Frequently Asked Questions about Web Site Promotion

These are the most common questions our clients and prospects ask us about advertising and promoting their web sites. If your questions are not addressed from the list below, be sure to contact us and we will be happy to discuss this in more detail:

• What are my options for site promotion?
• Are there other options for site promotion?
• Is Banner Advertising an effective ROI mechanism for sales conversion?
• Are programs that promise more hits to my site worth the investment?
• Will affiliate marketing or link sharing programs increase popularity?
• We get lots of hits to the site, but nothing is happening after that. Why?

What are my options for site promotion?

Market-Vantage contends that there are two dimensions to online site promotion – the “pull model” and the “push model.” The pull model taps into the demand from buyers who use the Internet to research their purchases. They use search engines and directories to learn about the solutions to their business problems. The key to leveraging the demand of the pull model is making certain that you are where the buyers are looking. That means optimizing your site to be visible on the appropriate search engines and being listed in the appropriate directories. It also means leveraging cross-links with partners’ web sites. Push model site promotion means stimulating demand by delivering a message to the buyer that causes them to want to learn more about your product or service. The message can be delivered via opt-in email, newsletter sponsorship, site sponsorships or web banner ads.

Are there other options for site promotion?

Don’t overlook the opportunity to use your web site as a fulfillment mechanism for off-line marketing activities. Any marketing activity that offers information and/or a call to action can be a candidate for linkage with your web site. Direct mail (snail-mail) can drive traffic to your web site. You can capture information from the buyer, provide an immediate download of requested information and keep track of response metrics. Print ads offer another opportunity to drive traffic.

Is Banner Advertising an effective ROI mechanism for sales conversion?

Using banner advertising on the Internet is an effective way to increase brand awareness, and provides methods for tracking click-throughs. Of course their placement in high-traffic portal sites and within specific user context is a necessary requirement to maximize results. Establishing ROI with banner advertising is a bit more challenging and many companies realize better success with alternatives such as newsletter sponsorships, email campaigns and targeted site sponsorships.

Are the programs that promise more hits to my site worth the investment?

Focused traffic is the key to success in B2B Internet Marketing. Programs that bring you students doing term papers and people building up loyalty point credits for visiting advertisers are not only worthless, they cost you money. You are wasting your time, money and resources sifting through large quantities of contacts from people who can’t buy your product or service.

Are these affiliate marketing or link sharing programs a great way to increase popularity?

Only if the affiliates or link-partners are in a related industry. Link popularity is based not only on quantity of links, but relevancy. A network management software company getting 100 links from Beanie Baby sites is not helping their link popularity, nor increasing their search engine ranking. Cross-linking with relevant B2B partners, portals and communities is the best way to build true link popularity.

I’m getting a lot of hits to the site, but nothing is happening after that. What’s wrong?

Do you have relevant content that the target buyer considers to be of value? These are what we call “web draws” – they motivate buyers to not only come to your site, but make them willing to ask for more information, and in turn disclose some important information to you. Market-Vantage does a 300-point audit of our clients’ web sites to assess their ability to attract and convert interest to action. A major factor in conversion ability is the quantity and quality of web draws and how they fit into the overall web design.

Previous Articles

• Predicting Ranking
• Reacting to the Google Dance
• 4C's of Internet Marketing
• Developing Trust
• Compelling Web Content
• Permission Marketing via Search
• Internet as Research Tool
• Gap between Sales & Marketing
• Budgeting for SEO
• Measuring Marketing ROI
• Building Brand
• Define Internet Marketing