How To Develop An Internet Audience

• Search Engine Optimisation - The majority of Internet users rely on search engines and directories to find the information they need. Therefore, ranking highly in search engines and directories should be critical to your Internet marketing strategy. Because users generally only explore the first 10 or 20 sites in the search results, an understanding of how search engine ranking works and how to get your site in the top 20 results can make an enormous difference in the amount of visitor traffic your site receives. Effective optimisation requires a combination of carefully designed META tags using logical search terms, an understanding of the various search engines and their ranking algorithms, as well as a pro-active approach to search engine submission and ranking monitoring. If your web developer claims to have already optimised your site, ask to see the key search terms used and for proof of your search engine ranking. If you haven’t already hired a firm that specialises in optimisation, consider it as the most critical aspect of your audience development strategy.

• Banner Advertising – The Internet is full of very popular web sites. Some attract audiences of millions every day. Here are potential audiences just begging to be shown your products and services. Why not purchase banner ad space on these popular sites to draw them to your own? Today’s banner ad technology can even target ads to visitors based on demographic data and behaviour. Such capability can attract highly qualified visitors to your own site.

• Loyalty Programs – Unlike their offline versions, online loyalty programs can be relatively inexpensive to integrate into your business. They can be as simple as a discount voucher printable from your site, or as complex as a protected sub site for your loyal customers, accessible only by password. Some companies even create a “virtual community” for visitors - providing chat rooms, personal web pages and email addresses for their customers. Giving users of a product/service access to each other is a powerful way to build brand awareness and develop an audience.

• Strategic Linking – The web as a medium is differentiated by the use of hyperlinks, which enable users to arrive and leave a site very quickly. Sites that have a lot of other sites linking to it will naturally receive more traffic. Links with related sites can stay in place for long periods, ensure targeted traffic and can often be arranged free of charge or by reciprocal link agreement. Webmasters of affinity sites should be approached for this service.

• Sponsorships and Partnering – Sponsoring strategic content on popular web sites is another way to secure a site audience. If users see your brand associated with information they find useful, they will naturally develop a good association with your products and services. Exclusivity is the key here – if you provide a unique service or information on a major portal, it lends credibility to your brand and increases customer interest in your own site.

• Competitions and Gimmicks – The Internet has created a lot of “firsts”: the first car sold online, the first online property auction, the first person to completely rely on the Internet for survival (www.DotComGuy.com) and so on. The publicity value of such gimmicks cannot be underestimated – just think of the sponsorship $$ Dot Com Guy is getting, not to mention the number of daily site visitors. You can also use the power of the media to attract attention to your site. Create something unique on it, develop a “first” for your industry, run an unusual competition then issue a press release!