Sunday 1 February 2009

10 Great ways to improve your online presence

I picked this article from the net, this is intresting.... Can we get 10 more ideas in addition to these listed below ?

1) Search engine marketing
Having a brilliant website does not always lead to traffic and conversion success. Search engine optimization (SEO) is a collection of techniques that help sites achieve strong search engine rankings through Google, Yahoo, and other search engines. The difference in traffic count from one site to another is multiplied tremendously by attaining first page position in common Google searches, and preferably a top 5 position. New research suggests nearly half of online consumers use search engine to search for products.
2) Article marketing
Article marketing is a fast-growing online marketing tool that offers some SEO benefits as well as increased media communication with potential audiences. Companies are writing, or hiring SEO writers to write, articles that offer quality information and search engine benefits based on effective use of keywords that consumers search for. Articles can be placed on your site, shared through a blog, or submitted to one of the many free online article submission sites.
3) Pay-per-click or sponsored link advertising
There are certainly many opportunities for free promotion online. However, as is the common rule of advertising, you have more control over what you pay for. Google, Microsoft, and many other small and medium-sized companies offer pay-per-click or sponsored listing opportunities. This is where businesses pay to achieve high position in a sponsored link section of consumer searches. Costs for placement vary as you can usually bid on a per click cost to achieve higher positions. Essentially, you pay to generate visitors to your site as they search. The key to success with PPC is to have effective .landing pages., which are the pages on your site where clickers land. PPC is usually a short-term traffic generation technique as successful sites increase SEO.
4) Use social media
Social media networks are taking over internet marketing. These are popular sites, including Digg.com, Twitter, MySpace, and more that provide a natural online network. Essentially, it offers companies a built in opportunity for viral marketing. Your company can network with others, submit articles and news for users, and essentially help direct the movement of word of mouth through the web.
5) Enter the blogosphere
Any serious website must consider the advantages of a site-based blog or a companion blog from an external location. A blog is an online diary or ongoing written communication with visitors. Some companies have a blog on their site that serves as a constant update on news, features, and other information for visitors. Others use some popular online blogs including WordPress and BlogSpot. You can operate your blog, build networks and groups, and provide link backs to help drive traffic to your site. Many sites use their blog for SEO as it increases content and adds link backs (an important search engine factor). Many companies publish regular blog articles.
6) Exchange links
A common technique for online growth is link exchange networking. This involves finding partner sites that are willing to provide a link to your site, in exchange for you doing the same for them. This adds another location for consumers to find you. More importantly, links from sites that are popular and high in traffic can be very beneficial to your Google popularity, and ultimately, your search engine positioning.
7) Use RSS feeds
RSS feeds are ways for your visitors to stay in touch with what is going on with your website. Google Reader or Google alerts is a popular feed. By adding a button on your home page, readers can subscribe to an ongoing feed that updates then as new items are added to your site. It is a great way to drive repeat traffic.
8) Share the news
One of the best ways to grow your online presence is to track and retain visitors. Having a way to easily capture contact information from visitors to add them to your contact list is vital. Writing a regularly newsletter (2-4 times per month) to communicate directly with your clients/customers about recent news, events, and to stay in front of your audience helps with growth. Newsletter distribution with links back to your site can also lead directly to increased traffic from recipients.
9) Add pages
A general rule of thumb of increasing SEO performance is to add traffic. Having more cached pages that are indexed by Google and other search engines helps gives your site more impact in search engines. Additionally, you can set up additional pages as independent landing pages to help increase sales conversion for specific products as they become easier to find for visitors who do not have to navigate through your site to get to sales pages.
10) Learn how to 'mobilize'
As the iPhone and other multi-purpose cell phone products increase their internet technology and features, companies have greater ability to contact consumers. Understanding all of these opportunities can be a tremendous advantage to your online presence. Text messaging, mobile updating, and interactivity between your site and the mobile environment can all help grow and retain traffic