WEBSITE PROMOTION

Over the last few years the growth in marketing on the internet has produced all kinds of software and database solutions aimed at managing commercial websites. Whether you're a huge corporate enterprise, or a small to medium sized business, you don't have to look too far to find a sophisticated program to help you make your web site management and marketing much more effective.

But what do we mean by web site management and marketing?

In fact, these two aspects of running a business online are quite separate and different.

WEB SITE MANAGEMENT.

This includes the design of your site.

You need to think about how you want visitors to use your site. Will it be a showcase for your business and contain information about who you are and what you do? Or will it be a fully-fledged commercial site aimed at persuading visitors to purchase your goods and services? Or will it be both?

It is crucial that you have a clearly thought out plan, perhaps illustrated in the form of a story board, as to how visitors will navigate around the site, what you want them to do and how they will do it. Other aspects of the management of your web site include how it will be updated and how frequently. This is particularly important if you want visitors to return to your site on a regular basis.

WEB SITE MARKETING.

Marketing, on the other hand, refers to the process of how you get your message out to your target market.

This should include both online and offline marketing. Online methods might include article marketing, pay per click advertising, building email lists, search engine optimization, press releases, building links to and from other web sites, and starting your own affiliate program. Offline methods might include press releases in newspapers and magazines, and/or postcards to your lists of prospects and customers. And all should include a link back to your web site.

SHOULD I OUTSOURCE MY WEB SITE MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING?

As technology continues to evolve, more powerful web site management and marketing solutions will be made available. These can be a huge help in automating entire areas of your online activities, especially around payment for goods and services, and order fulfilment. Many more of these online tasks can now be done by others on your behalf.

For example, the design of your web site is something that might be done more effectively by those with a professional expertise in web site design. Some aspects of marketing can also be outsourced, such as article marketing.

However, there are significant areas of your marketing efforts that should be kept 'in house'. It is particularly important that you keep control of your overall marketing plan, most especially its development and review.

Email marketing, pay per click advertising and your affiliate program are all areas of marketing that need your close scrutiny. You need to keep your advertising tactics under constant review, especially in relation to the way different aspects interact with each other.

For example, you may run an affiliate program and produce regular email newsletters for your affiliates, providing them with information about new marketing tactics, or new resources for them you are just about to introduce.

Indeed, one of the best tips for successful web site management and marketing is to start your own affiliate program. This way you can recruit an online sales team that can transform your marketing reach and send your profits through the roof.

Successful web site management and marketing requires long term planning and constant review. It is just as important for small and medium sized businesses to have a strategic plan as it is for larger corporate organizations. The power of such a plan is to be seen in the huge wealth and marketing influence wielded by the most successful corporate enterprises.

The trick is to decide which of those tactics can work for your business and how best to put them to work for your website management and marketing.