Marketing on a budget

Time and time again it seems the same old questions keep getting asked. How can a company market a website on a small budget?

Some owners decide to advertise and in the end there is very little to show for the expenditure. Using Google type ads needs skills more than most companies possess.

Realistically you are unlike to list on the first page of search results.

Faced with that, what should a company do? Assuming all the standard SEO steps have been taken, there are a number of possibilities.

Building a personal Sales Network

The big guy's do it, so can you. Affiliates has got a bad name over the years, but the core solution remains valid. A Sales Network which remains under your control and you pay only for results agreed upon.

You will already know that Amazon is great example of a company paying for results to all it's affiliates. Major airlines, all the hotel groups, software suppliers, fashion stores, the list is endless. You can join one of a number of Affiliate marketing companies but will need a realistic budget and must meet their terms and conditions. Hosted Affiliates offers a low cost method to create and own your own Affiliate Network, Check out the details, you might be surprised at how affordable it is.

Link Building

It is a well known fact, the more quality links which point to your main business website the better. It is also a fact that nobody really creates links to another site unless there is a compelling reason. So the solution is to create a number of difference websites, each with a unique message. Costs are very low and you remain in control. They are sometimes called micro landing pages.

Directory Listings

There are a number of good quality Business Directory's serving particular market sectors, or maybe a local area. In the UK a good example is the Northampton Directory which offers all the benefits of a micro landing page and currently offers a 6 month free listing.

Blogs and Forums

Another solution if time is available is to make posts to suitable Blogs, start your own Blog and become a member of suitable Forums. One of the most common is LinkedIn.

If you need help, or require somebody to take on this work for you, here is a link to a request form.

Posted in: Affiliates, drachsi, micro landing pages, Northampton on Wednesday, June 4, 2014 at at 4:33 PM 0 comments

WordPress is a very popular solution for many websites. I have always used html to create a site, but thought it would be a good idea to explore the possibilities of combing both solutions into one website.

The site at www.drachsi.com still has all the information as normal, but now there is a link to my WordPress version. I use version 3.4, and found it easier to locate and use a template theme that suited the style I felt would be professional and modern. There was much I needed to learn, but found plenty of support in the Forums and from different Theme suppliers. Highly recommended for new and existing webmasters.


WordPress was easy to instal and set up, then came the biggest surprise of all, the extensive range of "Plugins" which extended the basic installation. Using WordPress, I have pages, and menu as normal, and a Blog. The Blog is set up different from this one, and I found it easy to use. There are benefits for having a separate url for a Blog, but for the majority of users the time and effort are not worth it.

I still create a wide range of sitemaps which benefit the whole site, in addition to those locate within WordPress.

There are many excellent web designers, but I sometimes wonder if it would be a lot quicker and cheaper, to use WordPress with Theme, and then let the designer modify the parts and graphics to suit the style required.

My first website was created in 1996 using a basic text editor and code provided by the new type of Internet magazines. Progressing through FrontPage to my current software, Microsoft Expression 4, Over the last 16 years, (I'm 70 plus now) I found I am not a web designer, a graphic designer or a code creator. I do like helping small companies with my background in international marketing, sales and have worked on a number of business websites, providing ideas, support and using networking media to spread their message.

Anyway, enough about me, how can I help you?

Posted in: drachsi, plugins, webmaster, WordPress on Sunday, June 24, 2012 at at 7:47 AM 0 comments

I have created a number of small videos on YouTube and have found a method that shows them all displayed in a single window. This makes it a lot easier to show a particular section of possible ideas or products together. There are more ideas on the Virtual Webmaster website.

Posted in: drachsi, Marketing Yourself, Virtual Webmaster Services on Saturday, March 31, 2012 at at 6:05 AM 0 comments

It has taken some time to convert and modify the layout and style of the Drachsi website. Still work to be done adding the missing pages, and creating a new YouTube business video.

Drachsi

Posted in: drachsi, website audit, website mystery shopper, website reviews on Monday, October 10, 2011 at at 4:41 PM 0 comments

I have created a new Lens about the business portal BT Tradespace If you want to create your very own business profile, this is the place to do it, and it's free.

Posted in: drachsi, Internet marketing help, Tradespace on Sunday, August 30, 2009 at at 11:16 AM 1 comments

A free site to promote your company or business is at Tradespace, part of BT, a British Teleco. Anybody can join for free, you can see my listing Tradespace here. Get in with your name now, before the best names are gone, there are already more than 200,000 listed, worldwide.

Drachsi

Posted in: drachsi, Tradespace on Friday, August 28, 2009 at at 3:55 PM 0 comments

Normally, when you find a great resource, you keep the information to yourself, as it gives you a strategic advantage. Not my way. Here is a great company that provides Hosting Services, Domain Registration and a great deal more. I use them for private websites, and for my customers. Great customer support, and if you are on a minimum budget, you can use a holding page. Here is my example. Drachsi

Posted in: drachsi on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at at 8:26 AM 0 comments

Posting on Blogs and in Forums is very common, you can use this if you are company to promote product and services. If you are an individual, you should be aware that your name and it's postings are index by the major search engines, and can still be available years later.

Employment companies now do searches of user names to find more about you, interests, hobbies, politics. It has a good and a bad side.

Posted in: drachsi on Saturday, August 22, 2009 at at 9:44 AM 0 comments