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Your approach to will largely be based on your individual marketing
budget. I have outlined some predominant methods for promoting
websites. I would recommend taking more than one approach if you can,
as it always helps to attack this from multiple angles.
1) ADVERTISE IN MAGAZINES
I recommend getting a small, consistent ad in as many magazines as you
can. Offline and online. Preferably as large as possible. Prices
will range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, depending on
the frequency, size, and placement. Even ads in the back of magazines
can be effective. Since smoking is such a universal topic, you have a
very broad menu to pursue. You might want to consider these
demographics when evaluating your target:
American Heart Cigarette Smoking Statistics
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4559
Here are some magazine directories:
The Magazine Boy
http://www.themagazineboy.com/
Magazines Online Index [1300]
http://www.magazinesatoz.com/
Magazines
http://newsdirectory.com/news/magazine/
2) SEARCH ENGINE RANKING AND PLACEMENT
Search engines are the primary gateway to content on the web. It's
imperative that your site is front and center when people are
searching. I would recommend finding a company that specializes in
search engine placement, and get your site as accessible as possible
when people are searching. When people type in keywords such as "quit
smoking," "stop smoking," etc. *you want your site up there in the top
20, firstly accessible sites.* People are most inclined to pick the
links that most quickly fit their given search term. If your site is
on page 48 of a search engine result list, there's not a good chance
you're going to see many clicks to it from
that particular search engine.
Here are some companies that "look" credible, but I would investigate
their record and methodology [to make sure they're not spamming search
engines] before patronizing them:
Meandaur
http://www.meandaur.com/landing_Pages/seo.cfm
SEO Logic
http://www.seologic.com/optimization-ranking-submission/
InfoScavenger
http://www.infoscavenger.com/engine.htm
Positioned1
http://positioned1.com/contact.nclk
Prime Visibility
http://www.primevisibility.com/?source=google2
I'd highly recommend visiting Search Engine Watch at
http://www.searchenginewatch.com and particularly
http://searchenginewatch.com/resources/paid-listings.html as a
resource in this area.
You will have to contact these agencies for quotes.
3) OPT-IN BULK EMAIL
A comparatively cheap and fast method of reaching the greatest number
of people on the Internet is via bulk, targeted, spam-free [or
"opt-in"] email. For instance, this method could afford you instant
exposure to thousands of smokers. Big, multi-billion dollar companies
use email every day to reach people. It's very important that the
recipient list is opt-in, which means people have "opted" to receive
email from solicitors.
I would recommend an email containing something like, "Sign-up from
this email and get 20% off". People get a lot of junk mail, so your
email needs to stand out and be valuable to not be considered junk. A
catchy subject line, and a clean, clear design is very important.
Avoid impersonal suffixes to the end of your subject line such as
"jjjr5xxyj3276".
There are literally thousands of companies that do targeted emailing,
so I would recommend that you do some searching under the keywords of
"opt-in", "spam-free email", etc. But beware of pie-in-the-sky
$30-for-millions-of-emails scams. Remember, you always get what you
pay for.
Here's a starting list of a few that seem to "look"
credible/professional, but I would thoroughly check into them
[possibly with the BBB, or other third party]. The following
companies have lists that are specifically targeted to smokers:
info.now
http://www.infonownet.com/lists.html
HighTouchMedia
http://www.hightouchmedia.net/listsopt.html
Micromarketing and Opt-In Email
http://www.micromarketing-and-opt-in-e-mail.com/lists.html
RadiantMail
http://www.radiantmail.com/optin_data.html
In addition, here's a general list of companies:
List of Bulk-Email Marketing
http://list-advertising.com/opt-in/
My recommendation is to test the waters with 2 different companies and
set a strict initial budget. If you see results, consider investing
more money. As with other forms of advertising, there's no guarantee,
and no way to concretely project what your response will be.
Try search "opt-in smokers" as a search term.
4) SEARCH ENGINE ADVERTISING
Almost as important to search engine placement is search engine
advertising. For relatively low cost, you can have banner or
banner-type links on prominent search engines such as Google.
According to Google, "The vast majority of Google advertisers renew
because search-based advertising converts users to customers." Google
has its Adwords advertising service, which enables you to specify what
keyword searches trigger your ad. After the $5.00 activation fee,
"you tell Google how much you are willing to pay per click and per
day. You can choose a maximum cost-per-click (CPC) from $0.05 - $50
and set a daily budget as low as 5 cents or as high as you want."
You've seen those colored boxes at the right hand side of the Google
home page that pop-up based on the search term you've specified?
That's Google Adwords. I would recommend using keywords triggers such
as "smoking, "smoke," "quit smoking," "stop smoking," "cigarettes,"
etc.
See more at http://adwords.google.com
On the premium side of things, Google has Premium Sponsorships at
$5,000/month. You may investigate that if you see some traffic
increases from the AdWords program.
I'd also recommend the Overture advertising network at:
http://Keywords.com
"Overture search results reach 75% of all Internet users through their
affiliate partner network, which includes leading Web properties such
as Microsoft Internet Explorer, America Online, Lycos, AltaVista and
many others. That's $99 for 40 highly relevant targeted search terms
related to your site with professionally written search listing
descriptions customized specifically to drive traffic to your site."
5) AFFILIATE WEB SITES
Partner with other related web sites to offer "buddy advertising."
For example, you agree with various health-improvement or other
quit-smoking websites to display a link to them on your site, and you
do the same for their site. Get listed on affiliate web site
listings, and offer a special incentive to those sites that provide
links to your site on their site. There are countless sites to
explore in this area, but here's a few to get
started. I recommend trying some search terms containing the word
"affiliate". The more sites you are connected with, the more
connections you make, the higher your exposure. I recommend pursuing
multiple paths in this arena.
Affiliate Guide
http://www.affiliateguide.com/
Web Affiliate Programs
http://www.webaffiliateprograms.com/DisplayPrograms.cfm?linktype=affiliates&category=Computer+Hardware
Web Affiliate Manager
http://www.webaffiliatemanager.com/index.cfm?Rotateid=2479&page=1
Become an Affiliate
http://www.becomeanaffiliate.com/Computers/
ShowBehind
http://www.showbehind.com/companyinfo.html
Affiliate World
http://www.affiliateworld.com/
Search terms:
affiliate web
magazine directory
search engine advertising
search engine placement |
