A lot of folks think, they need to spend a lot of money in order to place well in
the search engines. While there
are some good companies out there that will do a good job for you, you can do it
yourself with some time,
effort, the right resources, tools, and some knowledge.
While it is true, the more links you have, the higher you go in a lot of search
engines, but many other
factors have to be taken into consideration. Titles, descriptions, meta-tags,
keywords, doorway pages,
links, structure are just a few to consider. What most people like about search
engines, is when consumers
do a search, they are already a qualified customer when they find you and get to
your site. Other people
feel the search engines do not play that big of factor if they advertise correctly.
When you think of Microsoft, you don't need a search engine to find it. You
simply type in the name,and
you're there. Why? Because of Microsoft's marketing and advertising. It is a name,
a name everyone is
well aware of. Of course having the kind of money that they have in their budget to
spend every month would
make your site a household name too.
We don't have that, so here we are back to the search engines, ezines,
newsletters, classified ads,
banners, links, newspaper, radio, TV, word of mouth, etc. yes, you have to spend
money to make money
most of the time. The old saying "In order to make a large fortune, first you start
with a small fortune." is
right. Everyone needs to start with a budget. Usually 10% to start, down to 1% as
you grow used to be
the norm. Now, 20% to start, and 10% as you grow, and remain at 10% for
continued controlled growth.
I don't care if you start out at $5.00 dollars a month, or $50,000.00 dollars a
month. You should always
spend a percent on advertising, and marketing for your business health. To create
the kind of name that
Macdonald's has, took a lot of money and some very smart people.
Keep track of everything you do. There are many good companies out there
that can tell you how,
and where every hit you have came from. You need to know what works, and
what doesn't. Sometimes a name factor
does come in to play, and you don't know it. Yes, you can have failed campaigns,
but every time you advertise,
you are getting your name out there, so it helps.
If you get people to know your name, you have won the war! From there, it's
up to you, your people,
and your company to take care of your traffic, your name, products, service,
website, etc.
So, what's in a name? Everything! Your Entire Business! Your Life!
Your name and your business name
may as well be the same, because how people think of your business name, how
people remember your business
name,and how people respond to your business name, will determine if people
BUY! Which will determine how you
LIVE! When advertising, marketing, and spending your budget, think of it
from the name perspective. Take care of
it, and it will take care of you.
About the Author
Steve Parke ,CNA, A+, & MCP's NT & NTWS, W2000 Pro has
written many articles on
"Succeeding Online With A Home Business". His articles have been reprinted all over
the net. You can
write to him at author@centurysites.com or subscribe to his and Heather Parke's
newsletter
"Century Sites News Now!" or visit www.centurysites.com or www.csnnow.com