A Classified way to drive business to your web site

First Published:November  2005
Last Update: November 2005
Author:  Donald Lee

There are more than 105 million of them in the United  States. Worldwide, there could be at least 250 million of  them. Them, according to statistics from the Nielsen/Net  Ratings service, is the number of active Web surfers. 250  million in the whole world? The figure is more than the  populations of Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and a  few non-English speaking countries combined. That's a lot  of them!

With so many active surfers around, you would think  Webmasters and site owners have an easy time attracting  them. Actually, they face an uphill battle to bring  visitors and, more importantly, consumers to their Web  sites. And a Web site without traffic is like a store  built in the middle of the desert. You could have the  greatest products and most attractive Web design around,  but they're worthless if no one visits them. 

There is one way, however, to turn your Web site into an  oasis of business, a way to drive as much traffic to your  site as your server can handle: a classified ad.

More on that later. First, all Web builders and site owners  should know the basic and time-tested ways to attract  traffic to their Web site. The key to all of these methods  is to attract the right Web surfers. You want what experts  call "targeted visitors," or people who are actually 
interested in what you're selling. To guarantee that this  happens, you should follow this checklist of Web traffic  golden rules:

Step 1: Optimize your Web pages. Webmasters in the know  take the time to set their meta tags. These tags, or codes,  are hidden keywords in the Web page that tell search engines  like Google and Yahoo exactly what your site is all about.  A meta tag, for instance, could be "designer handbags,"  "sporting equipment," or whatever else you happen to be  selling. These keywords tell the search engine to direct  all handbag or sports shoppers to your site.

Step 2: List your site with every search engine out there.  For this step, you simply need to surf over to Google,  AltaVista, Yahoo, MSN, and other search engines. Click  onto their customer service page, where they allow Web  builders and site owners to manually submit their site  addresses. 

Step 3. Spice up your site with interactive features.  With articles, newsletters, offers, promotions, and  discounts, you give your targeted visitors a reason to stay  at your site once they find it. More importantly, you give  them reasons to come back and tell their friends about the  site. Word of mouth is one of the best, and cheapest, forms  of advertising on the planet.

Step 4. Exchange banner ads with friends and with other  companies that you do business with. Banner ads are  those eye-catching designs at the top and bottom of Web  pages. They're like the billboards of the Internet  superhighway. But with these online billboards, a simple  click transports the Web surfer directly to your Web site.

Step 5. Exchange Web links with friends and business  associates. This, Webmasters and site owners, could be the  most important way to drive Web traffic to your site. All  of the major search engines rank sites by measuring how  many links come to and leave from your Web site. 

So links are a way to measure how worthwhile and how  legitimate your site is. The better this measurement, the  better chance your site will have to show up well in Web  surfers' searches. In other words, these links could be the  difference between your site being listed on page 20 of a 
Google search results, or on page 1.

Building better Web links and search engine results—that's  where classified sites come into play. Some of the most  savvy classified sites on the market now offer Web links  in their ads. These links lead right to your business' home  page. 

Not only are these links convenient one-click ways for  more customers to reach your site. They also boost your  search engine rankings. 

Of course, for business owners, classified sites have  so many other benefits, too.

• Unparalleled exposure. Classified sites are like online  malls. Not only will you get exposure from shoppers coming  specifically to find your goods. You get "spill over"  attention from shoppers who came for another item but then  start browsing through all of the other ads in the  classified "mall."

• A new arsenal of Web sites. Having online classified  ads is like setting up multiple new Web sites across the  Internet. Unlike your own original site, these classified  ads come with low-cost IT support, security, and  advertising.

• Incredible growth opportunities. Businesses and  individuals selling on online classified sites pull in more  than $1.95 billion a year, according to the statistics firm  Kelsey Group. That figure does not even include money  from eBay.

• Money for nothing. As valuable as classified sites  are, many of the best ones charge very little or absolutely  nothing to set up your ads. 

Add up all of these numbers—250 million active Web surfers  in the world, $1.95 billion in classified sales, and $0  cost—and your Web business is sure to come out in the  positive. 

About the Author:

Donald Lee is the public relations manager for  Buysellcommunity.com. Buysellcommunity provides free  classified listing services for individuals and businesses  to market their products and services online. For global  and localized classifieds, please visit  Free Buy & Sell Classifieds