Google AdWords

Google Adwords is a way for you to advertise your site. Registration is comprehensive and is not something you should rush through. They will allow you to pick keywords and key phrases and set the price you’re willing to pay per click. Unlike other sites that are mere ad banks, Google
AdWords allows you to target your audience in the same way they do with AdSense. Your ad will only appear on search pages and websites related to your site, using the keywords and key phrases you’ve chosen. The higher your click-thru rate and click-thru price is, the higher you’ll rank in their ads.

The screen shot below shows an example of Google AdWords. The sponsored links on the right of the page are paid for by websites and Webmasters through AdWords. Of course, in this instance, one of the keywords they used was ‘google.’ The Webmaster will pay a set amount per click for each visitor that clicks through the ad below to his/her site.

Advertising on Other Sites

We know you have ads on your site to make money. Those that have ads on your site are paying for them so traffic comes to their site and they make money too. You’re going to want to do the same. It’s your turn to use the search engines. Find high ranking sites whose content is related to yours, but isn’t a competitor. Let’s go back to the basket-weaving example. If you have a basket-weaving site, advertising on a site that sells products to basket weavers would be xcellent exposure for you.

Just remember that advertising does not have to be expensive, but that the cheapest dvertising can sometimes cost you the most. Beware of placing ads on sites that aren’t ranked that high with search engines or who don’t have a lot of traffic. Even though their cost for you to advertise on their site may be low, if you’re not going to get any traffic from it, you’ve wasted your money. After you’ve found some good sites for your ads, make sure you’re happy with their ad placement. Observe their site design and content much like you have your own in the
previous paragraphs. Some sites put ads on the bottoms of their pages. Is there anything that’s going to direct the visitor to the bottom of your page? You want your ads to be visible and to blend into the layout of the page. By doing all of this, you’ll do as much as you can to insure the ad you place is worth your money.

Newsletter

Of course, you’re very knowledgeable on the content of your site and the products or services you sell. Why not create a newsletter for your visitors? Even if a visitor bookmarks your site, there’s no guarantee they’re going to visit again. But if you can offer interested articles and tidbits in a newsletter that you send via email weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, you can keep them coming back. You’re providing them with information that is of interest to them and, in return, you’re gaining a regular visitor to your site who, if isn’t a customer at the time, will probably turn into one. It’s a good idea to put a privacy policy on your site that applies to customers and subscribers. This way, they know when they purchase something or sign up for a mailing, that you’re not going to use their email address for spam, sell it to other websites, or otherwise find ways to make them regret ever visiting your site.

Opt-in Mailing List

Creating a chance for your customers and visitors to stay up to date with site changes, sales, specials, and contests is a great way to increase traffic to your site. Visitors who do not buy anything can sign up, and this provides you with a
way to keep them coming back to your site. You could also create a survey that they receive when they sign up. Just be sure they know this and that the survey is optional. Getting visitor feedback about their experiences on your site can be invaluable. By doing this, you’ll learn what the majority want and be able to keep your site in tune with

your visitors’ needs.
There are several software programs that you can pay for which will help you set up and organize a mailing list. You can also do it yourself for free by creating simple HTML forms on your site. The results can be stored in a database or emailed directly to you. Visit http://www.htmlbasix.com for a free e-mail form html code. You can also use Yahoo groups as the site below has done. This gives your visitors a chance to interact, and it’s a way for a Webmaster to keep them updated.

Contests on Your Site

Freebies from contests or from drawings keep people coming back. Everyone wants something free. But in addition, it can also bring people in. Employ this marketing technique that you now use for your current visitors and customers to your search engine optimization program. Have a contest that lasts for a few months. Give away a
prize related to the products or service your site offers. For example, if you’re an accounting site that sells software, offer a free software package for the winner. Then, change your keywords (key phrases) to reflect free accounting software. I think everyone searches for free products and services from time to time, if not frequently.

Don’t you?
Why not lure more traffic in by giving away something free
yourself? Sales and Specials If you’re selling something from your site, which you
probably are, you have sales and specials from time to time. Why not update your tags to reflect this? Sales and specials should not only be available to your current customers and visitors, but used to also bring new ones in. Updating your tags to reflect this is a free form of advertising and gives you another way to rank in the search engines. Give away free trials too, if you can afford to do so. Companies that offer free trials of their software are doing it, convinced that you will buy it once you try it, but it also attracts search engine customers looking for something free.

The more your site comes up in the search engines, the more successful you’re going to be.

More Than One Site

If you have more than one site, link them together so your sites share traffic. Some Webmasters believe that having more than one domain for their single site increases their search engine ranking, but they are wrong. Crawlers usually only index information once, and so that just may be a waste of your time and money.
However, if you do have more than one complete site, by linking them together, you can increase traffic to both, and by doing that, raise your ranking. There isn’t any magical formula to increase your ranking, so if it seems easy and too good to be true, like in life, it probably is.

Google Site Maps
Site maps are not only a way to let your customers know exactly is what on your site and where, it also helps the Google spiders index your site. By going to http://www.google.com, you can find out how to create a site map. They will ask you to upload a blank file to your site for verification purposes. After that, you will let Google know exactly where your site map is and your site will be indexed accordingly. Google is Webmaster and search engine optimization friendly in addition to being one of the most popular search engines. Be sure to take advantage of every tool they offer you to increase your ranking with them.

Marketing

How does marketing your site help your advertising revenue? It’s simple. By marketing your products or service and bringing people to your site for those products or services, you are increasing the number of visitors. The ads on your pages are targeted for your content and what your site offers, so when you bring in targeted visitors through your marketing campaigns, those visitors are likely
to click through your ads.

Marketing is a trial and error procedure. Certain methods work well for some sites, and not so well for others. Monitor your site stats and traffic logs with each new marketing campaign you try. See what works well for you, and permanently implement the programs that bring you more traffic as well as higher CTR or click through rates.

Page Title
Let’s take a step back to page architecture for a minute. While whether you build your site using CSS or frames doesn’t have an impact on your site’s success, other factors do.

A lot of webmasters use the title tag in each of their pages to name their website or company so that it appears at the top of the visitor’s browser. It looks good, but it does nothing for the site’s success. Use your title tag to give a brief description of what your site offers. A potential new customer is not going to type the name of your site into a search engine, but they will type in the 15
products or services you offer. For example, Joe’s Place sells used car parts online. So does Albert’s Virtual Garage. Joe’s Place has “Your online stop for foreign and domestic used car parts” as his title. Albert’s simply has “Welcome to
Albert’s Garage” When someone types “used car parts” into a search engine, who are they more likely to find? Joe’s Place, of course.