Getting Targeted Web Traffic- Part 3

Using Banner Ads
One mistake that many online businesses make is using banner ads to reach the greatest amount of people.  Your focus when it comes to banner ads is to reach the right type of people for the product or service that you’re selling.  One thing to keep in mind is that, if you have a limited budget, you should avoid buying banner ads altogether.  If you have a big budget, banner ads can be great for branding your company.  You’ll be able to negotiate contracts that are long term with affiliated websites in your area of business.  However, the results of click-through marketing are usually low and this makes banner ads the least cost effective of all internet marketing techniques.

If you decide that you want to purchase banner ads you should focus on buying them on web pages that are very targeted.  Ads are cheaper the more targeted a web page is.  And the cheaper the ad the more cost effective your banner ads will be.  Another way that you can target the placement of your banner ads is to embed them in web page content.  Before you purchase a banner ad find out what content the website administrators will be including on their web page that may be related to your online business.  If the website uses a keyword search tool ask that your banner ads appear when key words that are linked to your product or service are typed into the search engine by visitors to the website.

Try to place your banner ads on a web page that is as deep into the website as possible.  This way you’ll be reaching people who are truly looking for information that relates to your business.  This is a great strategy to use if you want to get the most value for your online budget.  Again, if your budget for marketing is quite high, you’ll want to buy banner ads on the home pages of websites so that your brand reaches a lot of people.

Establish Credibility
One of the main problems with internet marketing is establishing credibility with your customers.  Since there are so many Internet scams out there people are wary of whom they do business with and even more cautious of companies they are unfamiliar with.  As a small business you need to gain credibility on the Internet by making your logo and company name a familiar item to Internet users.  One way that you can achieve this credibility is by setting up a shopping cart on Yahoo!  You’ll not only have access to the technology of shopping carts you’ll also find yourself affiliated with a familiar and successful online company.  This gives customers the confidence needed to do business with you.  When a customer buys something from your online Yahoo! Store they become more familiar with the name of your company and will be more likely to buy from you directly at your website the next time around.

Get your Content to Other Websites
Another way that you can build credibility online is to swap content.  If you can position an article that includes a link to your website on another website that is at the top of the field of your industry you increase your chances of credibility.  This then increases your sales potential.  But just how do you get web editors to take any notice of your company?  The bottom line is that more companies are willing to trade a free mention on your website for a good article.  This way the content provider gets targeted and free advertising for their product or service, and the company that is posting the article (and the link) can feature content that is informative and valuable.

This is a form of “article marketing”, which will be discussed in more detail later.  When a potential customer reads your article you establish yourself as an expert in your field.  When the customer links over to your website you have a very good lead that can generate sales.

People who use the Internet want results that are immediate.  They know exactly what they are looking for so your advertising message needs to be appropriate, concise, and to the point.  You need to think about what kind of people will be accessing the website where you plan to post your article.

Come back for part 4 of the 10 part series on target traffic generation.

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