101 Marketing Tips
It is said that the best possible time to optimise your website is when it's still on the drawing board, but if it's not, don't panic, some of the tips below will still apply. The majority of suggestions below will cost you nothing more than the time required to read and implement- there's certainly no need for washing up bottles and sticky backed plastic!
We will be updating our list with ten new tips every month, so check back regularly, or keep an eye on our Twitter updates.
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1. Keyword ResearchDo it before building your site It's been said that the best time to optimise your website is when it's still a project on the drawing board and not been built yet. This is for various reasons, but... > more info |
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2. Navigation and Page StructureIdiot Proof One of the most common mistakes with website design is navigation. When formulating how each page should connect to the home page, try to imagine your target market to be a five year old ... > more info |
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3. HTML Page Titles and DescriptionsWhat is an HTML Page Title? In Layman's terms, this means the blue bar at the top of your browser (if using Internet Explorer). When we've mentioned about optimising your website whilst it's still in... > more info |
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4. Human Beings & Bots- Getting The Balance RightIf you only do five things to your website, checking your content should definitely be one of them! Call them site traffic, visitors, or customers, but human beings are one half of the balance tha... > more info |
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5. Web Statistics and Google AnalyticsHow many visitors are you getting? If you log in to the administration area of your website, you'll be able to see your web statistics. Dependent on what programme was used to create your website, yo... > more info |
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6. Incoming Links From Other WebsitesCreate a links page Once your site is up and running, you may find it useful to create a links page. This is a practice popular in the early stages of the internet for both business and personal webs... > more info |
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7. Article Writing and Press ReleasesPress Release Website Portals A slighty more difficult version of writing a blog is writing an article. Articles about your business can then be submitted to any of the press release websites on the ... > more info |
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8. Contact DetailsBe obvious When constructing your website, ensure that any potential visitors can access your contact details at any time on any page. In your navigation bar, always keep a 'Contact Us' Page independ... > more info |
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9. H1 TagsIf your website is still in the pen and paper stage, now is a good time to consider your H1 tags. ‘H’ stands for heading and 1 is it’s number of importance- H1 is the main heading to... > more info |
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10. What Domain Name Should I Choose?Back in the late nineties, it was customary to purchase domain names in sets - for example, our ficticious skate shop 'Wheels of Steel' would've bought wheelsofsteel.co.uk for their main site (as they... > more info |
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11. BlogsMake it interesting and topical if possible Another way to help optimise your website and raise the profile of your business is to write a blog. You don't have to have the qualities of JK Rowling to ... > more info |
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12. Email MarketingAn easy way to communicate with your customers These are a very effective way of keeping your customers aware of offers and promotions within your company if you don't have the budget to invest in a ... > more info |
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13. Google BaseIs a relatively new branch of the Google empire- it’s an online database which any user can add content, such as text and images. If Google deems the data relevant, it will also list it on Googl... > more info |
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14. Facebook Pages200 million active users worldwide A 2009 survey ranked Facebook as the most popular networking site with over 200 million active users worldwide. Register for a free account, upload your photogr... > more info |
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15. Anchor TextAnchor text is the name given to a clickable link within the text. Our website is full of examples, such as this taken from Blogs within our 101 Marketing Tips: Another way to he... > more info |
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16. Site MapsFinding Your Way Around A Site Map, for the uninitiated, is a page which is an index of all of the pages on your website. Each page title is a direct link to that page - particularly useful if your s... > more info |
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17. Google Webmaster CentralWe have talked previously opening up a Googlemail account for various reasons, including using Google Base, Google Analytics and Google Maps. In fact, if you haven’t already registered for a G... > more info |
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18. BreadcrumbsThis is a popular term for an extra aspect to your website as well as your standard navigational bar down one side of the page. Named after the children’s story of Hansel & Gretel, from when... > more info |
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19. Linked-InBusiness Networking Site Linked-In is a business networking site, a lot like MySpace or Facebook, but unlike the two social sites, it allows you to showcase your business in the best way possible. A ... > more info |
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20. AffiliatesEarn extra money from your site Affiliates are a good way to earn revenue from your website and get your business name across to as many other sites as possible. There are lots of different forms of ... > more info |
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21. Running Your Own ForumIf you feel that you can attract enough traffic, and of course, if it is relevant to your line of business, you can have a go at operating a forum of your own. It's a feature which can be provided wit... > more info |
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22. Industry ForumsResearch your industry - for free Forums are an indespensible resource for your business! Again, as with most online networking, they do require time invested into registering your details and openin... > more info |
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23. Leaving CommentsLeave a relevant comment We have mentioned providing your business with an online blog before, and if you've taken our advice, you should have a spreadsheet detailing the sites where you've duplicate... > more info |
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24. Search Engine SubmissionsNow you've constructed the bare bones of your site, uploaded it on to a domain and filled it full of juicy keywords, you need to submit to various places. That's if you are in a hurry the search engin... > more info |
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25. Micro-Blogging and TwitterNew Kid on the block Twitter is the newest kid on the social networking block (at the time of writing) and consists of only status updates 140 characters long as it's primarily a service for use with... > more info |
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26. Making VideosAs YouTube is the second most used website for sourcing information in the UK for people trying to find out information, then it would be a wise idea to utilise this and produce a video for ... > more info |
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27. Google MapsFrom your Google account, you can also go onto the Google Maps page and enter your business on there. Simply set your location, enter your business contact details and website address, provide up to 2... > more info |
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28. DMOZDMOZ is a directory of companies edited by human beings and not computer programmes. The idea behind DMOZ is that voluntary 'online citizens' take small portions of the internet, and sort the authenti... > more info |
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29. Google ProfileGoogle is now branching out from being the number one search engine in the world to offering a multitude of other services, including maps, profiles, email accounts and video uploads. This is an... > more info |
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30. Google VideoSimilar to YouTube, Google Video allows you to upload videos which can be linked to your Google Profile. A dashboard facility allows you to view the status of the film, date uploaded, views, downloads... > more info |
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31. EbayFor the uninitiated, Ebay is the world’s biggest online auction site, spanning across America, Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Switzerland, Tha... > more info |
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32. Email SignaturesAre a very easy way to generate traffic to your site from people you correspond with via email throughout your working day. Of course, you should ideally have customised your email signature to suit y... > more info |
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33. Google AdwordsAgain this is yet another application you can choose for use with your Google account, although you don’t have to be an account holder, it makes things easier if you areas everything’s the... > more info |
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34. Yahoo AnswersIf you have taken our previous advice and opened yourself a Yahoo profile, a good way of attracting visitors to your website can be done sharing your in-depth knowledge of the products and se... > more info |
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35. MySpaceMySpace is one of the most popular social networking sites on the internet, and was rated number 1 in 2006 before it was overtaken by Facebook. MySpace offers a blog, profile page, photo ... > more info |
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36. Bloggers & WebmastersIf you have been slowly working your way through our 101 Marketing Tips section, you will have read Tip #12. If you have not, I suggest you do it now.Blogs, as they are written by human beings, are 't... > more info |
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37. Customer FeedbackAsk and thee shall find... Is a very true statement, especially in the world of business. If the nature of your company involves regular customers purchasing products and services from you, take ... > more info |
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38. Free StuffIf you can afford it, offer something on your website for free! Everyone loves getting free stuff, and as a business owner, it’s actually quite profitable. Remember the adage &ls... > more info |
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39. Colours and FontsWhether you have a business premises or are simply operating your website from the spare bedroom, the style of your domain creates your first impression, and colour is a very important consideration. ... > more info |
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40. Free IndexIf you’ve been taking advice and heeding to the other marketing tips we’ve told you about so far, you’ll know about the importance of creating online profiles for your business- but ... > more info |
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41. Re-DirectsMoving about? If your website is in the stages of its first incarnation or going through a transitional phase of maintenance, such as the navigational system being tweaked, or files and pages bei... > more info |
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42. BT TradespaceIf your website is still in the pen-and-paper stage and you’d like to experience both owning a website and social networking sites in one go, then sign up for BT Tradespace, the latest offering ... > more info |
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43. Links To Your SiteOn your Google Webmaster Tools dashboard, under the Your Site On The Web tab in the left hand navigation menu, you will be able to view the Links To Your Site. If the admin area of your own websit... > more info |
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44. Spammy TextIf you were tempted to skip our Human Beings & Bots Marketing Tip, then this Marketing Tip deals with what your website is likely to resemble if you don’t check and double check your conte... > more info |
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45. Tried & TestedHere at Vizcom, we’re a merry little bunch of people who love our jobs and exceeding customers’ expectations- it makes us smile making them smile. Through our work, we come into contact wi... > more info |
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46. KnolKnol is another part of Google- if you have a Google account, use your details for that to sign into Knol. A Knol means ‘a unit of knowledge’ and it’s a site where users are encourag... > more info |
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47. Robots.txtRobots.txt is a file used to monitor what visiting bots can see and index from your website. It was created in 1994, and consists of a txt. file placed in the root of the website hierarchy. It... > more info |
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48. FlickrFlickr.com is an image sharing community that you may have come across if you’ve taken our previous advice and signed up for a free Google account, as you need Flickr to have images... > more info |
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49. Fresh as a Daisy!Some business owners are sadly under the impression that once a website for their company has been designed, constructed and optimised, then it will run itself, so all they have to do is sit back an... > more info |
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50. Badges Of HonourIf you didn’t do this when you originally set up your Facebook Page and Twitter accounts, you should do this now! Your homepage is not only the landing area for new traffic in many cases, bu... > more info |
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51. SquidooSquidoo was born in 2005, and became fully functional in the state we recognise today in around 2006. Similar to Knol and Wikipedia, Squidoo combines the functions of users writing about in-depth subj... > more info |
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52. BackscratchingDependent on the nature of your company, your previous customers can be very helpful toward attracting future business. Whether it’s face to face or online, customer service is an essential fa... > more info |
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53. Providing Video LinksAlthough we have discussed producing your own videos in previous tips (see #25, Making Videos), if you don’t have either the time, technology or equipment required to do this, videos can still... > more info |
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54. Get yourself a GalleryIn the Tony Hart Gallery styllee, visitors love to see pictures. Of course, this depends on the nature of your company, but even if you sell services as opposed to hard stock, there’s still pl... > more info |
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55. Google AlertsIf you’ve already got your Google profile set up, then you may have already discovered the very useful Google Alerts- updates based on your choice of subject, sent directly to you, by either H... > more info |
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56. TechnoratiWhen you’re the owner of a business, you don’t have lots of time to spend on rooting around the internet for juicy links, industry news and the like to use for updating your social netwo... > more info |
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57. Bookmarking WebsitesIf you’ve been taking heed of our previous Marketing Tips in the 101 series, you will have built up a very impressive rotation of various social networking profiles by now, each featuring a co... > more info |
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58. News WebsitesA newswire, for the uninitiated, is the name given to the ticker tape system originally used to communicate news stories across the globe, before we had reliable telephone systems and of course, the... > more info |
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59. StumbleUponIf you still consider yourself to be ‘wet behind the ears’ in regard to your surfing of the World Wide Web, StumbleUpon is a brilliant way to start a small, and easily managed social net... > more info |
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60. Touch GraphA graphic representation of where keywords sit on the internet Touch Graph is a brilliant website, especially if you’re still relatively new to the world of the internet, as it’s ver... > more info |
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61. SEO ToolsVital Statistics The search engine spider test tool on the SEO Tools website is very handy address to save to your Favourites List, especially if you’re in the process of building your site as ... > more info |
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62. Adding Images to a SitemapIf you haven’t read our previous 101 Marketing Tip all about Sitemaps - I advise you to go back and read it now, otherwise none of this will make any sense to you. On the other hand, if you... > more info |
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63. Ranks DL Keyword Density AnalyzerRemember when we looked at Keywords a couple of months back in our 101 Marketing Tips? If you haven’t scrolled back that far, then in a nutshell, whether your website is still on existent on pap... > more info |