Website Promotion

pclancy

Hi all,

Im looking to begin promoting a website fairly soon and wanted some feedback from those in the industry as to the best method of online advertising. Im starting out with a very tight budget so want to get maximun return on investment and get the word out about the site as quickly as possible. I like the google adwords a lot and have tried it over a week or so. It did bring a nice number of hits and is very easy to control etc but wanted to investigate buying ads on busy irish sites or directorys as well.

Our market is irish people only of all ages looking for laptops and other electronic devices.

whiskeyman

Dont rule out good old fashioned word of mouth and bits of PR.
Ultimately, if you provide a good service that's good value, the crowd will flock to you (hopefully ).
Best of luck!

leftofcentre

One word adwords (or is that two words?)

Just buy the keywords laptops, computers, etc and target the ads to ireland only.

Banner and other adverstising will be too expensive for you stick with google.

chicken_food

Id have to agree with the above post. Also if you but up a few posters around colleges-or even offer special rates to members of the netsocs in return for them activly promoting your site. You'd be surprised with the return you'd get. They are both very cheap and effective ways.
What about getting an add or two on the luas lines? Im not sure of the rates,but the exposure would be huge. You'd be getting a mix of business men+women,school,college kids etc. Then again it all comes down to your budget.

[Jackass]

Put lots of products on Ebay ....it's free, delivers your product straight to your target market when they are looking to buy. You can arrange it so people don't bid as such, as the product has a set price, and there is no limit to the amount (i.e. just because 1,2,3 or 4 people buy the product, the link dosen't die, it keeps on going regardless of units sold)

You should look into anyway. (disclaimer >>and check the rules of ebay first )

Branoic

pclancy wrote:

I like the google adwords a lot and have tried it over a week or so. It did bring a nice number of hits and is very easy to control etc but wanted to investigate buying ads on busy irish sites or directorys as well.

With AdWords, make sure your campaign is opted into the content network (you can check this on the Edit Campaign Settings page). That way, as long as your ads have been reviewed and approved, they will appear on busy content sites and directories. And as long as you've set your geo-targeting option (again, in the Edit Campaign Settings page) to Ireland, only people who are in Ireland visiting these sites will see your ad. This means that your ad could be appearing on a long list of major international partner sites that get a lot of traffic, but your ad will only be appearing for Irish people. Handy, eh?

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

pclancy

Yeah the google ads seem to be brining us 200-300 per day I think which is savage! National Press and other media is scaring me though. Am i seriously going to have to spend 5-10K to get the name of my site out in the papers?

alleepally

You seem to be in a big hurry to get visitors to your site. Why the rush? If you are going to build a sustainable business you can't just work on the basis that traffic to your site = buyers?

What are you offering that nobody else offers in the online space? What's your unique selling point? Why should someone buy off you rather than the competitor who is only a click away? Your target market is TOO BIG.. focus on a niche. Ensure you have a risk reversal strategy in place for a potential purchaser.

Always remember that conversion is more important than traffic. Get quality referrals and then ensure your website copy is compelling. Keep testing your copy and product offering too.

Finally: a golden rule. It is a rule that very few online or offline businesses remember. It is easier to make a sale to an existing customer than make a sale to a new customer. Keep in contact with existing customers and ask for referrals, offer discounts on subsequent purchases... Keep them consuming....

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

jrey1981

to the OP, if we knew a bit more about your website and your business it might help...I would be happy to contribute any ideas as I have a good knowledge of the media

and the blog idea might be worth a go if you can generate content regularly talking about the site, the products, and promotions and issues surrounding the products you are selling in general

HH32

Join abunch of Vbull forum, put your URL in the signature and randomly respond to a bunch of threads.

/wait a minute...

scribs

I am currently in a same situation looking to increase traffice to one of my companies websites.
We spoke to an online marketing company. They spoke to us about web optimisation. Has anyone had this done to their website is there a self help guide to doing this oneself.

Id check out www.statcounter.com - you can use it for free lets you see who exactly is looking at your webiste ip addresses etc

leftofcentre

Guys the first rule of marketing is self promote. Scribs whats your site? You should be pluging your site/business at every opportunity.

Pclancy site is www.lifestyle.ie

BrianD

smiaras wrote:

This post has been deleted.

Blogging? I don't think so. Can anyone be bothered to read this stuff? Marketers don't know what it all means but they are latching on to it - just in case. Having said that it is content if only boring content in 99% of cases. Unless you are really an appreciated expert or key player in your field most people won't be interested.

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

BrianD

It was a general perspective I wasn't referring directly to your own blog. I remain unconvinced. I agree that a regular blog creates new content on a regular basis and the viewer sees something new each time. This is advantageous to a certain extent to companies where news maybe sparse and where individual employee opinions are not coing to make the corporate site. While the 'net and blogging allows people to publish freely their opinions I'm not sure if people are all that interested. Anyway I'll trot off and have a look at yours ...

Figment

BrianD wrote:

Blogging? I don't think so. Can anyone be bothered to read this stuff? Marketers don't know what it all means but they are latching on to it - just in case. Having said that it is content if only boring content in 99% of cases. Unless you are really an appreciated expert or key player in your field most people won't be interested.

I will tell you how i get on. I have started a blog with the long term plan of marketing a product i am building. Having already seen the benefits of my other blog i think it can only help.

Through the readership of the 37signals.com blog they managed to get over 10,000 users for a new product within a day of launch. No advertising just word of mouth starting at their blog. That's not bad in my book.

leftofcentre

I can see both points, I think what Brian D is saying is that you should only have a blog if you have something interesting to say.

There way be a new blog created every 3 seconds but 90% will be rubbish. Like everything on the web you have to sort the wheat from the chaft.

CarolLorraine

smiaras wrote:

This post has been deleted.

He's right as I just checked out his site and then went onto to other sites from his site while having Boards open in a different window in the background.

AARRRGH

What's the URL??

leftofcentre

www.lifestyle.ie

arynne

We are looking for 10 people interested in having their web site --- URL and a log line --- on 10,000 beer mats, six sites on each side. Cost will be about €75.00. per person (if we get 10 people). PM me if you are interested. Thank you.

RoadKillTs

Ok sure.

Heres mine



www.copperfacejacks.com

swine flu guaranteed

arynne

Thanks, but you will need to e-mail me, that is PM me -- click on my name top left. You are not allowed to post your URL here.

AR

jamesy08

arynne wrote: »

We are looking for 10 people interested in having their web site --- URL and a log line --- on 10,000 beer mats, six sites on each side. Cost will be about €75.00. per person (if we get 10 people). PM me if you are interested. Thank you.

Hello,is it possible to get some information on the beer mats advertising,where are they going to be distributed
Jamesy08

arynne

Yes, I will PM you details. Many thanks.

A.

blue4ever

Likewise please arynne - PM some info and possible the 'types' of other sites to be included?

Tuvok

I have done lots of research on selling consumer electronics and to be honest it's very tough. It's an extremely competitive market and you're up against the big companies. They sell large amounts of products so you won't be able to compete on price. Alleepally's advice was excellent - you need to focus on a niche otherwise you can't compete.

MGilly84

Bunny hop the radio stations. Its a concept Iv been thinkin about. You simply get somebody to phone in the morning chat shows (the fun ones that target the young listenerships) and drop in the question " was wondering if anyone out there knows of a good website to but laptops off? " if your lucky it'll strike up a bit of a topic.

Then of course you and another friend or two will phone up and recommend your own website!!! Dont know how sucessful it'll be but I reckon its worth a shot price of a few phone calls and theres a few of those chat shows out there. 100-102fm 96fm in Cork, WLR in Waterford etc etc. Give it a lash n let me know when you plan to do it so I can tune in!

PS.
You say your target market is all ages, would it not be more sensible to target the 21-45 working, tech savvy demographic and just treat sales to all other markets as an added bonus?

dclare

Lots of people are suggesting Google Adwords. I use it a lot and if it's used properly, you'll get a bunch of relevant, valuable visitors.

However, most people end up paying far too much money on Google by not setting up their campaigns properly.

If you are working off a tight budget, and can't afford to get a PPC company to set up your Adwords campaign professionally, you should spend £15 on Amazon and buy Perry Marshall's Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords, as it'll get you off to a good start.

topogina1977

HH32 wrote: »

Join abunch of Vbull forum, put your URL in the signature and randomly respond to a bunch of threads.

/wait a minute...

can you tell me which is the difference between Vbulletin and Boards.ie? The seem to be running on the same platform and their sites look similar.

topogina1977

scribs wrote: »

I am currently in a same situation looking to increase traffice to one of my companies websites.
We spoke to an online marketing company. They spoke to us about web optimisation. Has anyone had this done to their website is there a self help guide to doing this oneself.

Id check out www.statcounter.com - you can use it for free lets you see who exactly is looking at your webiste ip addresses etc

Hi guys,
same here. spending a lot of money for advertising my site and its just not working. My friends are telling me to be patient as I just started 2 months ago but how long do I have to wait to see some orders going fru?

Advice, Google Analytics is a good tool and is free, too.Thanks

topogina1977

dclare wrote: »

Lots of people are suggesting Google Adwords. I use it a lot and if it's used properly, you'll get a bunch of relevant, valuable visitors.

However, most people end up paying far too much money on Google by not setting up their campaigns properly.

If you are working off a tight budget, and can't afford to get a PPC company to set up your Adwords campaign professionally, you should spend £15 on Amazon and buy Perry Marshall's Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords, as it'll get you off to a good start.

DClare, do you have an idea of how much it would cost me to get one of these companies setting up a google campaign for me? Thanks

arynne

I gave a company €650.00. to set up my Google Adwords account and have set a monthly budget of €500.00. for pay per click. The same company will keep an eye on it and make changes as necessary. It is too early yet to say how its going because the site will not be live for another few weeks. If this does not work I'll throw my hat at it!! But I believe you have to spend money to make money.

A.

dclare

A few companies offer a set up service, with prices starting from about €250 (+ a monthly fee if you want it managed for you).

If you are currently advertising on Google Adwords, I can have a quick look at your account and give you a few pointers if you want. Send me a PM.

BTW, Google Analytics is a must or you are throwing money down the drain..

Ullyz

Google Adwords are very, very important as you are looking to promote online webpage not offline shop (as i understand). But it also needs to be used wisely, read literature and all google offered free FAQs they are realy helpfull.

jsut a quick example 10 000 leaflets cost around 700 euros delivered in selected Dublin area, it is 10 000 house nearly 3 people in each. sounds nice 30 000 people will se your ad, but how many of them realy looking to buy?
and on adwords u got clicks only from interested people...

so optimise your website and try different buy different words.

* - dont try to buy most popular words, focus on cheaper words, the might be less relevant but the competition on them is also less

dclare

Adwords used well can bring in lots of highly targeted, valuable traffic...used badly, it can rocket you to the poor house!!!

Google give good basic info to put you on the right track, but like everything online, small changes can result in huge improvements in ROI.

The videos in the Google Adwords help centre are a good starting point, but look for independent info too (i.e. not from Google) to really start seeing results.

topogina1977

I have decided to pause my AdWords campaign as it was not driving any results and I have started advertising on Facebook and it works! I am getting more visits and it's cheaper. With Facebook you can also decide the age range of your potential customers / users that can be interested in your products. Have a look into as it seems to be a great tool!

http://www.facebook.com/advertising/

Cheers,

Alex