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Search engines remain the number one way to
attract visitors to your Web site, and in order to turn a
solid profit you'll need to corral their power. Here's are
some tips on how Web hosts can develop a winning strategy.
If you're planning to operate a successful Web
hosting business that goes beyond attracting clients by word
of mouth, you're going to need an effective search engine
marketing strategy. Search engines remain the number one way
to attract visitors to your Web site, and you'll need to
corral their power in order to turn a solid profit.
There are four essential components to
conducting an effective search engine marketing campaign,
though not all of them are available to companies on a tight
budget. These are free listings, keyword bidding, premier
sponsorship campaigns and paid inclusion. By using all four in
an effective manner, you'll be well on your way to making your
Web hosting business stand out above the rest.
Free Listings
Free listings are obtained by submitting your
site to search engines that will include you in their indexes
free of charge. This is a fairly effective way to get noticed
with little effort, and can lead to a great deal of traffic
with minimal work.
Make sure to tune up your Web site before you
submit it, keeping in mind that search engines are becoming
increasingly focused on Web site copy and less on HTML data.
Also, search engines are smarter than you think; spam-heavy
META tag data and no comprehensive site text will only set you
back in your efforts to get your site noticed.
Once your site is ready to be submitted, be
sure to visit all of the major search engines and directories
that accept free submissions. These include but are not
limited to:
Submitting your site to major search engines
and directories will take less than an hour, and is a must for
anyone truly serious about success. Don't use "autosubmitters",
however - always submit manually. Patience is also key, as
once you've submitted your site, it will likely take a month
or two get listed. If you haven't been indexed after six weeks
of waiting, submit your site again.
Keyword Bidding
Keyword bidding allows Web site owners to put
a price on terms people search for in major search engines and
directories. While not the most effective search technique for
users, it helps search engines and directories to make a
profit - and it drives targeted traffic to your Web site.
What's more, you only pay for what you get. Therefore, you
don't waste dollars on costly impressions that don't convert.
As pay per click search engines become more
popular, bidding among Web sites is becoming more competitive.
As a result, the key to success when bidding on keywords is to
choose inexpensive and unpopular, but still effective words.
This will drive large amounts of traffic to your site for a
reasonable price.
Once you've identified a suitable set of
keywords, you'll be able to apply them to other popular pay
per click search engines, but at an even cheaper rate.
It's also important to keep in mind that
hosting-related keywords are particularly difficult to
purchase at a reasonable rate these days. The term "dedicated
server", for example, costs anywhere from nine to twenty
dollars at any given time at Overture. So before you start,
put a price on your clicks - how much one visitor to your site
is worth to you - and don't deviate from that maximum bid
price wherever possible.
Premier Campaigns
Premier search engine campaigns are typically
only for companies able to operate with a sizable marketing
budget. These campaigns allow you to display ads on some of
the Internet's biggest search portals, via banners, text links
and buttons, alongside search results.
Before you can purchase a significant campaign
with a major search portal, however, most will require a
minimum purchase ranging from $750 to $3000. The majority of
these sites work on a CPM (cost per thousand impressions)
basis, meaning you pay a flat rate for every 1,000 times your
ad is displayed to site visitors. Still, always ask if a CPC
(cost per click) rate is available, in order to keep your
options open.
Even if you don't think you have the budget
for a premier campaign, remember that it never hurts to
inquire. Most search destinations periodically offer
discounted campaigns in order to lure new advertisers in.
Like keyword bidding, it is important to pick
your spots carefully when initiating a major marketing
campaign with a search engine. Generic keywords like "Web
host" tend to perform poorly, as search engines receive an
incredible number of queries containing generic terms like
this each day. Try to incorporate targeted, more specific
keywords in to your campaign whenever possible.
There is a Catch-22 to this, though: most
search engines require you to purchase a minimum number of
impressions in order to start a campaign. While this may not
seem like a big deal, many of the impressions you will be
offered will likely reside in more popular, mainstream
searches. Targeted, more obscure words, which tend to perform
much better, are not readily available as impression
inventory, because they get fewer searches. Most search
engines will include them with your campaign free of charge
should you ask for them.
Most hosting companies appear to take one of
two approaches to managing their premier sponsorship
campaigns. Companies that choose the "hands off" approach tend
to purchase large quantities of impressions, submit their ads,
and then leave the campaign alone until it is time to renew
it. While not the most effective route, it works for companies
with larger budgets and higher priorities than micro-managing
advertising campaigns, and it still leads to traffic (those
with big budgets typically can't lose when buying in bulk).
With a "hands on" approach, however, a little
attention can go a long way. Remember that when you purchase a
major marketing campaign on a popular search engine or portal,
the representative assigned to you is there to help. Don't be
afraid to try new things all the time, be they new text links,
ad copy tweaking or using several rotating banners. Even in
the ultra-competitive Web hosting industry, there is no reason
why an effective marketing campaign cannot generate click
through rates well above one percent - in many cases above
three. It simply takes a little bit of work, tinkering and
intense analysis of your campaign results.
Paid Inclusion
Paid inclusion is the final key to a
well-rounded search engine strategy. By paying for inclusion
in to search engines and directories, you are essentially
buying your way in to the search index. Most search engines
will spider your site on a weekly basis once you sign up,
which guarantees that your new content will be updated
continually.
The most important paid inclusion programs to
sign up for are Inktomi, Altavista and Lycos. Inktomi is of
particular importance because it powers major portals
including MSN.com, iWon, AOL and HotBot.
Each of these paid inclusion programs is
relatively inexpensive, and definitely worth the money.
When signing up for a paid inclusion program,
make sure you know if you are paying for the inclusion of one
URL or your entire site in the search engine's index. Should
you be paying by the URL, it is recommended that you only pay
for URLs that have not yet been included (you'd be surprised,
if your hosting firm has been around for a while, how much of
your site may already be indexed). Re-indexing existing links
could have a negative effect on your rankings.
Conclusion
By using all four of these search engine
techniques, you should be able to drive additional traffic to
your Web site while signing up new customers at the same time.
Make sure to keep your Web site copy to the point, concise and
well written - doing so, in conjunction with these programs,
will not only boost your company's exposure, but will set you
apart the thousands of other hosting companies already out
there. |
