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10 top tips for small businesses looking to promote their website

9th January 2012 Print

The internet promises a wealth of opportunity for small businesses as millions of consumers can be reached for relatively little money. There are hundreds of examples of adverts ‘going viral’, and many of them were created by relatively small companies.

However, the sheer amount of options available can leave you not knowing where to start and spend your budget. Do you go for PPC or would link building services for SEO be more suitable? Here we will give you 10 top tips on internet marketing.

1. Define your aims – Do you want your site to attract new customers or provide a service for existing ones? This will define the nature of your site’s design and your approach to online marketing.

2. Start with your site – Make sure that your site is up to scratch before attracting people to it, as a poor site will reduce the effectiveness of your budget. Ask for opinions from friends, family and valued customers and try to go through some of the processes yourself.

3. Know what you’re on about – Have a look at all of your options and make sure you know all you can – if you don’t know the difference between SEO and PPC then now is a good time to start, and there is lots of free advice online.

4. Get social – Social media is a great way to attract and engage with customers, and clever approaches and promotions can ensure a loyal following who will then promote your company for free.

5. SEO – SEO is all about improving your ranking on search engines and can have a huge impact on sales. Whilst the impact won’t be instant, the basics are simple and the concepts can be applied to all of your activity.

6. Promote your authority – Often the advantage small businesses have is their specialist knowledge. Blogging is a great way of promoting your expertise and building customer confidence.

7. Build links – Building links is crucial for SEO, and link building companies like Ad Rank are a cheap way of assisting this to help you fly up the rankings. Links should also be included in every blog you write.

8. Integrate your services – Try to reduce the distinction between your online and offline services. Promote your site in your shop to encourage visitors and use online promotions that drive people to come in your shop and see what you do first hand.

9. Experiment – There are so many options available, and every business is different, so you may try a few things before you find exactly the right method for you.

10. Analytics – Measurability is one of the biggest advantages of online marketing and an increasing number of services include it as standard. Google analytics is a must, allowing you to identify the weak points in your site and see exactly what is working and what is not.

The internet is becoming key for online businesses, and cheap solutions like a well thought out offer on social media or a good link building service can have a significant impact on sales and customer retention.