MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

You Wanna Promote Your Business on the Web?

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The most soul destroying words that any client can say to me 12 months after developing and launching a site is; “The web site just didn’t work for me!”.

At that moment I just want to scream; “So did you tell the builder of your business premises or your landlord that the building just didn’t work for you as well – as if it was their fault?”

There is one very true rule when it comes to a web site and getting sales – you have to treat your web site like a shop that you open every morning, check stock, clean, and promote. Just merely building the site and hoping that it will make you rich doesn’t work people.

As an active observer of many web sites and their owners I can tell you with my hand on my heart that those owners who take my freely given advice and actively promote their sites are the ones that are getting sales. There are many many ways to get your site out there, don’t stop at the social networks, use directories (MyPE, MyZA and MyYellow offer great exposure and Axandra auto submits to thousands of directories for you), submit useful articles (MyPE accepts article submissions), guest blog (see my column on Metro News), install a blog on your own site and ‘give’ information away.

The Golden Rule is to publish your articles etc. on your own site first and then distribute them to other channels.

Learn a little bit about Search Engine Optimisation (try Axandra) and experiment on your blog with keywords.

There are two ways of getting visitors and sales:

  1. Organic or
  2. Paid

Organic takes longer to start but lasts much longer. Paid is quicker to start and stops immediately when you stop paying.

When people ask me for advice I always tell them that they should learn the above and after a long while the sales and visits will come rather than paying me to to do it for them.

For the love of all that is digital please don’t tell me that your web site ‘didn’t work for you’ – it is not a magical being, it is a tool and, just like a telephone, you need to make and answer those calls in order to sell.

Of course you could always pay someone to organically promote your web site – ask me how.

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.