Few organizations can survive and expect to thrive today without a website. However, a website should be far more than an online brochure. To be effective, a website must be marketed to draw prospective customers and visitors to your site, and once they are there, visitors must want to stay and learn more about your product and services. This article provides you with PRMG’s Top 10 Tips for marketing on the Web.

 1. Build a Strong Website – Your website is one of the first impressions people will get of your organization and should be carefully planned out. When planning on a design for your website, determine the message you want your website to communicate, the audience you are trying to reach with it, and your budget. Our article on developing a website to obtain higher search engine ranking also provides more tips and information on building a strong site. The following are some sample elements to include in building a strong site:

• Home/Introduction
• Company/Organization Overview
• Areas of Work/Services Provided
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Requests for more information
• Previous Work/Client Lists
• Testimonials
• Publications Page
• Calendar of Events
• Photo Gallery
• Resources and Related Links Pages
• Multimedia and video
• Flash – nice, but not search engine-friendly
• Company overviews

2. On-page Optimization – This involves making changes to the site itself – text content, architecture of the site, HTML code, page layout – to ensure higher search engine rankings. When it comes to the leading search engines, correct content can make all the difference. On-page optimization, which accounts for about 40% of a site’s ranking, places keywords throughout the code to show the search engines what your site is about, helping to increase traffic to your site.

3. Off-page Optimization – Off-page optimization deals with changes made outside of the site itself to increase the quantity and quality of inbound links to the site. The goal is to maximize the site’s exposure on the Web, getting as many sites as possible to link back to your site. Approximately 60% of search engine ranking is based on inbound linking.

 Read Developing a Website to Obtain High Search Engine Ranking for further details on Search Engine Optimization.

 4. Blogs – Integrating a blog, which should have its own domain, into your website is a driving factor of additional traffic and to increase the page rank value of the master domain. Since search engines place heavy emphasis on new, current and quality content, a blog is a great vehicle to ensure that your site is fresh.

Blogs can also increase communication with your organization and with customers, providing added value for your services. They raise the organization’s profile online, and engage interest in issues within your market, presenting the organization as a leader in the field.

 5. E-Newsletters

• Can be sent out as e-mails in HMTL format or as attachments in PDF format
• Create lead generation
• Identify and track recipients who click through
  • 15%-25% of relevant content-related unsolicited e-mails are opened
  • 25%-35% of e-mails sent to pre-existing contact/customer/client lists are opened.
• Third party vendors increase likelihood that e-mails reach intended recipients
  • Provide HTML and text options and decipher which to deliver to recipients, such as sending a text version to a BlackBerry
  • Integrate with sales force automated programs

6. Social Media Sites

• Most popular examples – Facebook, LinkedIn & Plaxo, MySpace, YouTube, etc.
• Most important use is to increase the number of quality organic links to your site
• Quick, layman’s vehicle to tell people what is happening in your business as compared to regular e-mail and snail mail campaigns
• Ads now available on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube that give opportunity to micro-target demographics
  • Facebook captures postings to create analytical data on what people are talking about, which can then be used to target market certain keywords

7. Directories/Links – Place your links on free directories, and pay for directories that can prove that they have high traffic and click-through results. Reciprocate links to relevant content on your website.

 8. Advertising

• Ad Words – PPC (pay per click); drive traffic, especially when topics are in the news
• Banner Ads
• TV – Purchase on websites, such as New York Times
• Social Media

 9. TV – Stream video on the web. 20%-80% of people who go to the website will view the video, which should be your best foot forward.

 10. PR Newswire/Marketwire – Post articles and events online. Use press release distribution services such as PR Newswire and Marketwire.

 From website development and optimization to blogging and e-mail marketing, PRMG’s experienced staff can develop Web-based solutions to help you develop and build your business or organization within a budget you can live with. We’ll develop your website and help you achieve top search engine ranking, and you will have peace of mind knowing that all of your techniques are “white hat,” meaning we’ve never had a client site banned from Google.

 Isn’t it time that you let your website work for you? Contact PRMG today to learn more about our comprehensive and customized Web solutions at (631) 207-1057, or email: johnzaher@theprmg.com.