{"id":4631,"date":"2017-10-05T06:16:03","date_gmt":"2017-10-05T06:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/a1webdesignteam.com\/blog\/?p=4631"},"modified":"2017-10-05T06:16:03","modified_gmt":"2017-10-05T06:16:03","slug":"how-to-advertise-your-website-online-effectively","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/a1webdesignteam.com\/blog\/how-to-advertise-your-website-online-effectively\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Advertise Your Website Online Effectively"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s how to advertise your website online effectively in 5 steps.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Understand Internet Advertising Jargon<\/h2>\n

Advertising itself has a ton of jargon \u2013 from inventory<\/em> (not what you think) to\u00a0mindshare<\/em> to\u00a0retargeting<\/em>. Online advertising has even more, but here\u2019s what you really need to know.<\/p>\n

Fat-head vs. Long-tail<\/h4>\n

The basic concept is that the broader your make your advertising (the fat head) \u2013 the more traffic you\u2019ll get. But<\/em> the less conversions (sales, emails, etc) you\u2019ll receive versus specific advertising to the targeted few (the long-tail). The more \u201ctargeted few\u201d are fewer in number for each category and are much more qualified to convert. It can be tedious to target very few. And it feel like it\u2019s smaller potential, but in aggregate the \u201clong-tail\u201d or \u201ctargeted few\u201d is larger than the big, broad approach.<\/p>\n

The best example is in keywords. See the example from Google\u2019s Keyword Planner<\/a> \u2013<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

If you have a review about Nike shoes, or are selling a Nike shoe \u2013 you\u2019ll get the most visitors from an ad campaign targeting \u201cshoes\u201d though it won\u2019t be as effective as a campaign centered around \u201cnike air max running shoes\u201d for example.<\/p>\n

When it comes to how to advertise your website \u2013 it pays to spend the extra bit of time finding all those little niches to advertise in, rather than wasting your cash on the \u201cfat-head\u201d terms (unless you do just want to spend the money\u2026if so, have at it).<\/p>\n

The fat head vs long tail doesn\u2019t just apply to keywords though. It also applies to audiences. Below is a screenshot of a Facebook ad campaign targeting specific audiences.<\/p>\n

\"Example<\/p>\n

With some platforms such as Facebook or the Google Display Network \u2013 you don\u2019t bid on keywords as much as you audiences, but the same principle applies \u2013 targeting the niches leads to a more effective advertising campaign.<\/p>\n

CPM vs. CPC vs. CPA<\/h4>\n

These are the three ways of paying for your advertisement. With CPM (ie, cost per thousand impressions) \u2013 you pay a set rate every time your ad is\u00a0shown<\/em>. With CPC (ie, cost per click) \u2013 you pay a set rate every time your ad is\u00a0clicked<\/em>. And with CPA (ie, cost per action) \u2013 you pay every time someone who clicks your ad does something on your website.<\/p>\n

By far and away the most common is going to be CPC. You only want to use CPM or CPA if you know what you\u2019re doing, but it\u2019s good to know that they are out there.<\/p>\n

Do More Research According To Each Platform<\/h4>\n

Those are the two big concepts in online advertising \u2013 but there\u2019s a ton more jargon in each ad platform. Be sure to to do your research and ask questions whenever you see something you don\u2019t understand \u2013 otherwise you\u2019ll be spending money you don\u2019t have.<\/p>\n

For example, Facebook has several flavors of CPM\/CPC. They also allow you to advertise according to \u201cobjective.\u201d These are different than Google or Twitter. Don\u2019t assume that each ad network has the same terminology among them.<\/p>\n

2. Know Your Advertising Options<\/h2>\n

When it comes to how to advertise business in the physical world, and how to advertise your website in the digital world, there is one common denominator \u2013 choice. There is a plethora of advertising options online, but they all fall into 3 main categories which can be found on a wide range of platforms. Here\u2019s the main options and platform for how to advertise your website online.<\/p>\n

Text Ads<\/h4>\n

Text ads are the most basic type of ad on the Internet. Nearly every type of ad platform runs them \u2013 most famously Google. It usually allows a headline, some text, and a call to action with a URL. They normally look like this:<\/p>\n

\"Text<\/p>\n

Banner Ads<\/h4>\n

Banner ads have been around since the dawn of Internet time. They are basically like text ads \u2013 except that they use pictures and rich media to get the point across. They are not available on many platforms \u2013 and some, like Facebook, use a hybrid Banner ad. However \u2013 if you are looking to how to advertise your website on other websites via an ad network \u2013 it will probably be with a banner ad.<\/p>\n

They come in standard sizes, and most networks (such as the Google Display Network) make it very easy to execute professional ad campaigns for your website. I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve seen something like this before:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Native Ads<\/h4>\n

Native ads are basically advertisements that appear within the content. They are paid placements \u2013 but aren\u2019t meant to distract. They are meant to appear like content \u2013 or at least appear within your content feed.<\/p>\n

The most recognized example are networks like OutBrain or Taboola. But other types of content like giveaways and in-feed \u201cpromoted stories\u201d on networks like StumbleUpon also count.<\/p>\n

The lines get a little blurry \u2013 and native advertiser\u2019s should always be disclosing their relationships, but there are plenty of ad platforms that make this method easy \u2013 such as Facebook. Here\u2019s an example of a sponsored Facebook ad:<\/p>\n

\"Native<\/p>\n

Lots of media companies are jumping on this bandwagon and making it easier and easier to execute. It can definitely be part of you plan on how to advertise your website \u2013 but for now let\u2019s dive into actual platforms.<\/p>\n

Google<\/h4>\n

Google is\u00a0the<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>advertising master of the Internet. When you\u2019re looking to how to advertise your website online\u2026you start with Google Search Network.<\/p>\n

Google has the largest search network in the world \u2013 which you can use to place ads on targeted keywords. Google is worth $375 billion because pay per click ads in search results are that powerful. You can get in front of people exactly when they are actively looking for your exact products and services.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the place to test messaging, pricing, demand, and return on investment before expanding to other options.<\/p>\n

Google also owns the largest display ad network in the world \u2013 and allows you to advertise to 85% of all Internet users everywhere. You \u2013 yes, you \u2013 can advertise your website on the New York Times, on a targeted niche blog, or on any website that your target customer visits (and yes, you can get the ads that follow people around too).<\/p>\n

*Speaking of ads that follow people around (aka \u201cretargeting\u201d), that is the\u00a0most effective way to get started with Google\u2019s Display Network. Use it to stay in front of people who have already visited & expressed interest in your website.<\/p>\n

And Google also owns the world\u2019s 2nd largest search engine \u2013 YouTube \u2013 which also happens to be the largest video platform in the world. It offers a plethora of ad options, and just like in Google Search or Google Display \u2013 YouTube allows you to advertise as broadly or as specifically as you want.<\/p>\n

You can get started at Google AdWords<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bing + Yahoo<\/h4>\n

Bing and Yahoo together make up about 30% of the search market. They are Google\u2019s only real direct search competitors. They offer very similar products (with fewer options though). They are worth trying out after you have experimented with Google and want to expand your search reach (and get lower costs on some ads).<\/p>\n

You can get started at the Yahoo+Bing Ad Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Facebook<\/h4>\n

As you saw in the screenshot in the concepts section \u2013 Facebook allows for some hyper-targeted audience advertising. You can reach any group among its 1 BILLION+ users. The magic of Facebook is that everyone on the network self-defines themselves into neat little marketing packages. They tell you\u00a0exactly\u00a0<\/em>what they like.<\/p>\n

So guess what? If someone says that they Like hiking\u2026they will probably find your hiking store\u00a0interesting as well.<\/p>\n

If you know the audience that you are trying to target \u2013 Facebook makes a great network to try. It\u2019s the place to build awareness of your store and get in front of your target audience. Like Google, you can set your budget to as high or as low as you\u2019d like.<\/p>\n

Facebook offers two main products \u2013 the ads you see on the side bar of the newsfeed, and promoted posts \u2013 which are just posts that you pay to appear in user\u2019s newsfeeds. Here\u2019s an overview on how to start with Facebook ads.<\/p>\n

*Note that a great way to start using Facebook\u2019s ad products is through \u201cretargeting.\u201d With retargeting, you only show ads to people who have already landed on your website (aka through your Google Search ads). It can be a cheap way to get people to come back and purchase. Here\u2019s a solid guide to spending your first $100 on Facebook retargeting.<\/p>\n

You can get started at Facebook Ads<\/a>.<\/p>\n

LinkedIn<\/h4>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

LinkedIn is the social network for professionals. It\u2019s not actively used by many people (except when job-hunting) \u2013 but it is hyper-targeted, and is used heavily by the people who do use it (recruiters, sales, etc).<\/p>\n

Ads are paid for by cost per click and has a very similar targeting functionality to Facebook, though not nearly as specific. If you have a website that relates to professionals or sales in anyway (or to a specific industry) \u2013 promoting your website on LinkedIn can be a great option. Outside of B2B, LinkedIn is typically an expensive option though.<\/p>\n

You can get started at LinkedIn Ads<\/a>. I wrote how to advertise on LinkedIn here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Twitter<\/h4>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Twitter has recently really stepped up it\u2019s advertising options \u2013 and has created some pretty amazing products. You can either promote your account, promote tweets, or promote hashtags. The selling point about Twitter is that you get to advertise to people who are already\u00a0talking<\/em> about your niche.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a hard note to hit, and there\u2019s still a lot of experimentation happening around Twitter ads, but it does offer a really unique offering beyond Facebook targeting. If you\u2019re the adventurous type \u2013 you should definitely check out Twitter ads, but before you do that, you should check out Shopify\u2019s DIY Guide to Twitter Ads here.<\/p>\n

*Like Facebook, Twitter has a very interesting retargeting option. It\u2019s something I used in my Giveaway experiment here.<\/p>\n

You can get started at Twitter Ads. I wrote about Twitter Analytics here.<\/p>\n

StumbleUpon<\/h4>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

StumbleUpon \u2013 you may remember was really big back in 2009-2011. In fact, in 2011 \u2013 it drove more traffic to websites than Facebook and Twitter combined. And then it fell off the map.<\/p>\n

The sort of open secret is that StumbleUpon is still really big. It\u2019s not hot like Pinterest or Instagram \u2013 but it\u2019s still a big part of millions\u2019 of people\u2019s Internet habits.<\/p>\n

And it can drive a lot of interested traffic to your site for really cheap\u2026really fast.<\/p>\n

They don\u2019t have a typical advertising model \u2013 it\u2019s native advertising in it\u2019s almost pure form. You basically set a budget to spend \u2013 and StumbleUpon guarantees that they will send visitors to your site at $0.10 a person for as long as your budget lasts.<\/p>\n

In other words \u2013 you get to buy a tsunami of traffic. The goal with StumbleUpon is to hope that a few people from that tsunami stick around. They will show up and check out your site \u2013 but are very impatient, and the vast majority will simply leave and never return. But for what it is \u2013 it\u2019s very powerful.<\/p>\n

You can get started at StumbleUpon Paid Discovery.<\/p>\n

Reddit<\/h4>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Reddit is the the\u00a0<\/em>social news website on the Internet. It\u2019s a hive of activity and curates almost all the memes and stories you see around Facebook and the rest of the Internet.<\/p>\n

It has lots of \u201csubreddits\u201d where like-minded people of mind-bogglingly unique interests hang out. And you can advertise to them.<\/p>\n

Now \u2013 one caveat \u2013 Redditors are highly allergic to marketing and over the top messaging \u2013 even in the form of an obvious ad\u2026unless it\u2019s useful and a really good product \u2013 because then they love it.<\/p>\n

Reddit allows you to advertise in various subreddits at the top of the feed and in a banner on the side of the page. Rates are very cheap, and can be a great place to try out.<\/p>\n

One tip though \u2013 get on Reddit and make a conscious note of how many of the ads are written. They have a certain style for a reason. You should also do plenty of research to find the best subreddits for your ads. You can use the Subreddit finder to help out. **Note \u2013 Reddit is a reflection of the Internet at large, with all the good and bad that comes with it. There is no censoring, so be careful while exploring.**<\/p>\n

You can get started at Advertise on Reddit.<\/p>\n

EDIT: I just wrote a full case study post on how to advertise on Reddit. Read it here.<\/em><\/p>\n

Outbrain \/ Taboola<\/h4>\n

These are the two biggest \u201csponsored content\u201d networks. They are best known for placing the\u2026\u201dodd\u201d looking stories beneath articles around the internet. They are cheap and can drive a lot of traffic. The catch is that you can\u2019t advertise a product or service. Instead, you have to promote a piece of content, which can promote your product or service within the content.<\/p>\n

I wrote a tutorial and mini-case study on Outbrain here.<\/p>\n

You can get started with Outbrain here or Taboola here.<\/p>\n

Pinterest<\/h4>\n

As of early 2015, Pinterest has rolled out a new ad platform which is definitely the most anticipated ad product since Facebook. There\u2019s a few introductory posts floating around, but best practices have yet to be defined.<\/p>\n

Be an early adopter and try out Pinterest ads here. I wrote about Pinterest Analytics here.<\/p>\n

Other Networks<\/h4>\n

There are tons of other, smaller ad networks (and direct buys). So when deciding how to advertise your website online \u2013 don\u2019t feel limited to the big networks. For example, BuySellAds runs a really high quality network with better visibility for advertisers and higher rates for publishers than Google Display can traditionally offer. Even Amazon runs an ad network within their own site (aka, promote your Amazon listed products on Amazon).<\/p>\n

I wrote all about alternative PPC networks here.<\/p>\n

If there are forums or websites in your niche \u2013 by all means reach out to them directly. But no matter how you approach promoting your website \u2013 you need to take care of a couple more things to do it right.<\/p>\n

3. Track Everything<\/h2>\n

For me \u2013 what really makes digital advertising so much better and more interesting than traditional offline advertising is that you can track\u00a0everything<\/em>. And thanks to Google Analytics \u2013 anyone with a website has access to enterprise-level Analytics (and you\u2019ll spend more money with Google when you can see exactly how effective your ads are).<\/p>\n

*Note that I\u2019m assuming that you are tracking your website\u2019s data. If not then read this.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s dive in and look at tracking.<\/p>\n

Know where to look in Analytics<\/h4>\n

If you use the big ad platforms \u2013 they should include the basic referral data for your Google Analytics to make sense of the visitor. You can check out their performance in the Traffic Sources column, and either under the referrals tab \u2013 or under Paid Search, or if you have linked your AdWords and Analytics\u00a0\u2013 then you\u2019ll get even more detailed and amazing data.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Use the URL builder<\/h4>\n

In order to get the most data from the people who click on your ads \u2013 you\u2019ll need your ads to be fully trackable, and to pass data over to Google Analytics.<\/p>\n

If you are using Google Adwords, be sure to go to Preferences and Turn ON Auto-tagging. Otherwise, when you are setting up a campaign \u2013 don\u2019t just input the URL of your website or landing page into the URL \u2013 add parameters to the URL to help Analytics understand your ad visitors. Parameters are little snippets added onto the end of a URL. They don\u2019t affect the user or ad, but simply tell Google Analytics where the visitor is coming from, so that you can track and test your advertising.<\/p>\n

When you see an ad string \u2013 it looks complicated, and hard to build, but Google has a free URL Builder tool here\u00a0that you simply must use. Here\u2019s what it looks like\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

When you fill out the fields with the appropriate content (ie, facebook, display, males+sports, ImageA, Facebook). You can use whatever tags make sense to you because whatever information you put in here will be seen by you in Google Analytics. Be sure to fill it out completely. Here\u2019s an in-depth guide to the URL builder.<\/p>\n

Once it outputs at URL \u2013 use that URL for your ad campaigns.<\/p>\n

But what URL are you sending people too in the first place? That\u2019s the next step to understand in how to advertise your website online effectively\u2026<\/p>\n

4. Create Landing Pages<\/h2>\n

Basic rule of running an ad campaign \u2013 unless you have a very good reason \u2013 is never send your visitor to your homepage. Send your visitor to a page specifically crafted to match whatever was being advertised.<\/p>\n

If you are using a CMS like WordPress (like you should, and if you aren\u2019t, you should learn how to set WordPress up here) then it\u2019s super-easy to set up new pages.<\/p>\n

You should set up specific landing pages for every single type of ad you\u2019re running. Pro tip \u2013 setting up unique landing pages with keywords matching your ads also helps lower your costs on Google by increasing your Quality Score.<\/p>\n

Your landing pages should include AdWords conversion codes, and even though they don\u2019t have to be as beautiful as these landing pages\u00a0\u2013 they should be unique. Look at landing pages as part of building your ad campaign.<\/p>\n

And this extends to blog promotion as well. Don\u2019t send people to your home page or main feed. Promote specific posts \u2013 and send those ads directly to those posts.<\/p>\n

5. Watch & Test<\/h2>\n

This whole system feeds back into itself and never ends.<\/p>\n

You learn new ad concepts and different keyword strategies by using different ad platforms and watching your Analytics like a hawk.<\/p>\n

You can improve the effectiveness of your landing pages by watching your best performing ads. You can improve the performance of your ads by watching your best performing landing pages (whether it\u2019s a pure landing page, blog post, or product page).<\/p>\n

The point is that you can\u2019t just set a campaign and forget it. Learning how to advertise your website online is all about starting (not planning forever), getting data, and adjusting. It\u2019s sort of a ready, fire, aim approach.<\/p>\n

You can set a low budget, test, then ramp up when you find something that works by watching your Analytics like a hawk.<\/p>\n

This post covers just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how to advertise your website online. What you need to do now \u2013 is start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s how to advertise your website online effectively in 5 steps. 1. Understand Internet Advertising Jargon Advertising itself has a ton of jargon \u2013 from inventory (not what you think) to\u00a0mindshare to\u00a0retargeting. Online advertising has even more, but here\u2019s what you really need to know. Fat-head vs. Long-tail The basic concept is that the broader […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0},"categories":[7],"tags":[51],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/a1webdesignteam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4631"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/a1webdesignteam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/a1webdesignteam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/a1webdesignteam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/a1webdesignteam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/a1webdesignteam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/a1webdesignteam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/a1webdesignteam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/a1webdesignteam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/a1webdesignteam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}