How to Use your Website as a Marketing Tool.

You have an opportunity to market yourself in ways that were unheard of just a couple years ago.

Due to the cost and complexity of website design and management, it was a big investment to have a quality website.

Now the cost is minimal and the options are nearly limitless. What it takes now is some time and commitment.

I committed awhile ago to keep this site fresh with at least 3 new stories 7 days a week. Most weekdays there are more.

And this is simply a marketing tool. When you click on my home page, you will see the latest updates to all my sites in a simple widget for each site.

The cost?

Zero cash dollars. All I pay for is the domain name and I designed the rest. You may need to hire someone to do design work for you, but the cost is less and quality is better than it was just two years ago.

Here's some more tips from an email from MarketingProfs.com:

Your Media Property: Refurbish It

"Thanks to the new ways content can be published and shared online, you can give your company site some of the power of a media property," say Matt Magee and Doug Reynolds of PJA Advertising + Marketing. The trick is to develop content for your site that users seek out, consume and share. In their view, it should be:

Useful. Give visitors something of true value: white papers, advice, tutorials, tools, widgets or helpful links.

Unique. Offer content they won't get anywhere else—for instance, your specialized insight as an industry expert, or highlights from a customer roundtable.

Credible. Develop an independent, authentic voice that doesn't shill for your company's agenda. An authoritative third party contributor can be invaluable in this regard.

Fresh. Update frequently; focus on social media mainstays like blogs, podcasts and user reviews—not stiff press releases.

Entertaining. Capture a visitor's imagination, or tickle her funny bone. There's no telling how viral your content can get, if, say, you use video.

The Po!nt: Say Magee and Reynolds, "Make your company site more like a media property with content your customers find truly valuable, and they'll not only start using your site differently, they'll also start thinking differently about your brand."

Source: Article by Magee and Reynolds.

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