39 Free/Low-Cost Tools for Marketing Your Small Business Online
Stone Reuning
A Free-Reprint Article Written by: Stone Reuning
Article Title:
39 Free/Low-Cost Tools for Marketing Your Small Business Online
See TERMS OF REPRINT to the end of the article.
Article Description:
What small business owner has the time to sift through all
the tools available for marketing online? Here find the 39
most impactful free or low-cost marketing tools complete
with description and link, so you can start adding them to
your strategy today.
Additional Article Information:
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1777 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line
Distribution Date and Time: 2010-02-02 11:45:00
Written By: Stone Reuning
Copyright: 2010
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39 Free/Low-Cost Tools for Marketing Your Small Business Online
Copyright (c) 2010 Stone Reuning
SEO Advantage
http://www.seo-advantage.com/
Thousands of free online marketing tools clamor for attention,
with new ones popping up every week it seems. You know you should
be doing more to reach out to your customers, but just
researching which tools to use can be a vast time investment,
even if they don't require a big financial outlay.
Here find compiled a list of the most popular (or most useful)
low-cost or free small business marketing tools. You might be
using some of them already, but you're sure to find a couple
that will round out your small business marketing toolkit nicely.
And if you're just starting out marketing a new business online,
this list may help point you in the right direction.
Directories
The Open Directory - http://www.dmoz.org/
A staple of the SEO crowd, this directory can be tricky to get
into but well worth it for the link juice it passes along to your
site.
Yahoo! Directory - http://www.yahoo.com/
It's not free - this directory will set you back a couple
hundred bucks a year - but it's well worth it for inclusion.
Best of the Web Directory - http://www.botw.org/
This directory has been around a while and can pass along some
good PageRank to your site.
Niche directories
Find the directories in your industry that pass along good link
building opportunities. Some examples to get you started:
http://www.sbdgraphics.com/ for ad agencies, web developers,
printers and other graphics professionals; http://www.sbdpro.com/
for small businesses and businesses that serve them;
http://www.cpapro.com/ for the accounting industry;
http://www.seoalpaca.org/ for alpaca breeders, and so on.
Press Release Distribution Services
Marketwire - http://www.marketwire.com/
The most bang for your buck from an actual wire service,
Marketwire's prices are lower than PR Newswire and Businesswire.
This newer service is built for powerful online exposure, and
you'll enjoy the full online distribution with any geographical
AP wire distribution. (Sometimes you can get statewide wire
distribution for nearly the same cost as only your local
metropolitan area.) It's great for building inbound links - just
choose the SEO Enhanced option.
PRLog - http://www.prlog.org/
A good-performing free press release distribution outlet, PRLog
press releases rank really well and for a really long time if
they are written with SEO copywriting best practices. Press
releases include three links, though they are URL based (starting
with http) rather than text anchor. PRLog also lets you create
your own newsroom where all your press releases reside, as well
as an "about us" page and product showcase area.
PitchEngine - http://www.pitchengine.com/
A relatively new PR-for-social-media site that promises to let
you create and share press releases easily and for free and
syndicate content to Google News. Lets you include HTML in your
press release, so you can use keyword text anchor links. The site
is marketing itself quite aggressively and will likely build a
big presence quickly. The only catch is your release will
disappear off the site after 30 days if you aren't a paid member
($50/month for your own press room).
Email Marketing
AWeber - http://www.aweber.com/?219614
AWeber makes it easy to start building your email marketing list,
if you haven't already. For less than $20/month, you can build
unlimited newsletter lists, send unlimited email blasts, and
email unlimited autorespond messages to up to 500
subscribers/list. (Then it's $29/month up to 2500 subscribers.)
Also offers a recurring 30% commission - a pretty good affiliate
program for a service you'll appreciate enough to recommend to
others. (Disclosure note: the link above is our affiliate link.
We've been using the service for 3 years now, after trying out
Constant Contact and researching about 20 other providers! Most
either do autoresponders or email blasts/newsletters - not both.)
Content Sharing Websites
Squidoo - http://www.squidoo.com/
Create a lens around your business area. A good one with lots of
information will even rank in the search engines and can bring
traffic to your web site.
Scribd - http://www.scribd.com/
Share your expert content like white papers and articles. You can
make them available for free or sell them. You can submit
documents in PowerPoint, Word, PDF and many other file formats.
SlideShare - http://www.slideshare.com/
Post your presentations and documents online for others to view
and share. This is a great way to get exponential exposure for
your sales or marketing materials - or share documents privately.
See some tips for getting more visibility with SlideShare:
http://bit.ly/aNXmS2
Flikr - http://www.flikr.com/
Does your product or service translate well visually? Use this
popular photo sharing site to get more eyeballs.
Blip.tv - http://www.blip.tv/
A video-sharing alternative to YouTube, blip.tv lets you embed
links in your descriptions and create a TV station showing all
your videos in one spot.
Social Networks
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/
Create a page for your business. Feed your blog in. Start a
group. Get fans. Advertise to targeted users if your products
appeal to the Facebook crowd (which is basically everyone
nowadays). See using the new Facebook business page layout to
learn more (http://bit.ly/Zdt33). Stop by our page and become
a fan, too!
(http://www.facebook.com/pages/SEO-Advantage-Inc/57717493078)
MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/
Take a second look at this medium for social networking.
According to MarketingProfs, more than half of MySpace.com users
are 35 or older. Explore using MySpace for your business.
(http://bit.ly/YqJO)
LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/
Like a virtual Rolodex. Build your professional profile, link up
with other professionals, join groups or even start a group.
Participating in Q&A's related to your profession is a great way
to build credibility and visibility.
Ning - http://www.ning.com/
Build your own social network around your business. You may even
get your network into the search engine results pages. Learn more
about using Ning for business. (http://bit.ly/amLKcE)
Read "Utlize Social Media to Gain Additional Exposure for Your
Site" (http://bit.ly/bcoWEQ) for more information about social
networks and how they can drive targeted traffic to your site.
Social Bookmarking
Digg - http://www.digg.com/
Getting your content on the home page of Digg is one way to bump
up your web site's traffic by thousands within minutes. This can
result in valuable links to your site. Start with this
beginner's guide to Digg. (http://bit.ly/jgn63)
StumbleUpon - http://www.stumbleupon.com/
Build friends and send them your articles to rate. More thumbs up
will get your article shown to more people outside your network
and can result in thousands of visitors every day. Tips for using
StumbleUpon. (http://bit.ly/3x2gih)
Reddit - http://www.reddit.com/
Even if your content gets buried on Digg, it can flourish on
Reddit - which can be a catalyst for jumping to the home page of
other social bookmarking sites. Learn more about the types of
topics that do well on Reddit.
(http://www.steve-olson.com/writing-for-reddit/)
Blogs
Your own blog -
Write great content relevant to your business area that people
will find useful. Use it to link to deep pages on your site to
help them get indexed in the search engines. Build your thought
leadership and let your customers get to know your business
better. Try WordPress (http://www.wordpress.com/) for an
easy-to-use platform that's also search engine friendly.
Others' blogs -
Read and comment on other blogs in your industry. Use your
comment signature to link back to your blog or web site. Build
relationships online and spread the link love from your own blog
to others'.
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/
Micro-blogging. Update your status daily or a couple times a
week. Use keywords in your posts and profile to help gain
followers on Twitter quickly. Link to your unique content in your
updates and take advantage of the multitude of new applications
created to help you manage your Twitter experience.
(http://www.squidoo.com/twitterapps)
Affiliate Marketing
Post Affiliate Pro - http://www.qualityunit.com/postaffiliatepro/
Traditionally links generated through affiliate marketing have
not been helpful for search engine optimization - until Post
Affiliate Pro, that is. This easy-to-use affiliate program lets
you set up a referral program in minutes and keeps your links
simple and search engine friendly.
Technorati - http://technorati.com/
Claim your blog at Technorati to make sure it's indexed in the
blog search engines and have your updates broadcast across the
network.
Your Own Web Properties
Create A Knowledge Center
Build a content area on your site where you can add articles
regularly. This can be as formal as white papers or case studies,
but it can also work with less formal articles, as long as they
further your company's thought leadership position and
credibility. They will also boost your search engine rankings if
you contribute regularly and ensure your site architecture is
optimized. See how we're doing this with SEO Advantage's new
knowledge center: http://www.seo-advantage.com/seo-topics/
PowerReviews - http://www.powerreviews.com/
People are going to look up user reviews whether on your site or
elsewhere - might as well take advantage of the user-generated
content for additional search engine visibility. You'll also
rank higher in trust with your efforts at transparency.
SurveyMonkey - http://www.surveymonkey.com/
Voting/polling/surveys. A tool of engagement that lets you gauge
interest, measure customer satisfaction or just provide some fun.
(People love to give their opinions.)
Awards and Contests
Enter them and host them. Winning an industry award can add to
your credibility, and giving them out can get you lots of press
coverage and links. Get creative.
Search Engine Optimization
Make sure your site architecture is optimized for maximum
exposure in the search engines. Create link-building campaigns.
Add to your content regularly. Enlist the services of a search
engine optimization company to guide your efforts or handle
implementation completely.
Research
Google - http://www.google.com/
Designate the keywords you'd like to keep track of, and Google
will send you alerts of news and pages indexed on those topics
"as it happens" with Google News Alerts
(http://www.google.com/alerts). You can also enter multiple terms
at Google Trends (http://www.google.com/trends) to compare the
general level of buzz around those terms.
AllTop - http://www.alltop.com/
An "online magazine rack", this site aggregates content and
organizes it. Select your topics and have the latest content
delivered to you, or just browse the site when you're in
research mode. Also, be sure to submit your site so it shows
among the related content.
WordTracker - http://www.wordtracker.com/
Find keywords with a more comprehensive tool than free
pay-per-click research tools, which may skew results. A free
trial will give you an idea of how it works.
Yahoo! Pipes - http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/
See who's talking about your company or brand by pulling
together RSS feeds from different sources around the Web using
the beta Yahoo! Pipes. This handy video shows you how:
http://bit.ly/dIkw
Analytics
You need to measure all your online marketing efforts. If you're
looking for a free analytics package, try Google Analytics or
Yahoo! IndexTools. (Which is better?
http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/article.php/3804521) However,
you'll probably want some help implementing and interpreting
your analytics package to get the most from it - ask your SEO
company if they offer this.
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Stone Reuning is president of SEO Advantage, a search engine
optimization (http://www.seo-advantage.com/seo-services.htm)
company that helps businesses harness the revenue generation
potential of their websites. Referenced in books such as
"Writing Web-Based Advertising Copy to Get the Sale" and the
BusinessWeek bestseller "The New Rules of Marketing and PR",
http://www.seo-advantage.com/ offers information to help small
businesses compete online.
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