3. Ask other websites to link to you. Other sites, not in direct competition, might be willing to link to you if you return the favour. For example, if you're a wedding photographer, look for links from dress designers, cake manufacturers and car-hire companies. The more people link to you, the higher you'll rest in the search engine rankings.
4. Sign up for an affiliate marketing programme. Simply put, you place a link on your site to another trading site. Every time one of your visitors clicks the link and makes a purchase, you're paid a commission. The arrangement works both ways and you can offer the same deal to online traders. However, it can be a complicated process so you're advised to read the pros and cons before signing up for any affiliate programme.
5. Start your own newsletter. We've already discussed a prospective customer's need for information so a regular newsletter could be an economical way of keeping your company uppermost in their minds. It doesn't need to be War & Peace every month. A few interesting paragraphs about new products, special offers, staff news, competitions and a short article will be enough. There are strict data protection laws however so ensure you have your customer's permission to send it to them, or give them a subscription option. If you're holding customer's details you might also need to register with data protection authorities. Make sure that your newsletter contains plenty of links to your website or featured products.
6. Write a blog. Instead of a newsletter, post a regular blog - click here to be taken to a how-to article. The advantage of a blog is that it can potentially be picked up by search engines and reach a far wider audience than a private mailing list. To save customers constantly checking back for updates, add a subscription option to your blog so it's delivered straight to their inbox. An article on adding a blog feed can be found here. Again, make sure each posting has a link back to your website so your customers can go straight to it from their inbox.
7. Publicise yourself in every way possible. Hand out your cards if someone asks for your phone number, even if it's not a business associate. Make sure your email address comes from your website and not from your broadband provider. When you send an email, put your company's name and a web link under your signature. Even if you can't afford to have a company van painted, make up a sign to put outside any premises you're working on. Ask for recommendations and testimonials to put on your website. Post to online message boards and include your details, or join an online forum that your customer audience might be members of.
8. Pay for advertising. You can advertise your site online with pay-per-click but it's impossible to go through all the details here so please take advice elsewhere and understand exactly what you're signing up for before you part with your money. Don't discount the traditional ways of advertising in your local newspaper, Yellow Pages or magazines. The amount you spend depends on your budget and you must keep track of how much business it sends you in order to judge its effectiveness. Don't overlook smaller, cheaper publications though - a curtain-maker once said that her regular mention in the parish magazine sent her so much business she stopped advertising elsewhere. Look out for school newsletters, sports club notice-boards or programmes for village fetes that might reach a large, local audience, particularly if you can put in an appearance at the event. Regular small ads to keep your profile high are better than one huge campaign before sinking into oblivion.
9. Use keywords and search engine optimisation. Keywords create a reference point for search engine spiders, making it easier for them to pick up your site. For this site, the keywords include "freelance writer", "magazines", "Herts" and "copywriting", and are used as often as possible throughout the web copy, page titles and in the webpage coding (also known as meta-tags). Do the same for your business. If you go to www.gorank.com/seotools/ you can analyse your web page for free and check how many times you're using your keywords. You can also check out your competitors' sites to see how they measure up against you. Are they more successful simpy because they use more keywords and come up more often in searches? It's worth reading as much as you can on the subject to make sure you maximise your keyword count.
10. Submit your website to search engines and directories. If you include enough keywords the search engine spiders will eventually find you but you might not want to wait for 1 to 6 months for this to happen. Google "Submit a site" and the results will show you how to add your website to the major search engines and directories. In many cases it's a free process so, to keep costs down, try these options first before paying elsewhere for listing. If you're a member of a trade association or networking group they may also encourage listing your site with them, as might your home town's website.
