Disclaimer
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent anyone else's view in any way, including those of my employer.
© Copyright 2008
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent anyone else's view in any way, including those of my employer.
© Copyright 2008
By Shelley Lowery.
If you’re looking for a highly effective method of increasing your Internet sales, then mini-sites may be your answer. Mini-sites are one of the most effective marketing tools online. Not only are they effective, but they’re also very inexpensive and easy to create.
The concept is simple. Create a one or two page website that completely focuses on one specific topic. Everything within that page should have one purpose — getting the visitor to take action.
This page should be neatly designed in standard HTML with no Flash or fancy plug-ins and very few graphics. There should be no banners or outside links of any kind and nothing that will distract your visitor’s attention.
The sole purpose of a mini-site is to attract highly targeted traffic. The more targeted the better. For example, if you have a website that sells a number of products, a good mini-site would focus on one specific product instead of all of the products. You could create a mini-site for each product you offer.
Designing Your Mini-Site
Each mini-site you create should be optimized for that one specific product. Concentrate on just a few keyword phrases, as this will help you to tighten your targeting. Remember … the tighter the targeting the better.
Title - Your “Title” should contain your most important keywords. You’ve probably heard that before, but I’ve found a slightly different method for optimizing the title. Since mini-sites focus on just one product, place the “most” important “keyword phrase” first. Not just your most important phrase, but the keyword phrase that you think people will use when they do a search. Instead of capitalizing the first letter, type it in lowercase, as most people type in all lowercase letters when searching. This will assist you in ranking higher in the Search Engine for your targeted audience.
Description - Your description should focus on one specific product and not generalize. Make sure you include your most important keywords towards the beginning of your description. In addition, make sure your description describes your site in detail. You want your potential visitors to know exactly what you’re offering. Your description should be less than 200 characters.
Keywords - Concentrate on just a few keyword phrases.
Heading tags - Search Engines pay close attention to the text displayed within the “Heading” tags. Place your most important keyword phrase within a “Heading” tag.
Graphic Alt tags - Place a readable keyword phrase within your graphic “Alt” tags.
Text - All of your text should focus on your product. There should be no filler text whatsoever. It should have one specific purpose — getting your visitor to take action. Make sure you include your keyword phrases throughout your text.
If you’d like to set up your mini-site using tables, try to place your “Heading” text above your “Table” code. If this isn’t possible, make sure you include your keyword phrases within your top left “Table cell” to assist you in ranking higher in the Search Engines.
Mini-sites are not limited to just your products. They can also be used with any affiliate programs you may be promoting. You can include extra incentives such as a free bonus for purchasing the product or even your personal recommendation. This is a great way to presell the product.
Hosting Your Mini-Site
Although it is much better to have your own domain name, these sites can be hosted on a free server and still rank high in the Search Engines. Keep in mind, free sites do not build trust and credibility. No matter which option you choose, make sure you place your most important keyword phrase (the keyword phrase that you think people will use when searching) within your web address.
Drive Targeted Traffic to Your Site
Once you have tested the effectiveness of your site and have a good conversion rate, (the number of visitors compared to the number of sales) you can buy targeted traffic. Goto.com is the number one pay-per-click Search Engine and will most likely produce the best results.
For additional options, visit: http://www.payperclicksearchengines.com They provide information and reviews on a number of pay-per-click Search Engines.
The key to using this technique effectively is to bid on “very” targeted keywords. This will weed out the casual visitors and only attract your target audience. There’s no sense in paying for visitors who really weren’t interested to begin with.
In addition to bidding on keywords, you can also advertise in targeted ezines and even purchase some targeted banner advertising. Be creative and take the time to test all of your promotions prior to spending a lot of money.
If you really want to increase your sales, create some mini-sites. They are one of the cheapest and easiest to create profit generators online.
Copyright © Shelley Lowery
About the Author:
Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, “Web Design Mastery” (http://www.webdesignmastery.com) and “eBook Starter - Give Your eBooks the look and feel of a REAL book” (http://www.ebookstarter.com)
Visit http://www.Web-Source.net to sign up for a complimentary subscription to eTips and receive a copy of Shelley’s acclaimed ebook, “Killer Internet Marketing Strategies.”
You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print, in your ebook, or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the author bylines are included.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shelley_Lowery
Elliott Noss, CEO of Tucows gave an interesting keynote presentation at ISP Con in the Spring of 2008. He addresses how businesses, even smaller businesses can be successful even with larger players in your industry. In summary, remain high-touch. Provide your customers a personalized service, a unique experience.
Watch the presentation:
A good read from a fellow blogger and professional in the web design industry. His post touches on how many times clients will cite big companies who seem to go against the rules yet are successful.
You aren’t Google.
You’re not Apple either.
As a small to medium-sized enterprise there is much that we can learn from those at the top of the business world. But, this doesn’t mean that you should copy what these companies are doing online simply because they’re good at what they do.
I can’t count the number of times that I’ve heard the marketing directors of client organizations, or even my agency superiors at former employers say “Why can’t we just have a blank white page with a search box in the middle? It works perfectly! Look how many people visit Google!” (this also tends to be the same argument many people have for Google having such a cruddy logo, but I digress…) Or, “How come we can’t have a huge graphic in the middle of the page and four graphic boxes beneath it? Apple does it and they are the best in the world!”
I recommend you continue reading this article.
A few days ago a fellow blogger made a good post about how easy it can be to make revenues from becoming an affiliate of the companies you know and use and talk about already. I agreed with his post when I read it, it was actually a tactic I had already been employing to some extent. There are hundreds of thousands of affiliate programs out there for any number of products and services and companies. Rather than choosing any old program or company to promote based purely on how much they will pay you, why not choose the companies you already endorse by either using their service or by blogging about them on a continuous basis? You already are promoting them in some way, so why not (instead of a standard link) include an affiliate link to their service? Honestly there is no reason not too.
On this blog I have long used affiliate banners and ads of companies I endorse and use. Actually linking via an affiliate link in my post is something entirely new for me. But it is a no-brainer in my opinion. The only thing you need to do is take the time to sign up for the corresponding affiliate programs. Depending on how many companies you endorse it ay take you some time, but for each it is a one time thing. It will be worth your time, I promise.
In order to take your online or digital marketing campaigns to the next level, you need to start developing a list or lists of your existing customers and potential customers. Specifically you want them to provide you with their email address and permission to be in contact with them about offers and/or information you may have.
Now on the potential customers side, you may be thinking that the easiest way to go is to purchase a list of potential customers from a third-party. While you may find some levels of success there, it should in no way be your primary source. You best bet, from a quality standpoint, is to build your own list directly. Easy enough, so where do you start?
One of the most commonly used tactics is to provide something of value to the site visitor in exchange for their email address and permission to market to them. For instance an ebook, a witepaper, etc. Internet marketers have been employing the use of “Squeeze Pages” for years with success. Squeeze pages are the landing pages created to solicit opt-in email addresses from prospective subscribers. You’ve likely come across many of these over the years, likely even filled in one or two.
If what you are providing is of value to your site visitor, they more than likely will submit their details to you. This of course is assuming you have built some level of trust with them through your site. At the end of the day the user wants that information and it costs them nothing but providing their info.
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