Promote your Web Site!

Promote your Web site! Many of our merchants operate an on-line store or web site in order to increase their sales.  We often get questions on site promotion, and so we have decided to use this issue of our newsletter for this purpose, and share some of our hard-won ( and proven- as you will see) knowledge with our merchants.

  With that said, read carefully: DO NOT PAY ANYONE $200 to $300 DOLLARS TO PROMOTE YOUR SITE!!!  Most of these companies will take a generic description of your site, and 'cram' it into the registration servers.  This is one of the big rip-off's going around today.  We use the FREE service at www.selfpromotion.com , and we get to tailor each and every submission to optimize its placement.  This site is extremely informative, and best of all its FREE.  They do ask for a donation if it works for you (It did for us, and we contribute annually), but that's totally up to you.  By the time you get done with this, you will be an expert at site submission, and you will know how internet promotion really works (You get a full course on pay-per-click, which is PROBABLY how you found US in the first place).

Once you have started to promote your site, you need to keep track of how your site is progressing.  Here is another gem:  The Alexa toolbar for Microsoft Internet Explorer can give you full metrics on how popular your site is, how many pages of the average visitor views, and how long they stay!  AND ITS FREE TOO!  Another advantage it has, is that BLOCKS ALL THOSE POP-UP ADS as well.  In addition, Alexa's Related Links are a great way to discover new sites. As you surf the web, the toolbar is constantly updating with information about where other users visit ( a great research aid, and it shows you all the competitors for every site you visit, including yours!)

Yahoo! Google, Overture, Inktomi...  (This is a repeat from last week, as it REALLY can help!) How do they work, how can I optimize my web site for maximum search engine exposure?  www.WebProWorld.com has a very informative site and newsletter, and they specialize in search engine optimization, strategies, and marketing. They regularly converse with the people who create the strategies for Yahoo! Google, and the other giants, and this information actually converts into methods and techniques that can make a difference in your web rankings, and point out how popular practices like repeating keywords over and over can actually hurt your rankings with the big big guys.  I don't want to give TOO many secrets away... the competition may be getting these newsletters, but last week they had a great article on using keywords in your links vs the "click here" everyone is so fond of using.

Does all this stuff really work?   Take a look.  CardService International, the largest US merchant acquirer has spent MILLIONS on marketing, and are the 59,625th most popular site.  Advanced Merchant Solutions' site, www.merchantanywhere.com has been active since March 2001, and we are the 27,028th most popular site on the web.  This means our site is over 2.2 times MORE VISITED than the corporate giant's.  The primary difference is we use these tools.  Load the Alexa toolbar on your browser, and see how your competition stacks up against you!
Note: data taken from Alexa on 04/24/2004. 14:25 pst.

Suggestion Box: Got an idea? Can you think of an improvement on any of our products?  Is there anything you think we do that could stand improvement?  Let us know! Send your suggestions to: info@merchantanywhere.com 
we want to hear from you!

  Get those hits!  As you learn about site promotion, you will learn about tracking URL's and how they can help you determine what is working (do more of that), and what is not (do less of these).  After a few years, you may have more insight than what you find at www.selfpromotion.com, but it is definitely the best resource to get you there.  Pay-per-click can be expensive to learn, but here is the best tip ever, if your keywords are expensive:  Instead of trying to outbid the competition on the expensive keywords, bid the minimum (you may be the only bidder) on COMBINATIONS of keywords.  Sure, a lot of these may be taken, but if you do thousands of combinations, and only bid on those combinations that have no competitors, you may end up with as many total 'hits' as the big guys!
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What the heck is a Froogle??  EVERYONE knows Google, the fantastic search engine.  In Fact, if you are not using Google Adwords to promote your site, then the best advice I have is: START NOW.  If you are, or aren't, but want to take advantage of a new, FREE method of boosting your Google listings, list your products in Froogle, Google's younger sister.  Why??  Well, how about this:  Google is serving Froogle results in it's searches... at the top!   It's enough that the big Search Engine newsletters are posting comments like: 

When a major change comes along in search engine operation, some win, and some lose.  Post your products on Froogle (FOR FREE) and be on the winning side.  Note: You can get info on submitting here.

Copyright (c) 2004 Advanced Merchant Solutions, Inc. All Rights Reserved