No matter what type of business you're in, your business can benefit immensely from advertising online. Unlike many more traditional advertising channels, online advertising can be aimed directly at your best prospects, focusing all of your advertising dollars on your most profitable demographics. Online advertising also provides a mix of paid and free advertising avenues that together can eclipse the value of traditional advertising venues.
Your Company Website
Your first and most important step advertising your business online is your company's website. Your website can showcase everything your business has to offer, and building one can be as easy as downloading a free template and filling in the blanks. Use your website to collect leads, inform prospects, sell your services and invite customer feedback.
Email Newsletters
A weekly email newsletter can feature valuable information for your customers as well as entice them with special offers or Internet-only promotions, presenting your product catalog, introducing salespeople and inviting contest entries. Plus, the regular contact will improve your customer loyalty and spark repeat purchases.
Free Online Classifieds
Free online classified ad websites such as Craigslist, Yahoo! Local, and USFreeAds allow your business to advertise your products or services with absolutely no financial investment. There are literally dozens of such websites, and each may reach a unique audience of users. What's more, you can code each ad so you'll know which websites are most effective.
Pay-Per-Click Ads
Pay-per-click ads allow you to choose a specific word or phrase that pertains to your business and to display your ad only when that word or phrase is searched for. After that, you pay a small fee for each user that clicks on your ad, narrowing your cost to "hot" prospects only.
Directories and Search Engines
There are literally hundreds of search engines and business- or interest-driven Internet directories you can submit your website to absolutely free. Each of these websites is another portal where an interested prospect who's searching for what you have to offer can find you.
Online Affiliate Marketing
Another way to spread the word about your business online is to sign up affiliates, who are partners to your business that spread the word in exchange for a small fee or commission for the business they send to you. You can even pay affiliates to collect information from prospects and pay them on a per-prospect basis.
Article Marketing
If you have some writing skills, you can use article marketing to drive more traffic and more customers to your website. You simply write one or more short articles about your business or product and then submit them for free to the dozens of article directory websites such as Associated Content or HubPages.
Social Networking Advertising
By registering your company with social networking sites such as Facebook, Foursquare or Twitter, you can tap into the growing power of social networking, attracting customers and locating new prospects without spending a dime. Send these leads to your website for even more Internet success.
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