When you are looking for ways to get customers from the internet, you need to find great websites to promote your business website for free. In my first article about promoting your business for free I spoke primarily about taking advantage of your online portfolio. In this post, I would like to provide great websites to promote your business website for free. All of these websites offer free tools that generate great visibility for your business website. Find ideas on how to use these free tools to make money right now.

Merchant Circle

When I think about online directories & yellow pages, the first 1 that comes to mind almost every time is MerchantCircle.com.  Merchant Circle is a social media network for businesses.  Create your free business profile and receive a free listing on this powerful website with a Google Page Rank of an 8. Your free business listing comes with a map to your business, a blog, coupon page, and a newsletter. Merchant Circle will assist you with networking with other businesses, as well as, reach customers fast with coupon offers or blog posts that have been known to reach the first page of Google in hours/days and not weeks.  If you don’t already have a blog, this is a great tool for your website to answer common questions and create a dialog with other business owners and/or buyers.

Backpage

There are many classified sites on the internet that do very well, and Backpage is up there with the best of the best.  Online classified sites are good for offering specials or discounts for online shoppers looking for the best deal. What makes Backpage so special is how easy it is to post a classified ad. Its as simple as clicking on your city, and clicking post an ad.

Google Places

Google Places has been a dominant form of free advertising now for over 4 years now.  By claiming your free listing on Google Places, you gain free visibility on the first page of Google in your local area.  For many businesses this means big bucks.  Take a “ABC Cleaning Service”, for example,  that claims their free listing on Google Places with  an Atlanta, Ga address. When a homeowner or business searches for cleaning service in Atlanta they will see “ABC Cleaning Service” with their customer rating and local address on the1st page of Google.  This means a potential customer will see how close a business is to their home or business. If you don’t have your Google Places listing claimed and verified, you must get this verified right away.

YouTube

Many experts believe that the future of online advertising is in video marketing and YouTube is leading the way. With a user friendly interface almost anyone can create a channel and upload a video from their computer in minutes. Google also makes this attractive by giving some videos priority placement in search results. Many businesses are taking advantage of this added exposure by creating videos for each service they offer.

Facebook

Facebook is the second largest website on the internet, only to Google. Millions of people join Facebook every week simply to to Socialize, while business owners are taking advantage of marketing opportunities this unique website creates.  By simply connecting with your friends and family you generate a network of hundreds and in some cases thousands of people.  Companies can utilize this network for free by communicating within their own network and creating contests to generate interest.

Twitter

Twitter is one of the fasting growing websites in the world, but what makes this site truly special is its unique ability to help with lead generation by finding leads, and providing live updates to customers on any aspect of your business.  The search.twitter.com feature give you the ability to see what people are talking about on Twitter. Giving a two-fold benefit to businesses. First it allows businesses to search for potential customers looking for the services they offer. For example, if you offer roofing services and someone just recently experienced a hail storm. They may go to Twitter and say something like “#haildamage to my house in Atlanta, Ga”.  The roof company can simply use search.twitter.com for “#haildamage” and this tweet and many others like this all over the country will show up for people who who needs service right way.

The second way Twitter search feature benefits businesses is if this same roofer is out of town following a storm in another city, he may tweet “#haildamagerepair City, St reply for emergency help”. Twitter users in need of help may search for “haildamagerepair City, St” and get a response right away for emergency service.

Elite Web Professionals provide custom WordPress website design and internet advertising to help you build your brand name, while making it easy for you to provide information to your customers.  For information on how we can help you with your website needs, browse our wordpress website prices. We provide comprehensive search engine optimization, and pay per click advertising services to help you grow your business online.

If you are wondering “how to advertise my business website on the internet”, you already realize the earning potential that the internet makes available to any business

Create A Blog

That’s right! Creating a blog right now will probably be your best opportunity to generate lasting traffic from  visitors who are looking for your business. In many cases, visitors looking to get information for a service that they need right away.

A blog is simply a website with a writers opinion on a particular subject. There are a few reasons that makes a blog very effective for a business website.  It gives a business owner an opportunity to answer common questions of customers, deliver free advice that potential customers don’t know, and give company information.

Claim Free Directories and Social Media

Another very important step for your business website to gain momentum on the internet will be to get listed on all of the major free directories and social media sites.  Website like Yellow Pages, Merchant Circle, Google Places, Yahoo Local are a few of the free directories that you will need to claim, while creating your Facebook Fan page, getting a Twitter page, and being listed on LinkedIn are also very important.

Getting listed on all of these directories are very important for your website because it helps search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing verify the physical location of your business, and verify your company website and phone number.  There are many other reasons why claiming your Facebook & Twitter pages are so effective however using these as tools to publish the content from your blog to people in your network will help your website to generate targeted traffic right away.

Caution: When you get listed on these free directories, expect to get phone calls from sales people right away. Although this may be very annoying at first, it is a necessary evil for your business to get visibility online. While I don’t personally endorse any of these companies myself, some of them have interesting programs, some of which my customers have gotten great results. However, be weary of companies that are very pushy, and be very careful if a company requires you to sign a contract.

Create Free Classified Ads

Millions of people search classified directories like Craigslist, Backpages, and Olx to find the best deals on whatever they are in the need of.  Creating specials that you can list on these websites can generate customers right away. It is very important to remember when creating the classified ads to include your company name, phone number, create a simple ad, and provide a link to your website. While this may take a little practice at first, it can be very effective at getting customers from the internet.

Track Your Results

So now you have a website that has a blog on it. You have been blogging about common problems your customers face involving the product or service you offer, and setting up specials on classified sites. You have claimed all of your free directory listings, and set up all of your social media pages. Now it’s time to measure your success. It is very important to have Analytics software like Google Analytics on your website to see what visitors are coming to your site, what they are searching for, where they are located, and how they found you. By tracking your results you find

• How well you are communicating to your potential customers;
•  Get ideas of additional topics for your blog;
• See what sites are getting you the best traffic;
• Determine what topics generate a customers for your business.

Use this information to come up with new blog posts, target websites that are generating quality traffic to your business, and create better specials that convert into customers.

Get Reviews

Now that you have worked so hard to get customers with your website, be sure to get reviews from every customer.   Websites like Kudzu, Yelp, and Google Places offer a free review tool to start getting your customer reviews, however more and more companies are trying to find ways to host reviews of their business on their own website.  By hosting their own reviews, companies have the ability to make it easier for their customers to write reviews , and gain the ability to respond to their customers without having a paid account with these directories.

Search Engine Optimization & Pay Per Click

This post would be incomplete if I did not mention search engine optimization(SEO) and pay per click advertising.  While all of the items that I mentioned above are effective, studies have shown that these 2 forms of advertising are the most effective forms of advertising. For more information on these services contact an internet advertising company to find out how these programs can benefit you.

Elite Web Professionals provide custom WordPress website design and internet advertising to help you build your brand name, while making it easy for you to provide information to your customers.  For information on how we can help you with your website needs, browse our wordpress website prices. We provide comprehensive search engine optimization, and pay per click advertising services to help you grow your business online.

There are many benefits to hosting your own domain name and hosting account.   If you already have a website, and you would like to continue to host your own domain name and website, then you need to provide ftp username and password to your new designer.  Most commonly when I speak with people about getting this information they have no idea where to even start. Follow these simple steps to get access to your hosting information:

• Do A Whois Search: Use the Whois database to find out where your domain name and your website is being hosted.  Look for the “Registrar” on this domain name.
• Find Registrar: Once you find the registrar for your domain name do a search for their name to get their contact information.  For example, if your registrar is Godaddy, go to Google and search for “Godaddy customer service”. Phone number should be on results page of Google or on the company’s website.
• Verify Ownership of Account: Once you have this information you may be able to call them to get access to your account. If you don’t have your username and passwords then you can simply verify ownership of your account by providing the company with an answer to the security question you set up for you account, or in some cases you will need to provide the last 6 digits of the credit card that was used to process the most recent payment for your site.
• Ask Your Representative To Update FTP: Once you have properly authorized your account, the representative may walk you through the process of logging in your account. Once logged in, you will need to ask them how to access your Hosting account so that you may update your FTP password.
• Take Note of Login Info:  You will need to provide your designer with FTP Host, Username, and Password.

If you need any additional information on this topic, your web professional should be able to assist you with getting access by getting in contact with your registrar and host.

Elite Web Professionals provide custom WordPress website design to help you build your brand name, while making it easy for you to provide information to your customers.  For information on how we can help you with your website needs, browse our wordpress website prices. We provide comprehensive website design, and internet advertising services to help you grow your business online.

Decide On Colors

The first thing that you will need to provide your website design company is your color scheme. Researchers agree that colors greatly influence the human state of mind. Many people believe colors you use on your website can influence on whether you grab a visitor’s attention right away or  leave it after the first few seconds.  There are a few things that you should consider when choosing the colors for your website.

• Select 3 different Colors and Use Them Throughout The Website
• Consider Your Target Audience – Will You be targeting men or women with your website? Will this site reach children, teenagers, or adults?
• Consider if you are targeting locally, nationally, or internationally with your website.

Come Up With Some Website Design Ideas

The next step for your website is to give your designer a few ideas to create the layout of your site. There are a few ways that you can go about this process. The 2 easiest ways that I have found to find the best website design ideas for your business is see what is working for your competitors across the country, and finding website templates.

• Browse Through Website Templates – There are many different template websites for you to take a look at with layouts for your industry. Choose a template to give to your designer to get them started on delivering you a custom design with a similar layout.
• Competitors Websites – Simply search for your service throughout the country on search engines to see what other companies in your industry decided to do with their website design.  While we don’t encourage people to use someone else’s website, it is a great idea to get ideas on where to begin with a new website from companies who have  a successful website already.

When you are looking at these websites, templates, or designs it is important to look for what you think your customers need to make a buying decision on your website right away. For most businesses, having the business name big and bold, having a phone number, and providing a logo at the top of the website is highly recommended.

Come Up With Menu Items For Your Site

The final step for your website is to choose the best menu items for your website. For many – Home, Services,  Main Service #1, Main Service #2, Blog, and Contact page is all that you need. However, take the time to see what other companies in your industry are doing to get the maximum exposure and decide on how you can apply that on your website.

Login Information

You have now completed all that you need to give your website designer what he needs to get started on your project.  If you already have a website, and you would like to continue to host your own website, then you need to provide ftp username and password.  Find out how to get your FTP information for your domain and website.

When you complete this checklist you are giving your designer all the information that he/she needs to provide the best website design for your business.  Thank you for taking the time to read my article.

Elite Web Professionals provide custom WordPress website design to help you build your brand name, while making it easy for you to provide information to your customers.  For information on how we can help you with your website needs, browse our wordpress website prices. We provide comprehensive website design, and internet advertising services to help you grow your business online.

Atlanta website design company specializing in search engine optimization (SEO), and pay per click delivers simple solutions for small businesses seeking to get customers from the internet. For over 3 years, Elite Web Professionals has been helping small businesses throughout the Metro Atlanta area increase their online visibility. More and more, small business owners are trying to find their place in the World Wide Web, but few have been able to turn their websites into a reliable return on investment. Elite Web Professionals works with these small business owners to develop an internet advertising strategy including custom website design, compelling web content, seo, and pay per click advertising to deliver a bullet proof solution to lead generation.

Stay tuned for more videos on YouTube from Elite Web Professionals about topics that mean allot for your business. Get information on website design ideas, seo strategies that work, and simple ways to help get the best from your pay per click advertising. For questions, call (404) 477-4819 or visit our SEO SEM blog for recent topics.

Elite Web Professionals Video

Ever wonder why so many people say that it is important to have a website?

If you’re still on the fence about going virtual, here are the top five reasons why people (your potential customers) say they don’t buy from companies without a website:

• The Company Doesn’t Seem Legitimate.  As previously mentioned, nearly everyone has their own website these days.  So those in the minority are seen as behind the times – they’re seen as having something to hide or not the best in their field.  After all, why wouldn’t they want to make it easier for customers to seek them out?  No matter how stellar of a reputation you have in the 9 to 5 world, a website gives you credibility and legitimacy.

• They Can’t See A Company’s Work.  A website gives a business the perfect opportunity to show off their fantastic work and high-quality products.  By creating things like an online portfolio, review section, and videos about their services, they give potential clients more reasons to move forward. Many times, businesses without a website are not able to give clients the extra push they need to feel like they have found the perfect company.

• Found Another Company Online.  If your competitor has a website, then you better believe that he or she is trying to reach all of your valuable customers.  For years companies have remained quiet while they have generated thousands of customers from online. They know that it works, and they continue to invest in their site year after year.
  •                 Note: If you are unsure this is true I challenge you to do this exercise.  Go to the top 2 companies in your area online and look at the their advertising strategy. See if you can contact their internet advertising company to estimate how much it would cost for you to do the same advertising.  If they are spending  a good investment per month in advertising and consistently paying it every month, chances are it is working very well for their company.

• They’re Unsure If A Company Offers The Service They Need.  If your customers aren’t certain about the kinds of services you offer, then they’re not going to buy from you.  Period.  For example, not all plumbers install water heaters or work with septic systems – and if a potential client can’t determine if the plumber offers that service or not, then they’ll take their dollars elsewhere.  A website instantly clears up any confusion by providing potential customers with an in-depth look into products, services and company mission.

• They Can’t Find A Business Online.  Of course, there’s the not-so-simple matter of being unable to find your business at all.  The modern consumer doesn’t want to search high and low for your business name – and they certainly won’t, because they’ll just do business with your online competitors.

If you haven’t already made the leap into the World Wide Web, then it’s time to do so now.  You don’t need to have a small fortune to build a site either; there are plenty of professional and affordable web designers who will take care of it all for you.

In the next article, we’ll explore even more ways you can spot a great website design company for your small business!

Elite Web Professionals provide custom wordpress website design to help you build your brand name, while making it easy for you to provide information to your customers.  For information on how we can help you with your website needs, browse our wordpress website prices. We provide comprehensive website design, and internet advertising services to help you grow your business online.

Not convinced, find out 33 reasons why you need a website right now.

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However, before you can choose the best website design company, you’ll need to take a look at a few more signs of a great Internet advertising and design vendor:

They Provide Constant Project Updates

Of course, as a small business owner, you understand that most vendors can’t be at your beck and call throughout the day.  But that doesn’t mean your website design company should disappear for weeks at a time, only to re-appear with something that vaguely resembles a website.

You’ll want to choose a website design company that provides you with consistent project updates throughout the duration of the site’s creation.  From sample mock-ups to test drives, your vendor should be all too happy to provide you a glimpse of where your website’s at.  That way, if you have any questions or comments about the progress of your website, you’ll be able to direct them to the vendor before it’s too late to make any adjustments or revisions.

They Provide Sample Templates

Even the most savvy small business owner will need some sense of direction when creating their website.  That’s where sample templates come into play.  A website design company should be more than happy to provide you with two to three sample templates that give an idea of what your website should look like.  The vendor should also give you the opportunity to provide feedback or modifications on those templates so you can get the website you’ve been dreaming of.  If a website design company claims that they need to charge you for the sample templates, move onto another vendor: these are typically free with the overall cost of your website.

They Outline Project Requirements From You

You expect plenty from your website design company – and the best ones expect plenty from you.  A website design company will conduct in-depth interviews and project sessions to understand exactly what you’re looking for from your business website. That way, they’ll be able to provide you with accurate templates from the get-go.  If a website design company is quick to move forward, you might not end up with what you’ve paid for.

They Offer SEO Services

Finally, look for a website design company that offers SEO services along with their custom sites.  You can have the most beautiful site in the world, but if no one sees it, you will not be able to use it to grow your business. A company that offers SEO will include very important factors in the coding of your website that search engines require for all websites that receive 1st page placement. This also includes creating web content for your site, listing your site on search engines,  and other important components of getting to the top of the search engine charts.

Now that you know how to select a good website design company, you can be confident your website will do everything you’ve asked for – and then some!

In the next article, we’ll explore even more ways you can spot a great website design company for your small business!

Elite Web Professionals provide custom wordpress website design to help you build your brand name, while making it easy for you to provide information to your customers.  For information on how we can help you with your website needs, browse our wordpress website prices. We provide comprehensive website design, and internet advertising services to help you grow your business online.

However, if you’re limiting your project scope to these two primary factors, you could risk ending up with a website that drives valuable traffic – and profits – away.  With that in mind, we’re about to conduct a thorough investigation as to how you can select a great website design company.  Keep this two-part article series at your fingertips, and you’ll never risk investing your hard-earned time and resources into a faulty website!

Look For Included Maintenance

There’s a particular website design company that is willing to build your company’s site for cheap.  You’re tempted to award your project to them, as they’re much cheaper than other vendors.  However, if their services don’t include maintenance for at least three months’ after the website goes live, you might as well attempt to build the site yourself.

Why is this, you might ask?  Simple: you need time to get acclimated to using your website, and how it works.  Additionally, many websites aren’t uploaded in pitch-perfect shape.  If your are left with a website that has a number of bugs, you will be forced to hire another website company that will charge additional money to correct them. This is why it is important to choose a company that will allow testing and have all bugs worked out.  Finally, a website that looks good as a mock-up won’t necessarily look so good once its live.  You need these buffer months to get your website into tip-top shape before moving onto the next stage with your website design company.

Speaking of testing your website…

Ask For Several Test Drives

A website design company should always be willing to test, test, and test your website again.  While these are mainly for the reasons listed in the previous section, it’s worth noting that these test drives will help you and your staff members become familiar with the information your website is presenting you.  Besides, if your website design company dumps information on your lap that you simply don’t understand (for example, what the heck are bounce rates?), you won’t be able to use your website to its maximum potential.

If a website design company insists on charging extra for these tests, back away slowly.  You need a company that treats these important tests drives as an imperative part of setting up your website, not as an expensive afterthought.

Avoid Hidden Fees and Set-Up Charges

Getting a website up and running will inevitably involve extra costs.  For example, you’ll need to factor for the cost of setting up and registering your domain name, as well as hosting your website.  However, you’ll need a website design company who will honestly walk you through these stages.  Also, avoid a website design company that charges you fees per photo or product you need to upload.  This is an easy way for these companies to charge hundreds (even thousands) of dollars more than the original task projection.

In the next article, we’ll explore even more ways you can spot a great website design company for your small business!

Elite Web Professionals provide custom wordpress website design to help you build your brand name, while making it easy for you to provide information to your customers.  For information on how we can help you with your website needs, browse our wordpress website prices. We provide comprehensive website design, and internet advertising services to help you grow your business online.

So where’s the best place to display your portfolio – and what should you put in it?

The rule of thumb for online portfolios is that it should be easily accessible from your list of services page. You can opt to place a link to your portfolio on that page, or you could cut down on the text and let your portfolio speak for itself. Both methods have their pros and cons, so weigh up the decision carefully before making your choice.
You know your online portfolio should contain your best work – however, don’t overload your readers with heaps of images and files. Simple and efficient are the keywords here; find no more than ten examples of your best work, and feature them in a simple slideshow. For an even greater impact, use before and after photos of your work.

Is your website the only place that offers a free way to promote your business on the internet?

Glad you asked!  There are additional places on the internet where it is important to give examples of your best work.

Facebook is the first place that comes to mind. Simply share your pics with your friends and family on Facebook and with every like, or comment comes an additional audience of users who may need your service.

Ever thought about recording a before and after video for your projects? Than YouTube, is another free way to get visibility with your online portfolio.  Take your time to put your video together to show off your work, then make a video from 1 – 15 minutes long to share with the world.  Many times your video will show up on the search results page for your business name.  When someone goes to Google looking for your business name, how would you like them to see a before and after video of your best work.

 
If you’re looking for a great ways to promote your business on your website for free, show off your work with an online portfolio. If you need help creating your portfolio, hire a website professional to help you create one that reflects your business acumen.

Elite Web Professionals provides website design and internet advertising to increase your visibility online. Services include web development of database driven website that comply with W3C standards and seo copywriting to get traffic from search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. For information on our services view our portfolio, or call 1 (800) 631-4177.

• Once you’ve done that, it’s time to get to the good stuff. List the services that your competition won’t do, or the products they don’t sell. Be as detailed as possible in this section, as consumers will see far more value in your services if you can provide a laundry list of what the competition doesn’t do.

• Finally, list the things that your competition does that you can do better. This can tie in with the first part, or it can be an entirely separate list altogether. Don’t hold back here – toot your business horn as loudly as possible!
No one knows your business better than you – so don’t be shy in playing up what makes your company so special!

Elite Web Professionals provide custom wordpress website design to help you build your brand name, while making it easy for you to provide information to your customers.  For information on how we can help you with your website needs, browse our wordpress website prices. We provide comprehensive website design, and internet advertising services to help you grow your business online.