniques for turning visitors into customers and customers into repeat customers. Once the small business person establishes goals, his internet business promotion strategy can use tools such as search engine optimization, article writing, and email marketing to reach those goals.