Diving Traffic to your site using the Internet

Ok so we have built a web site, the site contains good relevant content, has easy to find contact information, is optimized, registered with the search engines and available for potential customers to use. We have had some success with traditional media driving traffic to the web site. Now we would like to take advantage of the internet to drive potential customers to our web site. Where do we start? There are so many possibilities.
Possibilities include:

• Banner ads on high traffic sites
o Newspaper web sites
o Yahoo
o AOL

• Pay Per Click programs
o Google
o Yahoo
o Bing
o Ask
o AOL

•Behavioral Targeting
oYahoo

• Off Site Search Engine Optimization
o Links
o Social Bookmarks
o Blogging
o Article Marketing

• Video sharing and Podcasts
o I-Tunes
o Youtube

• Social Media
o Facebook
o Myspace
o LinkedIn
o Twitter

Books have been written about each of these areas and we will not try and cover each one in that much detail. The next few posts will try and get you started with each of these areas. I will also provide resources if you are interested in finding out more. So let’s get started.

Ric Cushenan, MBA, is CEO of Cush Media. Ric has over 25 years of Marketing and sales experience with Newspapers, Targeted Publications and Search Engine Marketing.
Cush Media, www.cushmediaonline.com is a full service on-line marketing company. We specialize in web site development, SEO, SEM, Social Media, Behavioral Targeting and Tracking through on-line analytics.

Driving Qualified Traffic to your Website using Traditional Media

Once you have created an effective web site, every piece of communication your business produces should contain your URL. Whether you are creating business cards, flyers, billboards, in store advertising, radio, TV or print ads, all communication should reference your URL. Your web site has the most complete information on your products, services, specials and contact information so getting prospective customers to interact with your web site should be one of the main goals of your advertising.

During my career working in print advertising with newspapers and targeted publications I had a number of opportunities to put together campaigns that used print media to drive traffic to a customer’s web site. I found that using a print ad to drive traffic to a web site was very productive when combined with a call to action or offer advertisement. There must be a reason for the potential customer to go to the web site. Some of the most effective campaigns included:

• Special Offers
• Register to win
• Large Selection Online
• Free Estimate
• New Inventory
• Closeout special

Traditional media reaches a mass audience with your message. A percentage of this audience will be in the market for your product. If you are using traditional media to drive traffic to your web site the most important aspect is that the web site URL be an integrated part of the ad not just an afterthought. Ads that just have the URL listed at the bottom of the ad seem to be less effective in driving traffic than ads that contain a reason to view the web site.

The cost of traditional media may put it out of the reach of small to medium sized business. Next we will look at using the internet to target your marketing by geography and need.

Ric Cushenan is President/CEO of Cush Media. Visit www.cushmediaonline.com to see more information.