Edward B. Toupin
All trademarks mentioned throughout this publication are property of their respective owners.
Published in 2001 by Edward B. Toupin, Las Vegas, NV, United States. Copyright © 2001, Edward B. Toupin. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of Edward B. Toupin.
Contact the publisher at publish@toupin.com and the author at etoupin@toupin.com.Visit the online library at http://www.toupin.com/library/. Provide your feedback at http://www.toupin.com/library/form_main.html.
Table of Contents
List of Figures.......................................................................................................................................vi
Campaign............................................................................................................................................3
Promoting Your Web Site ....................................................................................................................6
Tracking Progress................................................................................................................................6
Monitoring Your Progress ................................................................................................................7
Adjusting Your Marketing.................................................................................................................7
Information Products............................................................................................................................9
Biz-2-Biz............................................................................................................................................10
Affiliate Programs ..............................................................................................................................12
Defined..............................................................................................................................................13
Composition ......................................................................................................................................14
Establishing a Presence ....................................................................................................................15
Domain Name ...................................................................................................................................16
Choosing a Domain Name.............................................................................................................16
Dot Com?......................................................................................................................................17
Registering a Domain Name..........................................................................................................17
E-mail................................................................................................................................................19
Usenet...............................................................................................................................................22
USENET .......................................................................................................................................23
Listservs........................................................................................................................................24
Netiquette for Mail Lists and Newsgroups ......................................................................................24
World-Wide Web ...............................................................................................................................28
Core Interaction.................................................................................................................................31
Image ................................................................................................................................................32
Adding Value.....................................................................................................................................32
Home Page ...................................................................................................................................33
Area Information............................................................................................................................34
Listing Pages.................................................................................................................................34
Information ....................................................................................................................................34
Utilities ..........................................................................................................................................35
Links .............................................................................................................................................35
Functionality ......................................................................................................................................35
Theme...............................................................................................................................................36
Title ...................................................................................................................................................37
Meta Tags .........................................................................................................................................38
Importance of Meta Tag Content ...................................................................................................38
Hidden Form Fields ...........................................................................................................................38
Keywords ..........................................................................................................................................39
Plural Form of Keywords ...............................................................................................................40
Repeat Important Keywords ..........................................................................................................40
Diversify Keyword Meanings..........................................................................................................40
Keyword Variations........................................................................................................................41
Keyword Combinations and Phrases .............................................................................................41
Keyword Selection.........................................................................................................................41
Developing Keyword Lists .............................................................................................................42
Keyword Stuffing ...............................................................................................................................43
Get to the Top ...................................................................................................................................44
Making a Web Page ..........................................................................................................................48
JavaScript, Java, PERL .....................................................................................................................49
Graphics............................................................................................................................................50
Writing Style ......................................................................................................................................50
Content .........................................................................................................................................51
Scannability...................................................................................................................................52
Choosing a Provider ..........................................................................................................................53
Merchant Account .........................................................................................................................54
Merchant Provider .........................................................................................................................54
Order Processing ..........................................................................................................................54
Accepting Orders Online....................................................................................................................55
Plain Online Order Forms ..............................................................................................................55
Shopping Cart ...............................................................................................................................56
CGI Scripts....................................................................................................................................56
Handling Fraud..................................................................................................................................56
Visit Competitors ...............................................................................................................................59
Vanity Searches ................................................................................................................................60
Group Searches ................................................................................................................................60
Goals.................................................................................................................................................61
Communications................................................................................................................................63
Global................................................................................................................................................63
Content .............................................................................................................................................64
Promotion..........................................................................................................................................65
Monitor ..............................................................................................................................................66
Conventional .....................................................................................................................................66
Research...........................................................................................................................................67
Indexing ............................................................................................................................................69
Multiple Engines ................................................................................................................................70
Multiple Target Groups ..................................................................................................................70
URL Submission................................................................................................................................71
Submission Engines and Software.................................................................................................71
Reciprocal Links ............................................................................................................................72
Updating a Listing..............................................................................................................................72
Deep Submission ..............................................................................................................................72
Spiders..............................................................................................................................................79
E-mail Marketing................................................................................................................................80
Press Releases .................................................................................................................................80
Reciprocal Linking .............................................................................................................................82
Locating Complimentary Sites .......................................................................................................82
Acquiring a Reciprocal Link ...........................................................................................................83
Posting Reciprocal Links ...............................................................................................................83
Other Avenues ..................................................................................................................................84
Figure 1: Market-Specific Hub................................................................................................................11
Figure 2: Industry-Specific Hub ..............................................................................................................11
Figure 3: Simple View of the Internet......................................................................................................14
Figure 4: Simple View of the Internet......................................................................................................33
Edward B. Toupin is a freelance consultant, writer, and published author living in Las Vegas. He currently handles technical writing tasks for various companies in New York, Chicago, and Denver as well as imagineers and markets feature-length and short screenplays.
Edward provides quality Web site design, development, and marketing as well as writing, document design and planning, and e-book publishing services. You can visit his Web site at http://www.toupin.com or contact him at etoupin@toupin.com.
AcknowledgementsThis book was developed with information from the experience of creating and marketing numerous Web sites over the years. I want to thank all of my clients for their feedback, patience, and successes to give me the means to provide this e-book for the masses.
PrefaceThe Internet is a great source of information and a great place to bring people together. Also, the Internet provides a means of leveling the playing field by allowing small businesses to compete with larger corporations on even ground! Through proper marketing, you can achieve a level of exposure similar to that of many of the larger Web sites. Success is not based so much on the product as it is in the way that the product is marketed!
A very important point to remember is that cyberspace is extremely volatile and the rules are always changing. To become a successful Internet marketer you'll need to stay informed of new developments and take advantage of new marketing methods as they become available. This e-book will give you a starting point in your marketing ventures, but it's up to you to fine-tune your skills and maintain your position within the changing global environment.
There are many e-books and reports available that provide detailed information on a few aspects of marketing. This premise of this e-book is to provide you with a laundry list of information that can help you properly market your goods and services to the global community. Many of the methods presented have helped in the success of other Web sites.