Curvine Web Solutions Blog

Build it and they will come! This might be a great line for a movie, but not a very smart belief about your website or blog. The fact is not only do you have to build it, you have to let your potential customers know the site exists. That is if you want to monetize your site.

Virtually any business would benefit from having a website and/or blog and yet without a systemized and consistent marketing plan you may likely not realize optimum benefit for your time, money and effort invested.

This is especially true in a downturn economy. Now more than ever, you should put daily effort into the marketing of your sites. It’s actually a lot simpler than most people realize. Mind you, simple does not necessarily mean easy. It takes effort and time. And yet, ask anyone who makes money from their sites, it is worth it.

Before I share some strategies to get visitors to your site let’s talk about what they have to find once there. You absolutely must have a way for visitors to opt in to your subscriber list. It can be with a free eBook, mp3, eReport, teleseminar or any number of complimentary offers.

It never ceases to amaze me how often someone can hear this and yet, fail to put an opt in box on their site. Tsk. Tsk. Don’t make this fatal mistake.

Building a responsive opt in subscriber list is smart business. You are going to work much harder to continually try to find potential customers if you don’t build a list beginning now.

Let’s assume you have a well positioned opt in box on your site; you have a great offer and you have a very functional site. Now comes the really fun part; attracting people to your site.

Driving people to a website or blog is an ongoing process. Not a day should go by that you don’t have something in place that will encourage people to visit.

Although there are dozens upon dozens of ways to attract visitors, here are a few of my favorites.

Sig File

Sig file is short for Signature File. To optimize your promotional opportunities insert a sig file at the end of your emails with an offer of some sort. Most email programs have the capability of the Sig File automatically being inserted each time you send out an email message.

Social Networks
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ning are just a few of the thousands of locations you can build a following. One that will visit your site and opt in for a high value offer. However, to optimize your time select only a handful to participate in rather than spreading yourself too thin.

Media releases
Also referred to as a news release, press release or press statement; a media release is written for the purpose of announcing something to the media, which has news value. A media release can be mailed, faxed or emailed to editors and publishers at newspapers, magazines, radio stations, television stations and online resources.

When you email your media release it is customary to put the information in the body of your email message rather than as an attachment.

You can easily distribute your press release online to many outlets to announce a giveaway, a new site or a new bloog. There are both paid and free services available on the Internet.

Article Distribution
Articles are one of the best ways to build visibility, credibility and traffic. As with Social Networks there are thousands to choose from. You choice of where to distribute articles should be based on who the readership is. No need to post articles in areas where you won’t get good visibility from you market.

Advertisements

Advertising in targeted locations can be a very effective way to drive traffic to a site. There are two primary forms of advertising:

• Solo
• Classifieds

For very targeted markets you should consider buying online advertising. The advantage is you can reach your market quickly. The disadvantage is you will like have an increase in your junk and spam emails sent to the email address you use for the advertisement.

Posting on other blogs
Visit blogs that are likely to have a similar readership as your market. Read postings and comment on postings. Make your comments substantial. In most cases you can put a link back to your website or landing page. If your comments are of value to blog visitors you will likely have people clicking on your link.

Forums

Forums are online communities where you hold discussions with other people who have similar interests. They are also referred to as Web Forums; Discussion Groups; Message Boards; Message Groups; Bulletin Boards.

To locate forums specific to your market and topic(s) go to Google and input “forum + ___________) Fill in the blank with your topic or market.

As with blog postings and Yahoo Groups, forums are simply another avenue to network and build visibility. The more value you bring to a forum, the more valuable this resource becomes to you in your marketing efforts.

In conclusion, the best thing to do is have a very systemized approach to how you plan to attract visitors to your site. The more focused you are, the more likely you will reap great results.

Kathleen Gage works with spiritually aware speakers, authors, coaches and consultants who are ready to turn their knowledge into money-making products and services. She does this by teaching them how to publish their works via books, eBased information products, teleseminars, webinars and any medium that can be distributed via the Internet. Visit www.kathleengage.com to learn more.