Interactive website – a great way to get new content:
It pays to update and put fresh content on your website regularly. This
can be done if the site is made an interactive one. The viewers should
get something in return for spending time on your website. An
interactive website will help in viewers seeing something new every
time they pay a visit. What’s the use of visiting a website only to
find the same old content on a website. Stale content is something that
does not go down well with the audience. Updates are like magnet that
attracts the visitors. The higher the frequency of updates, the
stronger is the force of attraction. A website can be made to look
fresh in the following ways:

Virtual communities:
Try to build a virtual community. This can be done by having blogs and
discussion boards/forums. Providing such kind of platforms helps in
keeping the interest of the visitors. It also provides fresh content
for your website. Interaction also helps in building a strong bond
between members which is ultimately beneficial to your website.

Keep a special column that will contain regular feature updates:
Try maintaining a column, which can be regularly updated. Such column
can be a message from the chairman’ desk informing about the latest
trends. Or it can be one of the employees of the company who writes
about serious issues pertaining your industry in a humorous vein. It
can also be a column where you answer emails received from the common
masses that contain queries related to your field. For e.g. if a car
manufacturing company maintains a website, it can start a column where
experts answer queries of the public. This can be something as small as
tips for increasing the mileage of the car.

Hold chat sessions:
This is a great way of increasing the traffic to your website. Try to
bring in the top shots from your industry for a chat or an interactive
session with your visitors. Make sure that it is held for free. This is
a sure shot method of attracting web traffic. For e.g., if your website
is dealing is based on movies, you can invite a well known critic who
can chat on the topic ‘Techniques for reviewing a movie’ now that is
something which will attract the eyeballs.

Create Blogs:
Blogs are a great way of bringing traffic to your website. It is an
in-thing that is generating a great buzz in the world of Internet.
Having a blog may just provide that extra reason for visitors to visit
the website. Blogs also provide a platform for the visitors to share
their thoughts with like-minded people.

Free stuff works:
Everybody loves free stuff. If your website is able to provide visitors
with free stuff, it will provide all the more reason for them to keep
on visiting your website. The free stuff need not be of great monetary
value. It also need not be tangible. For e.g. if your company is
involved in manufacturing chocolate cookies, may be you can hold a
workshop on how to manufacture a cookie sauce. Alternately you can dole
out free t-shirts with your website and company logo printed on it.

Collect Feedback:
One can collect feedback by making polls and online surveys a regular
of the site. Everybody loves to have a say and polls and surveys are
just the right medium for hearing the common man’s voice. It also makes
the site far more interesting and interactive. It can be also useful
for knowing the public’s thought on issues pertaining to the industry
or the firm itself. For e.g. if a car manufacturing company has
recently launched a new car model, it can hold a poll asking the
general public its opinion on various aspect of the car.

Eyes and ears of your industry:
A website can be made as the announcement system of the entire
industry. If a news pertaining to the industry has been leaked or
released, it can be made known on the website of the company. This will
persuade people to keep on returning to the website because it is
offering them latest industry updates. For e.g., many a times financial
experts are aware of the amendments that are likely to be made to the
taxation law. If the firm is an association of accountants, they can
then use their website to make people aware of the likely amendments.

Treasure trove:
Make the website a treasure trove of information. This can be done by
listing articles, which is relevant to the company’s industry. The
company can also offer articles that are an information mine for those
interested in making a career in the industry of which the company is a
part. For e.g. if an advertising agency has a website, it can include
articles on how to make a career in the field of advertising world or
may be a list of career options available in the field of advertising.

Promote the site:
One has to promote the website if one has to have any chance of
standing in the competition. There are two ways of promoting a website
- online and offline.

ONLINE PROMOTION: A website can be promoted online in the following ways:

Search Engine Optimization: If
you have not made your site search engine friendly, then do it now! It
plays a very important role in attaining higher rankings in the search
result. It is common fact that people do not go beyond the first two
pages that are displayed in a search result. Hence SEO is important in
attracting traffic to the web.

Add new features:
Keep adding features which are suggested by the visitors to the
website. For e.g. if there is a constant and an increasing demand for
an opinion poll to be added, then try to add it to the website. This
not only increases the web traffic but also shows that you care for the
readers of your website. This helps in building goodwill for your
website. The goodwill in turn will help in the formation of loyal
readers. Also make sure that the added site features are publicized
through all possible media.

Allow reprints:
If people ask for a permission for the reprints of the articles that
feature on the website, give them the permission to do so. But a little
caveat. Ask them to give a link to your website on their pages. This
will not only please the said people but will also help in increasing
the traffic to your website.

Post your website on relevant newsgroups:
Make sure that the URL of your website is posted on relevant
newsgroups. For e.g. if the website belongs to an advertising agency,
it should make it a point to post on newsgroups which relevant to the
advertising world.

Keep Posted:
If there are people who have registered themselves with your website,
make sure that they get regular emails telling them about the articles
that have been posted or any other relevant material. Showcase the
articles in such a way that they are tempted to visit your website for
reading the rest of the articles. This will help in increasing website
traffic.

OFFLINE PROMOTION: Offline promotion can take place in the following ways:

Include Website address:
Try to include the website address in all possible modes of
communication. Letterheads, envelopes, bills, cash memos are some of
the places where the address can be included.

Include it in your sponsorship deal:
If you are sponsoring any event of program make sure that the banners
also include your website address. This will make sure that your
website address is read by many people.

Redirect members:
Many times organizations get phone calls from the general public. Most
of the phone calls are queries asking for some or the other
information. After providing with basic information they can be asked
to visit the website for a detailed information. For e.g. if a bank
gets a call from a customer asking for the interest for a one year
deposit, they can be given the information and can be asked to visit
the website for further information.

Empathy for the visitors:
One should empathize with the visitors. It requires a little effort on
the part of the webmaster to keep his site in such a manner that it is
a visit to your website turns out to be a pleasure-filled experience.
This will not only help in attracting new visitors, but it also ensures
that the loyal readers do keep visiting the site. Here are some tips
for maintaining the website:

No technical problems:
Just imagine a visitor clicking on a hyperlink of your website only to
find that no the page does not exist any more. Be sure that he will be
pissed off and you will lose a visitor forever. Hence it is necessary
to make sure that they are no broken links. Similarly make sure that
the page is not suffering from any technical glitches.

Tell a Friend:
Make sure that articles of your website contain a link that can be used
by the visitor to send an interesting article found on your website to
a friend. In other words, make your site forward friendly. The ‘ tell a
friend’ option is a great method to get new visitors to your website.

Secure the site:
It is important to provide the visitors with a feeling of security.
People are often wary when it comes to doing online transactions and
finance related procedures. A site can be said to be secured if they
are having a lock, which appears on the bottom right panel of the
monitor screen. Make sure your site features that lock.

Observe the competition:
It is necessary to keep a close eye on the competition. If their
website is attracting more competition, ponder upon the factors which
might be helping them and try to apply them to your website.

Navigation friendly: Make
sure that the website is easy for navigation. A difficult site may put
off the visitors. It should also not have too many links. Similarly a
sitemap should be provided. It makes the site search friendly for the
user and wins his approval.

Different Languages:Be
sure that your website is available in different languages. This is
more important if the website is going to target international
audience. Make sure that the website is available in major
international languages. You can study other websites before deciding
upon which language should be chosen for your website.

These are some of the ways to increase the traffic to your website.
Remember the mantra to winning the web traffic is making it informative
and user friendly.

Blogs are taking the virtual world by storm. One is witnessing a sharp increase in the number of blogs that are getting published. Blogs are online diaries that can be read by anyone who is accessing it. Blog can deal with a host of issues. For instance, one can use it to post one’s feelings or may be to provide views and perspectives on a particular happening.

But are you aware that blogs can greatly assist you in brand creation? That’s right! Blogs can be used for creating a brand.

Today’s fast paced world literally sees a launch of several products in a given area. Given the fact that we live in an era of globalization, product manufacturers and service providers not only have to compete on the local level; they also have to face the heat from foreign producers.

The fact that today’s marketing world is driven by the dictum ‘out of sight, out of mind’ puts an additional pressure on the marketing guys to make sure that their brand is seen and heard everywhere.

Being visible 24 hours a day is not a easy task. And this is where blogging can come to the rescue. I know that for many of you blogging and brand creation seem to be an unlikely pair. But you know what? They can prove to be a lethal combination.

Here are some reasons as to why you should make use of blogging to create a brand?

The onset of the virtual world and technology has seen a change in the consumer’s perspective on marketing. According to Eric Kintz, Vice President of Global Marketing Strategy & Excellence for HP, “customers are shifting massively their entertainment and information consumption away from traditional media to the new web space.” Thus, a growing number of consumers are logging in to the virtual world for their daily dose of entertainment.”

This has also initiated the marketing world to test their skills on the web. After all, wherever a consumer goes, the marketing world follows him. In fact, many companies started aggressively marketing their products on the net. Thus, banners, pop-ups, advertisements in the guise of mails etc were seen littering the world of Internet. I use the word littering because many web surfers saw these ads as interfering and annoying. In other words, online advertising failed to engage its target audience.

A survey carried out by the Forrester across US households revealed that only 6% of the Internet visitors trust the search engine ads and 2% online banner ads. The survey highlights the fact that banner ads and search engine ads might not be exactly effective in creating a brand or in attracting consumers.

In fact, Eric Kintz opines that ‘customers trust themselves and each other in influencing their perception of a brand.’ Now, where can a customer come to know about other person’s opinion as well as interact with him? Well, through a blog. In fact, when forming an opinion about blogs, Kintz states that, it provides a perfect platform for, ‘a more personal and two-way interaction with the brand.’

Blogging also provides various advantages over other forms of Internet advertising. Blogging ensures that the name of the company or the product crops up in the blogosphere. It is a well-known fact that Google is biased towards blogs. In fact, if you carry out search for any term, you will also notice that the results will also be culled from the blogs, which contain that particular keyword.

Having a corporate blog ensures that the generic name of your product as well as the brand name crops up in search results. In other words, you can target both brand terms and non-brand terms that are used by web surfers, through your blog.

Having a company blog also allows you to gain insights into the minds of your customers. Blogs helps you to keep a track on what is the popular reaction for your products and services. The data collected can be used to carry out improvements. In an age, where consumers have at least a dozen brands offering the same service or product, it will not be long before a consumer switches to a rival brand, if he is dissatisfied with your services. Therefore, it is essential for you to quickly gauge your customers’ reaction. And blogging allows you to do just that.

Blogging can also be used to create a positive image about the company, which in turn can push the brand in the market.  Take for instance Cadbury Schweppes. It maintains a blog that not only focuses on products and history but also provides a platform to its interns to write about their work experiences. This not only spreads a positive word about the work culture but also enhances the image of the company in the minds of the general public.

Blogging can prove to be an effective tool in the hands of marketing professionals. It can give you precious clues about your customers and also help you in tweaking your products and services. Above all, it ensures the visibility of your name in the virtual world.