Secrets to Free Advertising on the Internet

A Complete Comprehensive Guide For Large and Small Businesses on How to Take Advantage of All the Advertising Media Available on the Internet

Robert Noll, Anne Brashier

• Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781614481980
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Pubblicità
• Index: Business

Written for: Accountants, Doctors, Lawyers, Realtors, Insurance Brokers, Artists, all MLM Reps, Retail Stores...Any type of small to medium-size business interested in FREE ways to advertise on the internet. Email Marketing - Spam or a viable means of advertising? Classifieds - Quick ways to list your company or business for FREE. Search - Google, Yahoo, Bing and More...Easy Placement and all for FREE. Blogs - Should you or shouldn't you??An effective way to advertise for FREE? MySpace - Set your company on auto-pilot for more sales, and it's FREE! Facebook - Put a FREE face on your business and gain hundreds of new customers. Pay-Per-Click - Okay, it's not FREE, but can be quick and cost-effective! Secrets to Free Advertising on the Internet will help your business grow, whether you are already net-savvy or new to the World Wide Web. Marketing expert Robert Noll gives you helpful hints and clear, easy tips on how to use the wide variety of FREE advertising media available online. Reaching out to a whole new customer base can seem intimidating, but Secrets to Free Advertising on the Internet helps you focus your strategy so you don't feel overwhelmed. No matter what your company does, a strong online advertising campaign can help you do it better.

SECTION 1:

ONLINE LISTINGS

THE NIELSON PARTNER WEB VISIBLE CONDUCTED an in-depth study on how small businesses fall into an odd trap online: they seek information on the Internet, but they fail to keep a strong online presence for themselves. Though 63% of consumers and small business owners turn to the Internet first for information about local companies and 82% use search engines to do so, only 44% of small businesses have a website¹. So, the first step to getting your business to pop up in the top 10 search terms for any relevant keyword for your company is to have a good website! This should be a no-brainer by now; every company should have a website, from car repair shops to bakeries to financial consulting firms.

Once you start thinking of the Internet as one huge low-cost marketing tool to get buyers into your virtual “store,” you’ll find that you have thousands of ways to reach thousands of new customers, most of whom are interested in you and have already sought you out! In addition to a well-designed website, social networks, and pay-per-click banners, free online lists are a great way to stay in touch with clients. Not only that, if you don’t take advantage of the millions of people who have Internet access, who check e-mails all day either on computers, mobile phones, or PDAs, you’ll miss out on loads of business. So, let’s get started!

Chapter 1:
Classifieds

I WAS A PAPERBOY, VERY briefly. Not a job I miss at all. But if I had to get up at 3am to load all the information now available online into my messenger bag, I would need a bigger bicycle! In fact, there is more information available to consumers online now than any newspaper could ever contain. Yet consumers still go to reliable sources on the web for practical information, like finding a landscaper or a plumber. That’s why you have to get yourself listed in the most popular directories online.

It used to be that if you wanted to find a job or buy a car or hire a moving company, you checked the newspaper for classified ads. Now, you might still open the newspaper, but the odds are good that your potential customers do most of their searching online. Lucky for you there is a wide range of online classified sites that can offer listings for your company. There’s a place for every type of service and product online, so no matter what your company has to offer, an online classified listing can work for you. Better yet, the majority of these sites are free!

Classifieds offer free listings for businesses and are one of the easiest ways to get leads matched perfectly to your demographic. We will show you how to list your company in online classifieds and discuss what to watch out for. We’ll also discuss how this kind of advertising hits the biggest demographic range.

Almost all people using the Internet use this type of advertising. It is fast and effective, and leads the seeker to the exact product or service for which they are searching.

Just like the old-fashioned phone book or classifieds in the newspaper, online classifieds allow small companies to list their goods and services. Classifieds are great at targeting local and niche markets, putting your info right on the radar of consumers looking for your type of business. Since there is so much chatter on the Internet, this chapter will teach you how to get your ad noticed by the right people, and increase your return on investment.

WHERE TO LIST YOUR BUSINESS

The Internet is not an “if you build it, they will come” environment. Unless your ad is in the right location, no one will notice. So, here are a few tips for finding the best place for you to list your classified ad. You can also check out this book’s up-to-date resource website, www.RobertNoll.com, for the latest classified site information.

A. Generic classified sites

An easy place to start getting your ad listed is to go to any of the wide range of general free classified sites on the web. YellowPages.com and WhitePages.com are two obvious classified listing choices, but there are many others. 411.com (the online equivalent of dialing 411 for Information) is another well-known directory you should join. Because these sites cover a very wide range of industries, and because they reach the largest demographic both geographically and individually, label your ad with as many specific keywords as possible. That way if you are a florist specializing in weddings, gifts, parties, deliveries, and roses, searches for all those words will bring up your company!

Some sites such as yellowpages.com offer you the chance to register with one company and get listed on numerous sites all owned or affiliated by the parent company. Superpages.com is a great place to start. On the Internet, your company’s main objective should be to divide, multiply, and conquer!

Figure 1.1: www.superpages.com

Here are the steps to signing up for Superpages.com. Most other large free classified websites have essentially the same company registration process.

1. Find out if your company already has a listing by entering your business phone number into the first field.

2. Add your business address and listing information, and your business category. If your business fits into more than one category, make sure you list them all.

3. Select the keywords that represent the specific brands, services, and products you offer.

4. List your hours of operation, your accepted methods of payment, and any relevant certifications, affiliations or company memberships.

5. Finally, list the area in which you want to offer service: are you a local store in a big city, or are you an online store offering nation-wide shipping?

Once you have signed up with your company e-mail, you can easily update and monitor your business listing. Registering for classified ads like the listings on Superpages.com will ensure that online shoppers can find your company right when they need it. The more information you supply these sites, the more users will look at your listing, and then spend their money with you!

A general rule of thumb about classifieds is this: the more review and verification the site requires to list your ad, the more professional and respected the ad site is. Most sites have strict rules about adult content (even increased fees) and for sites that violate security, FCC, and privacy codes. But let’s assume that you’ve got a fully legit business, so now all you have to do is submit your ad and the link to your site, as well as company information, to the classified site and you are on your way. Once you have the ads up and running, you can easily track the click-throughs to your own homepage from each website with basic analytics on your own company website. You can also get a sense of the traffic a site gets by how quickly the listings change as you return to the site over a week. Don’t be worried that your ad shifts position; that just means that you’re on a highly trafficked site, which is always a good place to be!

B. Search engine classifieds

Over 75% of online searches use Search Engines, which means that when customers come looking for your business, this is a key place they start.² Yahoo, Google, and MSN all offer free classified ads and directories where you can list your business. Since these are three of the top Search Engines (see Chapter 2 for Search Engine info), they get millions of viewers a day, and some of those people are going to want and need what you have to offer. Different from getting your ad to pop up in the top 10 of a search (which we’ll cover in Chapter 2), putting a sponsored ad on a major search engine will give you prime online real estate.

Google will list companies on classifieds both in alphabetical order and Page Rank order (the order that the search engine lists your site in a general search). The Google directory limits and enhances the general search capability of Google, and is based on the Netscape Open Directory Project (ODP). ODP volunteers sort through website submissions and select the most respected, legitimate, trustworthy websites to include in what is essentially an online reference library.

To get listed on Google’s free classified directory, go to the Open Directory Project homepage, http://www.dmoz.org/add.html, and search to make sure that your website is not already listed. Then, once you verify that you fulfill all the other directory conditions (nothing illegal, no duplicate sites, no under-construction sites, etc.), pick the single most relevant category for your website. Finally, click “Submit URL” and wait for the editors to accept you.

The Open Directory Project’s reference list is enormous, so a number of directory sites use it on their own search pages. This means that once you get on the ODP, you’ll be automatically listed on the search lists for Google, Yahoo!, AOL, Netscape, and hundreds of others.

Yahoo! uses the ODP data for its classified lists, so you don’t need to pay the hefty yearly fee to get listed on the Yahoo! directory. AOL lets you list for free, if you go to http://www.classifieds.aol.com/post/ and click on “Post a Free Ad!” Their list options are basic: 3 categories, your title and business description, your contact information, and your address. From there, they will email you a verification link for you to click through. It’s fast, free, easy, and a great way to get your ad online.

MSN uses InetGiant.com to host its classifieds, so to get a listing on MSN and it’s new search partner BING, go to http://www.inetgiant.com
/PostNewAd.aspx. Select the “I am offering” button, and select your business category. The site will guide you through an easy process so you can narrow exactly how you are listed to the most accurate description. Then, add a description, title, 2 free photos, and all of your business information. The basic listing is free, though the website will push you to upgrade to more services at each step. Check each field carefully or you might be signing up for extra, unnecessary, and expensive services.

C. Craig’s List

We’ve got to talk a bit about Craig’s List, since it is the most multi-purpose international online classified site. Craig’s List lets anyone list anything, from pets to pianos to plumbers. If you run a small local business this is a great place to get customers. Since Craig’s List operates as more of a local site in thousands of cities and regions, small service providers such as nannies, plumbers, car repairmen, etc, can really focus local buyers on their service. Craigslist.org is not the best place to list your online clothing store, your electronic retail store, or your restaurant. But it can be a very useful place for small businesses to get attention from their local communities. Also, because the lists get updated so frequently, it’s a great place for real estate agents to list properties: you can showcase individual homes, though there is a fee for real estate listings.

Because Craig’s list is primarily moderated by the individuals or organizations posting ads, set yourself apart with your professionalism. A good example of a Craig’s List posting is Figure 1.2, a makeup artist posting her services for hire. Her listing includes a link to her website, photo examples of her work, and a basic idea of what she has to offer.

Figure 1.2: www.craigslist.com makeup artist ad

Another great example of using Craig’s List for your company is this ad for a muffler repair shop. The ad gives clear, detailed, concise information about what services they offer and how you can get in touch with them. They ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Title
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• About the Author
• Introduction
• Section 1: Online Listings
• Section 2: Online Customer Connections
• Section 3: Social Media
• Section 4: New Media
• Section 5: What Next?
• Glossary
• References
• Bonus