Guide to e-commerce - Promoting your website

Being Indexed

Most search engines will automatically index all the pages in your site. They will typically look at a number of 'elements' within a web page. This usually includes the page title, body copy, hyperlinks and 'meta-tags'.

There are different ways to specify the type of search depending on which engine you use. Some will offer a menu from which the type can be selected. Others require you to enter your keywords in a specific way.

For example, to search for pages containing any of the words 'internet', 'service' and 'provider' you might need to enter:

internet AND service AND provider

or

+internet +service +provider

To search for the phrase 'internet service provider' you might use quotes around the phrase:

"internet service provider"

There are many search engines and web guides available on the web. Most of these provide guidelines for searching and for registering your site. If you're doing your own registration, it's well worth reading these. But remember, just because you've registered with a few of these sites doesn't mean that people will find you. Even if they do, there are no guarantees they will visit.

Banner Advertising

A second, common, approach to site promotion is banner advertising. This is where a graphic - often animated - is placed on other web sites and can be clicked to reach yours.

Your supplier or a specialist on-line media buying agency will most likely handle your banner advertising requirements. However, there are broadly two approaches to banner placement.

One option is to identify other sites whose visitors are likely to include your target audience. Another is to 'buy keywords' on search engines or portal sites. This means that people entering search terms that include your keyword(s) will see your banner advert on the page of results.

Fees for placing banner adverts are usually based on 'impressions' - that is, the number of people actually seeing your banner. Typical costs range from £10 to £50 per thousand impressions. The exact price depends on the quality of the referrals you can expect to get from a particular banner placement. Targeting a highly specific, precisely defined audience will cost more than advertising to a broader, more general audience.

However, a few sites will charge nothing for impressions but will levy a higher fee for 'click-throughs'. In other words, what you pay depends on how many people actually click on your banner to reach your site. This may prove to be good value because only a small percentage of impressions typically lead to a clickthrough. However, you may have trouble finding sites that use this approach and are also appropriate for your advertising.

The Real World

Search engine or web guide registration and banner advertising are important, but don't forget the real world. Your business cards, stationery and product packaging should all feature your web site address. Don't forget to include it also in any newspaper, magazine or television advertising you do. You may even want to consider specifically advertising your web site in appropriate print publications.

In the real world your domain name becomes even more important. It should be short, easy to remember and easy to spell. It's worth thinking about registering common misspellings of your domain. Also condider hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions if it comprises more than one word. Having several different top-level domains (such as .com, .co.uk, .net, .de, .fr) is also a good way to increase your 'findability'.

Remember that on the web users can simply click on a link to go to your site. But someone who has seen your web site address on a card, letterhead or advertisement will have to type it in, often from memory. If they get it wrong, not only will they not find you - they will probably find someone else instead.

© Copyright NetBenefit 2001. All rights reserved.

Part 1: Guide to e-commerce
Part 2: Writing the brief
Part 3: Choosing a supplier
Part 4: Assessing the proposals
Part 5: Finding the right host
Part 6: Choosing a domain name
Part 7: Promoting your website