We, unfortunately, cannot tell you in just one or two articles ‘how to’.  Because marketing websites has become more important than ever before, at the rise of the credit crunch what a perfect time to improve your existing site and begin serious online web promotion.  What we can give you is a quick insight into web marketing and provide you with a taster of just how it can work for your online business.

Where to Begin?
If you already have a website and are happy with your website company, naturally they should be your first point of contact.  Marketing websites in the proper and correct manner will have a great impact on your business.

If you are setting out to find a web designer (see our related article) then it’s the right time to ask about setting up your site so that it can be appropriately marketed at your target audience.  If you choose a niche designer that only works within your sector then that’s perfect, but what is truly essential is their experience in search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing (SEM).

Optimisation Basics
In simplistic terms, SEO is simply a way of improving an existing site or enhancing a new one to include key words and phrases that your potential customers will enter into, say, Google to find you or your products – not everyone knows your website address, especially if you have chosen to focus on brand rather than a business name with an obvious or descriptive title.

SEO is conducted with content in mind, in addition to links to other sites and (preferably) links from other sites, and is a rather extensive analytic procedure however it can bring extraordinary returns when carried out correctly.

SEO should be recommended by your web designer as a way of getting your site ‘out there’ in order that it’s found by those who want to find you.  Any successful site is proof that good SEO works and can ensure business success not failure.

Marketing websites is a complex task, and one that takes patience and creativeness.  Quite simply, it is a task conducted often by full-time optimisation experts that know exactly where to begin and can take a site from obscurity to the popular world that is the online shopper.

Email marketing uses the modern technologies of modern electronic mail in order to reach out to a targeted audience, but we don’t have to tell you that – you’ve seen all the adverts you see right there in your in-box haven’t you?

It’s just the importance of email marketing that we are going to share because it’s a part of everyday online business now and an essential part of your daily or weekly marketing strategy.

Why Use Email to Market a Website?
Direct marketing has always been a winner and it’s in recent years that it has been changing.  Marketing via email is nowhere near a new idea, but it’s fast become just one of the important measures needed to ensure a business is reaching potential clients.

Email marketing is not spam, it is a quality way of reaching out and telling your potential clients what is going on in your business.  If you have a sale, then you need to tell people – it generates interest and can mean the difference between a successful sale and a, well, one that just trickles by.

Promotion of your products and services via email should bring curious shoppers to your site.  Provided you have a well built site with creative design and usable features then a percentage of those visitors will be converted into customers.

Email can be used alongside a direct marketing campaign as a branding exercise, some companies do this to excess whereas some companies – especially small to medium businesses – use the method to finely target people that fit into a category.

Either way, once you have a great site that works for both you and your shopper, email marketing services are on our highly recommended list and should be a serious part of your website marketing strategy and gives a unique vision of your site and your niches.

Driving traffic to a website is a basic way to explain online marketing.  Affiliate marketing makes up for such a lot of business on the internet, yet there are still so many website owners that have not yet chosen it – indeed, many site owners don’t know it exists.

The economic climate is fast affecting the way we are doing business.  The UK, for instance, will spend our way out of a recession and many of us small or medium business owners need to jump on the ‘fast’ bandwagon that is affiliate marketing in order to maximize the benefits.

Affiliate or Publisher – Placing Adverts on your Website
Facts surrounding affiliate marketing are actually fairly straight forward – the ‘marketer’ provides rewards, or commission, to those websites sending custom their way.  By publishing an advert (text links, banners, shop window) on your site for another retailer, you become an affiliate of that business.  When a shopper clicks on that advert and buys a product, you effectively receive a ‘finder’s fee’ for that sale.

Advertiser or Retailer – Websites Promoting your Business
Turn the above process around, and you are the advertiser.  You will pay a marketing company to promote your site to members who will then take your own promotional banners or links.  That member will become your affiliate and will promote your products, and you pay a commission when someone buys an item.

There are alternative names given to the companies that drive this type of marketing, and an affiliate marketing company will track sales and leads on your behalf making the process extremely easy to set up and keep on top of.

This type of online marketing is a perfect compliment to search engine marketing and email marketing campaigns as it can often enhance brand recognition and really can improve revenue and profits with fairly low effort need after initial setup – a highly recommended method to include in any marketing strategy if you want to beat the competition.

Database marketing is a fairly new and modern method of promoting a business and is beginning to be used in place of more traditional methods of direct mail shots and customer leaflet dropping.

Database programs are usually used in order to ease complications that are experienced by companies to determine exactly who their target customer is and helps to minimise on time and effort when it comes to reaching out to that customer.

Databases hold information such as previous customers and what they have bought, details of market research that has been conducted and are often bought from companies holding details on those customers.

Businesses that can – be that the larger corporations and retailers – will use a tailored database management system that allows them to analyse demographic profiles of their target group, where they are, and exactly how their advertising budget can be maximised to adjust current marketing methods and market to a chosen group.

Smaller companies still use database marketing, however often on a much smaller and less involved scale, though some companies are still confused at how it works and just how to use the programs to their advantage.

Where Does Information Originate
Unfortunately, some methods used to gain information on customers do not comply with any kind of moral and people tend to be put off by direct marketers – being approached in the street is often not convenient and not welcomed, but the majority of ways to gain information are deemed safe.

This kind of information is often provided by the customer who authorises the recording of information by leaving a tick box blank – I think we’ve all seen those!

You may see these whilst making a purchase, or being tempted into buying a product or service, and the temptation is often ‘to win a prize or reward’.  Lots of the information is collected by websites when we register for email updates.  The information can be sold on which is quite possibly why some companies do not use database marketing due to the negativities surrounding the way information is obtained..

It remains to be seen if smaller companies are able to use this method of marketing as a more regular business tool, but it will certainly stay popular within the direct marketing world that is the bigger budget companies.

Growing a web presence and establishing ourselves within the competitive online community can often mean that results and revenues are risky.  Ultimately, an experienced web designer you can get to work within your sector is something that can make your website work for your business as well as creating a good solid web presence.

Understanding how to help business across a variety of industries conducting a number of different projects can be daunting without the necessary and wise heads and relief comes when you find the web designer that has the background in dealing with your type of business.

Approaching a company that not only know the world wide web and work it 24/7 is, evidently, rather a long arduous task (unless you have had the good fortune of a trusted recommendation) and one which can prove costly, but you must choose a design firm that understands your needs and can take that much further.

Knowing that a web presence brings extra followers and with todays web changing on a regular basis, an online web presence can help gain more of your customers trust and can actually help to grow your business as opposed to drain away your profits.

Choose a company that can assist with your web presence, in addition to helping you create an extra few limbs that your business can rely on.  A website will bring you visitors you may never see – perhaps you have a shop in Norfolk, you will see tourists and locals visiting and spending money, but your website can bring you national recognition and a trusted customer base.