Have you ever wondered why some webmasters have successful marketing campaigns whereas others put in a lot of money but don’t see any results at all? Well, I have been marketing for over 5 years and I’ve begun to see a pattern emerging. Its not that the successful marketers have more money to put into their marketing its that they are using targeting the right audience with the right technique. To put it short, these smart marketers are marketing to the right folks at the right time using the best marketing strategy that appeals to them.

Now, this might seem simplistic and indeed it may well be but if everyone marketed to their targeted audience using a marketing strategy that appealed to that audience, then they would see an immediate return on their investment. In essence, their marketing efforts would immediately pay off. For instance, I have a website that targets men suffering from male andropause. I have Google ads on there and also sell capsules to help cure the menopause symptoms. Previously, I tried promoting the site using articles and press releases. Although it was somewhat successful, it was way too much work for the traffic.
Then, I got smart and started visiting forums specifically for men that were complaining of Andropause symptoms.  I simply responded to their questions on a popular message board and then left my signature with a link back to my site.  Immediately I saw an increase in traffic and sales. To test out this method, I tried the same method with my friend’s watch forum. I wrote a  few articles and press releases for his site about watches and then we waited. Then, a few weeks later, I started visiting other watches forums and promoting his site answering questions and leaving a link back to his site. As soon as I did this, we saw an increase in hits, traffic, and clicks.

However, I still wasn’t convinced that this was the way to go. So, I tried the same method on one of my clients’ sites. She  had a specialized service offering – she was trying to promote her original broadway style melodies service. So, I promoted his site using press releases and Facebook to other Broadway music lovers and guess what, it worked phenomenally. He immediately saw an increase in hits using these strategies.

So, the moral of this post is to go where the traffic is and use marketing strategies that  capture the attention of your market. Until you do, you’ll simply waste your time and that of your readers.

There is never a time in business where one can relax and assume that the business will “take care of itself.” The minute you start believing in this business fallacy is the moment you can count on as the start of a downward spin for your website.

Especially with the internet where vibrancy is the key to survival, marketing is a never-ending high that you should enjoy. It’s a game and while you don’t have to play the game 24/7, you should try these 5 ways to market your site and see how the number will keep the momentum going.

Know Your Buyer and Visitors

By now you should know the profile of your market, visitors and potential visitors. Pool together the information you have on your clients. Who are they? Who visits and stays and who opts out? If you can create a market profile of your clients, then it will make it easier to come up with a business game strategy to bring in more of the same kind of visitors.

Don’t Target the Infrequent Visitor Only

You will have many, maybe more, infrequent visitors than loyal visitors. Don’t focus too much on them that you disregard the guys who keep coming back to your site. Just because a group of people has been established as loyal to your website does not mean your marketing job is done with them. They can skip your site at any time if they feel it is no longer relevant to them.

Create Value

You need to create desire and need in order to sustain the success of your website. What else can you offer to diversify and keep interest in your site? Think of services and products. Look to affiliates and what they are offering. See if they have anything that your visitors and clients may need or want. For instance, let’s say that you own a survivial and emergency preparedness site that sells preparedness kits. Well, it would be a good idea to give your readers content specifically related to the subject matter. For instance, you can create articles on How to Survive an Emergency, 5 Things You Need to Survive a Natural Disaster, etc.

Create A Need or Answer with a Convenience

They may not need it until you point out how important a service or product could be to them. Let’s face it – many of the things we own today are based on convenience or need. If you can address either one or both, you can attract more people to your website. Just stay true to your website’s concept. For instance, let’s say that you own a SEO optimisation firm and you are trying to market it. Well, you could create content specifically about the importance of optimizing a website. That is, you could include articles about Tips for Properly Optimizing Your Site, How to Optimize for Higher Search Engine Rankings, etc.

Offer Opportunities

Let them in on your success and reap the benefits of being an affiliate or dealer. You will need to have the right framework and planning to launch this type of marketing but it is do-able.

This morning I was checking out some sites that I was interested in flipping and noticed that Yandalo, a free online website evaluation site, not only lists the value of a site but also lists a site’s bounce rates. Just for kicks, I inputted the URLs for a few of my niche sites and was amazed that my bounce rates ranged from 10% all the way to 65%. Now, before you say, “Who cares?” You should keep in mind that bounce rates are important when you’re trying to market a product or service.

A bounce rate is the number of times a person has visited your site and clicked off without visiting any other pages, or when they’ve only stayed for a second or two. So, this leaves me with the question, why are some bounce rates better than others? It is because some of my sites are better than others. The ones with the better content and more aesthetically pleasing designs have the lower bounce rates whereas the crappier looking sites do not.

After evaluating my non-bouncy sites, here are some things you can do to lower your site’s bounce rates, and increase your chances of making more moola.

Improve Your Content – It’s important that you have excellent quality content on your website. If you have content that doesn’t read well, or is filled with grammar and spelling mistakes, people aren’t going to trust you. .If you can’t write the content yourself, you can easily hire a marketing writer for a small amount of money.

Have a Professional Looking Site – It’s also important that your website looks professional. Shoddy images or graphics can make your site look like a scam, and people will be less willing to trust your products. You can build professional-looking websites easily with website builders, or you can have it designed by a professional. For instance, Tom,  one of our readers and a very successful real estate professional in Lake Tahoe, recently redesigned his North Lake Tahoe real estate site. Although it was nice before, now it is really phenomenal and includes a professional layout and perks like featured listings and also a property search function. This alone has significantly decreased his bounce rate.

Deliver Solutions - Make sure that your site plainly offers a solution for whatever your target market is suffering with. People buy products for a solution to their problems, and if you offer this plainly on your landing pages, you’re less likely to have higher bounce rates. For instance, one of our readers who owns a printing site noticed that his content wasn’t sticky so he created relevant content, like the Benefits of Booklet Printing and explained how booklet printing can be an incredible marketing technique. Soon thereafter, his site became more sticky and his booklet printing services increased as well. This was simply from delivering great solutions

In conclusion, you can lower your site’s bounce rate by improving your content, having a professional site and delivering great solutions. By doing this, you will improve your reader’s experience and lower your site’s bounce rate.

Every day I visit forums and see many questions from other marketing writers about how to get mega traffic to their blogs. Many of them want to see some major site activity not just the occasional visitor but targeted traffic and lots of it. I personally have found that getting mega traffic can be a really crazy thing. Sometimes it is extremely easy to get targeted traffic and other times it isn’t so easy. Nevertheless, I have found that these three tips work regardless of any niche. Here goes:

1. Use Pay Per Click Ads – By utilizing pay per click ads, you can drive a lot of traffic to your website or blog quickly. Typically, you will decide how much you want to spend on each click, so you can control how much money you’re spending. The ads will be placed on relevant pages and will drive traffic to your website or blog.

2. Host a Giveaway – It’s the newest craze in blogging and it certainly works. Host a giveaway on your blog or website, offering new subscribers the chance to enter for a prize. If you list your site on linkys (websites that host lists of others sites that are hosting giveaways), you can drive a lot of traffic very quickly. It’s also a wonderful way to gain subscribers.

3. Send Out Press Release – Draft a couple of press releases for your website or blog and submit it to the free or paid press release distribution sites. Choose an angle to write about in your press release that will get the attention of readers and make them excited to visit your website or blog. Generally, paid press release distribution reaches a wider audience, but you can drive a lot of traffic with free releases as well.

By using the three steps above, you can drive a lot of traffic to your site in order to sell a product, or obtain a large number of subscribers if your site is brand new.

It always amazes me how internet marketers limit their marketing efforts to online marketing only. Although our businesses are online, we can’t be afraid to market our sites and establish ourselves online AND offline. By doing this, we will not only increase our prospective market but we will outshine those silly marketers that refuse to expand their marketing methods.

Here are some clever tips marketing ideas that you can use to market your business online.

Pass Out Business Cards. This should be obvious but you’d be amazed how many marketers don’t have business cards. If you’re one of them, get some cards printed right away. Give them out everywhere. You can leave them at coffee shops, restaurants, art galleries; anywhere you visit where potential customers might be.

Give Out T-Shirts. T-shirts are my favorite. They are cheap and everyone wears them. Simply, have some t-shirts printed up and give them out to family, friends, or customers. Include your domain name and any relevant information, as well as your logo. Others will see the t-shirts and if they’re in need of a service like yours, they can visit your site.

Toot Around a Website License Plates or Decal. Another cool idea is vanity plates or decals for your vehicle. Both of these are a great and inexpensive way to get the message across and help you expand your brand awareness. Use your car as a moving advertisement for your business, and interested customers will see the information and visit your website.

Put an Ad in the Local Paper. Depending on your business, you can (and should) put an ad in your local paper. Direct customers to your website by offering incentives, eBook, or even coupons. People love saving money and go crazy over free offers.

Buy Offline Advertising Space. There are many places where you can buy advertising space offline. Children’s yearbooks, menus at diners, signs near phone booths, etc, are all places that potential customers could see the information about your business.

Sponsor a Sports Team. Another great way to get your name out there is to sponsor a local sports team, cheerleading team, or something similar. It is typically an inexpensive way to market plus you’ll get alot of exposure (especially if your team wins regionals).

So, these are just some of the many tips marketing methods that you can market your stuff offline. Be creative and try to think in terms of where your target market might see your ads, your merchandise, or information about your business but whatever you do, don’t limit yourself to online advertising only!