Promoting your Business - DPChallenge Forums

01/22/2008 12:28:14 PM · #1

I just recently added my site to yahoo and would like to know more ways to promote my website and business. What do some of you use to get people to your website? How much do you pay and is it worth it?

oh yeah..I also called yellow pages and emailed them to get my number in their book but haven't received a call back for a month or so or an email. hmm.. do I need to write them a letter? hehee..

Prof_Fate

01/22/2008 01:03:27 PM · #2

Working backwards...
what yellowpages? There are 2 or 3 books, and even more sites. You can usually get on the sites for free, but have to update your info annually to stay there.
And as to phone books... I don't know anyone with one anymore. If you got comcast or vonage or just a cell phone you don't get a phone book of any kind (at least here). I recenlty thru oout my last phone book when i was moving things around my office- it was 5 years old.

As for the web, it depends on what people type in to find you. You have to guess, and your brain may not work like others' brains.

Type in 'wedding photography beaver pa' or ' beaver pa wedding photographer' and the results a slightly different, but I come up on page one in several ways - my phone is NOT ringing off the hook. (leave off PA and you get other states. Beaver is my town and the county I live in, so I figure most will use it) What the web has gotten me is out of town brides that come 'home' for weddings. I suppose they don't have local (to here) phone books and have to use the web. And don't visit the local bridal shows. They way I come up on google varies from week to week - it's weird sometimes, as in a mystery.

How did I get to be on top, so to speak? google what you think people trying find you are googling. You'll find a LOT of free gateway sites (gatheringguide, wedj, etc) register with them. get links to your site on other websites. use meta tags on your pages. put text on the index page of your site containing key words that pertain to your business. This is why flash sites usually don't rank well - google spiders can't read the text. Put links to your website in your forum signatures and anyplace else you can. You can submit your site to the search engines, but don't pay for that - i didn't and there I am, near the top.

Give it time. that's the hard part, but a year ago I wasn't coming up as high on the list. I've done nothing in that year other than keep updating my site - stale sites don't rank well. Monthly or more is good.

01/22/2008 01:43:51 PM · #3

Thanks for that bit of advice..
anyone else willing to share theirs?

Sigma 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical HF for Canon

01/22/2008 02:10:53 PM · #4

I am wondering what site people here in my area search on and how I would get that info. I would have to say that a lot of folks here don't have a computer and if they do they don't get on it that much. Most my friends are only on their computer about 1 or twice a month and that is to check email.

soo..how would I reach the folks here who, let's say, only get onto look for a business.

I just checked out usfreeads.com hmm..not sure I like that site. It is hard to navigate and not to many folks here would know what to do with it.

NVPhoto

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

01/22/2008 02:25:25 PM · #5

another way to get yourself moving up the google ladder and onto the front page is by connecting to other sites that get more traffic than you.

I work at a newspaper adn recently we sold an advertising package that could guarantee first page in google local searches, let me repeat that, LOCAL searches. Check with your paper to see if they do it.

The way we do it is our paper gets about 4 million page views/ month which is probably the most of any site for this area. What we do is put a profile page buried into our website. Essentially what happens is everytime we get a hit to the site, technically so do you.

For our clients, when someone searches "plumber vermont" for example, that profile comes up top of google with your URL. Prices for that with us are very competitive to just regular print advertising and I think the value is worth a lot more than just print.

Think about it as the legal way to embed your URL into the code of a major/popular website. Employees at large companies get fired for doing that.

apashack

Canon EOS-20D

01/22/2008 04:01:31 PM · #6

I use Google Adwords for about 80% of my business advertising. Example: Month of November 2007. Generated $4700.00 in completed shoots. Cost me $384.00 in PPC (Pay Per Click) ads. https://adwords.google.com/select/Signup1/index.html

There is a bit of a learning curve with the control panel and setting it up properly. You will need to pay VERY CLOSE attention to your Keywords. Bad or unneeded keywords will cost you money. You also need to know how to set your geographical area and how to make those keywords work for you in that area. The last thing you want to do is setup a global type Adwords campaign. You will spend hundreds of dollars a month and the phone won't ring very much.

I have used Yahoo PPC too. It worked, but very little so I put all my ad money in Google now.

If you would like me to help you I will. I can help you get it all set up so your phone will ring. I get 3-4 call a day during the busy seasons and 4-6 calls a week in the off season. We're in the off season right now and the phone isn't ringing much right now. Starting in February it will be ringing a little more for weddings. Most of my weddings are already booked for 2008. I will get a lot of calls in a month or so from the couples who waited till the last minute to find a wedding photographer. So if you're going to do this you should start ASAP to get in on the Spring Wedding Rush.

I do 2-6 business type shoots every month. (Portraits for business cards and web photos) They keep me feed year around. The real money is in weddings, awards banquets and holiday portraits. (Unless youâ��ve got a name for commercial) (I donâ��t) If youâ��re good at weddings and portraits you can make a decent living. Of course you will have to have the right equipment and skill to do it. A great web site is only the beginning. Without a PPC campaign you're just another web site buried in the millions of others. Stay away from the printed phone books. They are expensive and donâ��t produce very well for the money.

Send me a â��Private Messageâ�� and I will help anyone who ask at no charge.

Message edited by author 2008-01-22 16:03:43.

apashack

Canon EOS-20D

Sigma 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical HF for Canon

01/22/2008 04:55:45 PM · #7

Sonifo,

I just looked at our web site and it's fantastic. You do very good work for sure! Get Adwords and make your phone ring. Contact me if you need help with it.

Prof_Fate

01/22/2008 05:33:35 PM · #8

I tried adwords and indeed, my phone rang. Apparently I need help, as all the calls came from the other end of the state - 6 hours away.

Sonifo - google is the #1 site for searching, and there are a lot others. I don't have the rankings handy, but yahoo is up there, ask.com, etc.
A lot of people surf at work - ONLY at work for many. And larger companies really restrict what they allow users to do - many won't allow flash, java and a number of other plugins for security reasons.

Perhaps your area isn't 'computer heavy' for whatever reason. You need to find out how bride to be's find photographers in your area. Bridal shows, magazines, newspaper or ?? Teaming up with other vendors works very well - reception sites, bridal stores, etc. When you shoot a wedding send all the vendors a few pictures and a note about you, and tell them to use the images as they see fit, for free. I've know one photog that will send an entire album to some reception sites!

apashack

Canon EOS-20D

Sigma 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical HF for Canon

01/22/2008 05:53:18 PM · #9

Originally posted by Prof_Fate:

Sonifo - google is the #1 site for searching, and there are a lot others. I don't have the rankings handy, but yahoo is up there, ask.com, etc.
A lot of people surf at work - ONLY at work for many. And larger companies really restrict what they allow users to do - many won't allow flash, java and a number of other plugins for security reasons.

I have done Yahoo, Google and Ask. Ask was a total waste of time and money because they don't offer Geo based ads right now. Yahoo and Ask also make you pay upfront. Google lets you pay after the fact. Yahoo produced calls but no where near the level of Google. I've been doing this for 2 years and speak from experience. I stopped my ads at Ask and Yahoo. Stay away from Ask until they get Geo based ads.

If you do your Geo right along with the right keywords you can narrow it down to your area. I seldom get calls from outside my area now that I have learned the ropes.

I have found that 90% of my calls come from working people who are at work. I do get a few calls after 5pm from folks that found me at work and called when they got home.