The fact is that you need to be doing multiple things if you're really going to see some long term success. So let's take a few minutes to do a quick review of some of the main online marketing strategies that you can use to promote your site.
A Note About Using Online Marketing Strategies
Just a little note before we talk about the different strategies: I don't want you to get overwhelmed with all there is to do. You need to look at your own business model and see how you could take advantage of testing these different strategies. Test, tweak, find what works, and then optimize what works!
Good Old SEO
This is probably the one marketing strategy that everyone wants to learn how to do, and honestly should learn how to do. And for good reason! How could you pass up tons of free traffic if you can get ranked for the right keywords? It can really be a great thing!
SEO is a great thing, but you really need to be aware that it takes a lot of time and effort before you'll see results with it. Have the determination to stick with it and eventually you'll see results.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing and optimization is one of the newer online marketing strategies, but it can be a great way to get exposure, bring in additional traffic, and links. You can use sites like Facebook, StumbleUpon, Digg, and others to increase your traffic and exposure. They can also really help with SEO.
Paid Traffic - PPC
A lot of people seem to be afraid of this online marketing strategy because they're afraid that they're going to lose money without having any control over it.. The good thing is that these days you pretty much have to set up budgets and protections so that you don't spend more than you're comfortable with.
You'll want to learn how to do and use every now and then. This is for a couple of reasons: you can get traffic faster with PPC than you can with SEO; you can do really good testing with PPC; you can target more phrases with PPC than you can with SEO. Learn how to do it, then take use it to your advantage!
JV Partnerships
Here's an example of a joint venture idea: Let's say you have a site that sells health products. Well, what if you went and found a popular health newsletter and made them an offer where you would give them a promo code that they can give to their readers. If any of their readers use that code on your site you'll split the profit with them. This way you both benefit from the agreement!
Email Marketing Campaigns
Have a newsletter that you send out every week or two, but make sure that you're giving out valuable content and not just advertisements. This is a great way to keep in touch with current and potential customers. You've all heard by this time I'm sure of the value of building a list. It gives you the chance to have multiple touches with these people.
Shopping Networks
If you have a retail or dropshipping business this is on strategy you should definitely be using. There are a lot of sites out there that shoppers are already using to find good deals. These include Shopzilla.com, Shopping.com, Shop.com, Amazon.com, Google Base, and others. A lot of these sites run a PPC-like program, but some are even free like Google Base. They can really bring you some targeted customers!
Final Thoughts About Different Online Marketing Strategies
So there you have a short list of some of the different things you can do to promote your site out there. This is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of all the things you can do, but this should get you started. Think about your site and model, and think about which of these approaches could work for you. For example, if you have an affiliate site you won't really be able to use shopping networks the same way a retail site would.
My hope is that after reading this article you understand that there is more to do than just SEO. Use some of these other online marketing strategies. As mentioned before do some testing to see what works for you. Then make the most of it! - 15790
A Note About Using Online Marketing Strategies
Just a little note before we talk about the different strategies: I don't want you to get overwhelmed with all there is to do. You need to look at your own business model and see how you could take advantage of testing these different strategies. Test, tweak, find what works, and then optimize what works!
Good Old SEO
This is probably the one marketing strategy that everyone wants to learn how to do, and honestly should learn how to do. And for good reason! How could you pass up tons of free traffic if you can get ranked for the right keywords? It can really be a great thing!
SEO is a great thing, but you really need to be aware that it takes a lot of time and effort before you'll see results with it. Have the determination to stick with it and eventually you'll see results.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing and optimization is one of the newer online marketing strategies, but it can be a great way to get exposure, bring in additional traffic, and links. You can use sites like Facebook, StumbleUpon, Digg, and others to increase your traffic and exposure. They can also really help with SEO.
Paid Traffic - PPC
A lot of people seem to be afraid of this online marketing strategy because they're afraid that they're going to lose money without having any control over it.. The good thing is that these days you pretty much have to set up budgets and protections so that you don't spend more than you're comfortable with.
You'll want to learn how to do and use every now and then. This is for a couple of reasons: you can get traffic faster with PPC than you can with SEO; you can do really good testing with PPC; you can target more phrases with PPC than you can with SEO. Learn how to do it, then take use it to your advantage!
JV Partnerships
Here's an example of a joint venture idea: Let's say you have a site that sells health products. Well, what if you went and found a popular health newsletter and made them an offer where you would give them a promo code that they can give to their readers. If any of their readers use that code on your site you'll split the profit with them. This way you both benefit from the agreement!
Email Marketing Campaigns
Have a newsletter that you send out every week or two, but make sure that you're giving out valuable content and not just advertisements. This is a great way to keep in touch with current and potential customers. You've all heard by this time I'm sure of the value of building a list. It gives you the chance to have multiple touches with these people.
Shopping Networks
If you have a retail or dropshipping business this is on strategy you should definitely be using. There are a lot of sites out there that shoppers are already using to find good deals. These include Shopzilla.com, Shopping.com, Shop.com, Amazon.com, Google Base, and others. A lot of these sites run a PPC-like program, but some are even free like Google Base. They can really bring you some targeted customers!
Final Thoughts About Different Online Marketing Strategies
So there you have a short list of some of the different things you can do to promote your site out there. This is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of all the things you can do, but this should get you started. Think about your site and model, and think about which of these approaches could work for you. For example, if you have an affiliate site you won't really be able to use shopping networks the same way a retail site would.
My hope is that after reading this article you understand that there is more to do than just SEO. Use some of these other online marketing strategies. As mentioned before do some testing to see what works for you. Then make the most of it! - 15790
About the Author:
Dan Patterson is passionate about internet marketing. There is no one best online marketing strategy, but if you want to learn more about them visit his site.