Your website is up and ready to go. Not to mention you’re chomping at the bit to make some serious money online. But don’t kid yourself. It’s going to take awhile to generate enough traffic to create a profitable business. And this assumes you have something unique to sell which will get prospects coming back… plus telling everyone they know about your website. How long will it take? Think twelve months at least… and most likely longer (sorry!).

But don’t worry. You just need to be patient and willing to work hard to spread the word about your fledgling website. Having some advertising budget helps too… like with any other business.  And since I’ll be the first to admit that the world of online advertising is confusing, complex, and cluttered… we’ve put together a roadmap to help you navigate:

• Search engine optimization. Make it easy as possible for your website to show up in the first page of Google search results. How to do that? Follow SEO best practices. Better yet, make them a way of life. Otherwise, your website becomes a tiny needle in a really big haystack… and prospects will never find you on their own. Not sure where to start? Check out the book: “The Truth About Search Engine Optimization” by Rebecca Lieb, on Amazon.com… and take the time to read it.

• Press releases. Get in the habit of doing press releases (at least one per month). In today’s web world, press releases can and should be an important part of your strategy to get the word out about your business… even if you’re a one person start-up working from your kitchen table. There are free and very affordable services ($25 per release) such as Free Press Release and 1888 PressRelease. So don’t hesitate to start making some news!

• Web Directories. Millions of people search web directories every day to find a business like yours. So definitely submit your website to online directories. Good ones include: Dmoz.org, Yahoo! Directory, Best of the Web, and JoeAnt. There are also web directories that specialize in blogs (e.g., BlogCatalog), local markets (e.g., Local.com), and industries (e.g., Business.com). Many are free but some do charge an annual fee (i.e., $20 to $300)… and you can also pay to advertise and get a more prominent listing.

• Internet Yellow Pages. Yes, it’s the online version of the tried and true yellow pages. Simple enough to understand right? For example, check out YellowPages.com, SuperPages, and Yellowbook. Each of these offers a free listing for your business and you can also pay for a more prominent listing… again, just like the regular yellow pages. A must for local online businesses!

• City Guides. These websites are more about “what’s great” and “what to do” in your local area, and user reviews and popularity are important factors in determining which businesses get the most attention. Citysearch and Yelp are good examples. And like the web directories and Internet yellow pages, you can get a business listing and pay to promote it in search results. Another must for local business owners.

• Paid Search. Of course, you can always pay Google, Yahoo!, and other search engines to show up in their search results as a “sponsored” listing. For example, if you’re a dentist located in Chicago, it may make sense to buy a paid search ad for the keywords “dentists, Chicago” to drive local prospects to your website. The good news is you only pay when someone clicks on your advertisement. But setting up, testing, and managing paid search programs can be very time consuming and complicated… so you may want to turn to firms like Yodle or ReachLocal to help out.

• Display Advertising. There are thousands of quality websites and blogs you can “display” your ads on. The key is to find sites that reach your target audience and make sense given your marketing budget. For example, try out Leadtail (our service) to find out where you should advertise online. Keep in mind that display advertising helps generate awareness for your business but not necessarily lots of visitors to your website. But awareness matters, since we tend to buy from companies we’re already familiar with. 

• Ad Networks. You’ll probably hear about ad networks (if you haven’t already). They make it easy to run your ad on thousands of websites and blogs… depending on the consumers you’re trying to reach. For those on an extra limited budget (aren’t we all?), take a look at BuySellAds.com, Performancing Ads, and BidVertiser where you only have to spend a couple hundred bucks a month to advertise your online business.

• Email List Rental. You can rent email lists and buy ad space in email newsletters that cater to your target audience. Just make sure the lists are “opt-in” as you definitely don’t want to “spam” anyone. And don’t forget to start building your own email list right away by offering your website visitors the opportunity to sign up to receive something from you (e.g., your email newsletter).

• Social Media Marketing. There sure is a lot of buzz about Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn… to name a few social media sites. And whether or not you understand what these sites are all about… your business needs to participate. It really does. So invest the time to learn how social media marketing can help get people talking (or tweeting!) about your website.

• Affiliate Marketing. Why not have other websites (i.e., affiliates) market your products for you? And when these affiliates send prospects to your site that purchase your products… you pay them a percentage of the proceeds (i.e., commissions). Makes sense right? There are lots of companies that’ll help you find the right affiliates for your business. Check out AffiliateTips.com to learn more. This is a must for online retailers!
  

• Article Marketing. Your prospects like to read articles related to your products, services, or industry. So go ahead and write lots of relevant articles and post them to article directory sites such as EzineArticles, ArticlesBase, GoArticles.com, and Buzzle.com. And with each article you submit, you get to add your bio and a link to your website. This means you’ll be establishing yourself as a thought leader with your prospects… while also increasing your site traffic!

This online advertising roadmap has plenty to get you started… so use it like a checklist. And when you’re ready to learn more, just do a Google search using the above bullet point titles as your search terms (e.g., “display advertising”). Of course, you still have to decide what makes the most sense given your particular business, target market, and budget.

Now take a deep breath… and get going in building your online business. You can do it!

We’ve been led to believe that being number one is what it’s all about. But sometimes that isn’t the best strategy… especially when we’re talking about paid search rankings. Don’t agree… Read on. Agree but not sure what else to do? Read on.

The number one page rank costs too much. Many marketers are bidding for the number one ranking for your favorite keywords. So what happens when there are lots of bidders and only one number one spot? You end up paying too much! Especially, when compared to the cost of the number three, four, or five ranking.

You get lots of traffic but few conversions. There’s no question that you’ll get the most traffic. But, surprisingly, you’ll get fewer conversions. The reason is simple: everyone clicks on the first position to figure out what they really should be clicking on. And you end up paying for every wasted click… making the number one ranking much less effective.

For popular keywords, the top ranking is just not available. For many popular keywords, especially those that define product categories (e.g., digital camera), you’ll be competing against the marketing budget of a Fortune 500 company. You might as well consider these keywords unavailable since they are beyond costly.

So what should you do instead? Here are four strategies to consider:

• Focus on rankings 2 to 5. You’ll get lots of traffic plus generate truly valuable clicks. Why? Because, there’s a better chance that people clicking on these rankings are researching a purchase or shopping around for the best buy. Did we mention that these positions cost a lot less than the number one spot?

• Make it about profits. If you’re not focused on the number one ranking… what should you focus on? Profits! Figure out how many clicks it takes to generate an order, and what your profit per order is. Then calculate your profit per click and compare against your cost per click. Just make your keyword strategy about maximizing profits… and everything else will start to become clear.

• Test, test, and… test! Test lots of keywords. Try targeting keywords for people who are in research mode, and some for shoppers. Also, test different offers and copy in your keyword ads. And try out both Google and Yahoo…and maybe even a few smaller search engines. Test search versus contextual based ad placements. You get the idea!

• Put more emphasis on your “natural” search ranking. Natural search is what the search engines were made for… so update your website to make sure your favorite keywords show up often. And have a good site map to make it easy for search engine “spiders” to access your site, and understand what you’re all about. You’ll improve your ranking and Web traffic… and you won’t have to pay for a single click!

Good search practices will get you results. But as you can see, it’s really not about being number one… instead, it’s about getting the most bang for your search engine buck!

When it comes to online advertising, Google and other “paid search” providers have us convinced that it’s all about “clicks.” How many clicks did your paid search program generate? Which ads generated the most clicks? What are you paying per click? You get the idea!

But wait a minute… just because someone clicked on your ad doesn’t mean they’ll buy your product or even give you a call. Far from it! As a matter of fact, many website visitors that result from your advertising efforts will never buy from you. Why? Because they leave your site within seconds of arriving (i.e., they bounce), which means they have no interest at all. So forget clicks… you need to first understand bounce rate when evaluating your online advertising performance.

Why is bounce rate more important than clicks? Because bounce rate is a good proxy for how many unqualified website visitors you’re paying for. As a matter of fact, these visitors are so unqualified they don’t even stick around long enough to find out what you’re selling… let alone buy from you. But you’re still paying for every click that sends them your way.

Here’s some quick math to put it in costly perspective:

Let’s assume you spend $1,000 with Google to send 1,000 visitors to your website. Let’s also say that 60% of these visitors leave within ten seconds of arriving so your bounce rate is 60%. This means you paid Google $600 (60% of $1,000) for clicks so unqualified they barely lasted seconds on your site!

Now it’s time for the obvious question: do you know the bounce rate of your advertising campaigns? It’s easy to find out if you have web analytics set up for your site. Just look at your web analytics’ dashboard and start paying attention to your “bounce rate” stats. And if you’re not using web analytics then now’s the time to start!

With that in mind, here are some guidelines for improving your bounce rate:

• Track ad campaigns separately. Make sure you’re evaluating the bounce rate for each ad campaign. That way you can quickly get your arms around which campaigns have the highest bounce rate (i.e., most unqualified visitors) and the lowest (i.e., most qualified visitors).

• Stop poor performing ads. That new text ad may be generating a ton of clicks but what’s the point if your bounce rate is 98%? This example may seem extreme but once you start focusing on bounce rate you’ll see that (unfortunately) it’s not. Simple solution: stop running ad campaigns with high bounce rates… or at least, rethink what you’re doing.

• Send visitors to custom landing pages. Maybe your homepage isn’t the best place to send visitors once they’ve clicked on your ad banner. If you’re running a promotional offer, you should instead send them to a “landing page” that’s been customized for that offer. Who knows… you might discover that more of your clickers are qualified prospects after all.

• Test, test, and test some more. As every good marketer knows, it’s all about testing and optimizing. Now that you’re focusing on bounce rate you should do the same! Test different types of ads, placements, keywords, landing pages… you name it. You’ll soon find a good balance between what you’re paying per click and lower bounce rates.

All sounds great right? But I bet you’re still wondering what benchmark percentages to use to determine good vs. bad bounce rates. Ask the experts and they’ll be quick to say, “It depends.” But I never find that very helpful so I’ll go out on a limb and offer a simple benchmark. Shoot for an average bounce rate of under 50% for your online advertising efforts.

Just keep in mind that we’re talking about your ad campaigns. Bounce rates from visitors that type in your URL directly or that come from natural search should be much lower… but don’t be surprised as they’ll bounce too!

Are you ready to market your local business on the Internet? Well then, the first thing you need to do is spend a lot of money creating a website… not! As a matter of fact, you don’t even need a website to start. So put away that checkbook (for now) and let’s instead take a look at your online advertising options…

Internet Yellow Pages. Yes, it’s the online version of the tried and true yellow page directory. Simple enough to understand right? For example, check out YellowPages.com, SuperPages.com, and Yellowbook.com. Each of these offers a free listing for your business and you can also pay for a more prominent listing… again, just like the regular yellow pages.

Online Directories. These sites make it easy for Internet users to search for a local business like yours. Yahoo! Local, Local.com, and InsiderPages are local directories you should consider. There may also be directories that just focus on your type of business. For example, if you own a restaurant then you probably want to be listed in UrbanSpoon. Many directories offer free business listings… and if you’re willing to pay, your business can show up higher in search results!

City Guides. These websites are more about “what’s great” and “what to do” in your local area… and user reviews and popularity are important factors in determining which businesses get the most attention. Citysearch and Yelp are good examples. And like the Internet yellow pages and online directories, you can get a business listing and promote your business in search results.

Paid Search. Of course you can always pay Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft to show up in their local search results. For example, if you’re a dentist located in Chicago, it may make sense to buy a paid search ad for the keywords “dentists, Chicago” to drive local prospects to your website. Keep in mind that setting up, testing, and managing your paid search programs can be time consuming and complicated… so you may want to turn to firms like Yodle or ReachLocal to help out.

Online Newspapers. Don’t forget your local newspaper! It attracts lots of online readers from your neighborhood. And just like the print version, you can buy ads in different sections like the news, sports, and entertainment pages of their site. But this may be a better option if you have your own website and a bit more of a marketing budget.

Local Websites. There are many other websites that cater specifically to your local market. For example, your city magazine probably has an online version. Plus there are local blogs that focus on community news, real estate, parenting, sports, and even nightlife. And some may be looking for advertisers just like you. The key is to find local websites that do a great job of reaching your target audience.

All good and helpful information right? But where do you start? Well… that depends.

What if you have no website or budget? At least get your free business listings with the Internet Yellow Pages, Online Directories, and City Guides. A business listing is like a one-page website showing your company name, address, phone number… and maybe more. That way the millions of people searching these sites can now find your business! And if you have some budget to spend then consider upgrading to a paid and more prominent listing (about $50 per month). You should also start testing some of the advertising programs these sites offer ($100 to $400 per month) to see what works best… to get the phones ringing!

What if you have a great website and $500 or more per month to spend marketing your business? Then, in addition to advertising in the Internet Yellow Pages, Online Directories, and City Guides, you should also be running local paid search ads. And if you’re looking to spend over $1,500 monthly on advertising your local website (lucky you!)… definitely consider adding your online newspaper and local websites to the mix.

Btw… right now someone in your neighborhood is searching the Internet for a business like yours. Hurry up and get started… to make it easy for them to find you!

Your website’s up and you’re ready to begin marketing it. And what does everyone tell you? Advertise with Google. But be afraid… very afraid! Here’s a quick story to convince you why.

Someone I know set up a Google account to start advertising his new website. He put down his credit card for $1,000 and started the Google machine… figuring the money would last at least a month. The next day he gets an email saying he’s already used up the $1,000 and must approve more on his credit card to keep his ad up and running. And guess what? He didn’t even get one customer or prospect from the traffic Google sent. That’s right, $1,000 gone in a single day and no orders or leads generated. Welcome to Google advertising!

Now in all fairness, Google is a great advertising service that will cost-effectively generate lots of qualified visitors to your website… if you know what you’re doing!

Here are some things to keep in mind when considering advertising with Google:

• Google is for professionals only. Those able to compete against Fortune 1000 marketers and search engine consultants for the best ad pricing. It’s definitely not for newbies learning the ropes… unless your willing to pay way too much for each visitor to your website.

• Test your ads anywhere but Google. Google is a very expensive place to test your ads. Sure it’s “pay per click” but what you pay also takes into account how well your ad performs relative to comparable ads. Popular ads that generate lots of clicks will cost much less than unpopular ads. So test your ads using other search networks like Yahoo!, Microsoft, or LookSmart. And only bring your best performing ads to run on Google.

• Judge success by results not just clicks. Always remember, it’s about the orders, phone calls, and leads that result from the clicks. So even if Google is generating lots of clicks… you still need those visitors to turn into the results you care about. If they do then be happy with what you’re paying Google… otherwise, you’re paying too much!

• Limit your risk with spending caps. Use daily spending limit caps when you first start your advertising programs. A good place to start is a $50 daily cap. And as you get comfortable with how your ad is performing, you can then move to a monthly spending cap. This guarantees you’ll never be surprised by blowing your whole budget in a single day!

• Become an expert or hire a professional. Don’t kid yourself. You really only have those two choices. Otherwise, you’ll spend way too much and still be unhappy with the results. Not sure where to find a professional? Do a search for “search engine marketing” plus your location (e.g., San Francisco). You’ll get lots of choices in the search results. Just make sure and talk to at least three firms, tell them your budget and objectives, ask for pricing and references… and then check the references!