In continuing with online marketing and my tradition of list posts, I’ve decided to write an online marketing post that everyone can use. Don’t have a blog? Get one–but if you refuse, use these tips for your business’ website or your team’s online marketing strategy then. Here goes nothing:
- Write great content. If this tip ever leaves these kind of lists, I’d be appalled. Content is the first priority for online marketing success–if you don’t have a way to write–or get–great content, leave now. Everything else you read here is null. This subject is huge in itself, so I’ll defer the rest of it over to Brian at Copyblogger.
- Comment on other blogs. Leave helpful advice and tidbits of wisdom–and thank them for their work–on other blogs. Commenting is like backwards online marketing–you’re making yourself and your business available for people to see your trail online. Head over to IntenseDebate for a great (free) service and WordPress plugin to use for commenting on your blog. Aim for blogs in your niche, but understand that with inner-connectivity the way it is in online marketing, ANY blog or website will do. Google will find you!
- Respond to every comment you receive. This tip is harder to do if you’ve already got some serious traffic, but for my site, it’s a MUST. I only get one or two comments a week (sad face), but when I do, I respond and email them personally for stopping by. For my ulterior motive of possibly eventually selling to these people, online marketing principles tell me that trust is key–build it now or forever hold your peace!
- Guest post. Guest posts can drive a significant amount of traffic your way in a very short amount of time–are you ready for it? Be sure that your blog is ready to “receive” guests–have landing pages ready, and make sure there’s something for them available when they arrive, or that your online marketing campaigns are set up and ready to convert.
- Use StumbleUpon campaigns. For a very low conversion rate (compared to AdWords), you can pay for an exact number of “stumblers” to arrive on your site. Same rules apply–be ready for them! I’ve used StumbleUpon for online marketing before, and it’s a great way to guarantee some traffic, but beware–this type of traffic doesn’t tend to stick around or purchase anything!
- Be involved on Twitter. Use Twitter to promote content you read and subscribe to, and every now and then (read: 1/5 of the amount you promote others’ work) promote your own blog posts and articles. You can even use Twitter marketing software to gather and create leads, if that suits your business’ online marketing style a bit more.
- Ask for traffic. Use social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to post questions, stories, interviews, whatever, and actually ASK your network to let you know what they think about it all. You’d be surprised at how many people are okay with an unsolicited yet gentle push.
- Geo-target your Google listing. If you are a business (or use your blog to bring in leads), use Google’s Business Listings to show off your location and a little about what you do. This works well for service-oriented blogs like consultants and speakers, and is a key element for bridging the gap between online marketing and offline marketing campaigns.
- Pay for traffic. For many online marketing campaigns you could, of course, use Google AdWords to drive traffic to a landing page like this one. But be aware that there are many other search networks out there, and most are cheaper than Google! Hint: the AOL search network runs on Google and can be up to half the price…
- Be present. There is something about the online marketing world that seems to know if you’re really there or not. Sure, you can plan a blog post and 3 Tweets to go out for each day of the month, but people seem to know that you’re on autopilot. Do the above and automate all you want, but only to free up time to spend responding to comments and commenting elsewhere and building your network of real people. As my favorite professor says, “Are you in it or into it?” Be into your blog, and people will start noticing.
Got some more ideas about online marketing or generating traffic? I’m pretty sure I didn’t cover everything–drop me a line in the comments section, and we’ll keep this post going! For now, though, subscribe to my newsletter!
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
These tips are highly effective. I have implemented a majority of them on my blog. The key however is to be persistent, be patient and work hard.
Persistence is definitely key, Walter. I've been running this blog for over a year, and only now is the site beginning to ramp up in the way I intended all along. Patience wasn't always one of my strong suits, but in blogging, I don't think we have a choice!
This is great advice for lengthening your internet reach. I think once we begin to cultivate a presence with our blog, people become more drawn to it. They say, "Oh yeah I have heard of that Nick Thacker guy before…I've seen him around at place X and Y…" It begins to give you "celebrity-status" and that alone can drive more traffic. It begins to become self-perpetuating.
Thanks for sharing!
I like how you used the term self-perpetuating. I've also described this phenomenon as a "self-fulfilling prophecy," as the more I do it, the more successful it can be. This blog, for example, is relatively unknown. The more comments I get and the more I promote it elsewhere, however, the quicker it will begin to spread!
Great tip, Steven!