7 Tips to Make Your Direct Sales Website Search Engine Friendly

7  Tips to  Make your Direct Sales Website Search Engine Friendly

1.  Submit your direct sales website to web directories.  Concentrate on the Yahoo! and Open Project Directory directories.  You want to submit to quality directories with good pagerank and perferrably ones that do not require a link back.  A good list of  “FREE directory submissions” to start out with is at http://directoryrate.com/free-directory-list.php – Or, if you’re pressed for time, you can use the directory submission service that I use for submitting to directories at http://mommyrevenue.com/directorymaximizer which is very low cost.  

2.  Submit just the main page of your website, not each individual page.  The other pages will be found by following the links from the main page.  Creating a “site map” might help the search engines find all of your links, but there’s no guarantee.

3.  Choose keywords that are as specific as possible.  If your direct sales company sells educational toys, you’ll do better by using specific keywords like “educational toys” than you would using general keywords (which are highly competitive) such as “toys and games.”

4.  To improve your ranking in the search engines, get more links to your site.  Consider a “link exchange” campaign, but be picky.  Find other quality websites (offering great content) in your same niche and ask them if they would exchange links with you.   Article marketing can also get you some great links back to your site.   Be sure to write articles that will target your specific market so that when you receive visits from those that read your articles, they will be those that are truly interested in what you have to offer.

5.  Your title page tag is the first thing a search engine displays, so research and choose the best suitable description for your site.  Take your time to come up with something that will explain exactly what your website offers.   Another seo tips is to be sure to name your website’s graphics with keywords that relate specifically to your business.

6.  Draw more traffic to your site using other internet marketing methods available.  (a.) Consider adding a signature line to your outgoing email that includes your business name and website address.  (b.) Submit articles to various free article sites; make sure to include a bio box with your URL at the bottom.  (One such place that I recommend work at home moms to submit their articles to is Wahm-Articles.com )  (c.) Find related forums to get involved with, posting your link in your signature line, if it is allowed.  For this to truly be beneficial,  you need to focus on getting to know the members there and chat with them.  Just posting ads (never do so, unless it’s permitted) will bring very little, if any results.

7.  Don’t forget about offline marketing.  Have pens, business cards, and flyers printed with your direct sales business email and website.  Bumper stickers might be another good bet, as well as magnets.  Shelly Hill posted “10 Quick Ways to Advertise Your Business” at our Wahm Forum.   (If you’re still needing some affordable business cards and flyers, then I recommend trying http://mommyrevenue.com/recommendedbizcards )

 Final note: Creating a website isn’t that hard to do.  Take some time, think things through, make a plan, and then follow it through!

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Two Simple Factors That Can Increase Your Direct Sales Business

Two Simple Factors That Can Increase Your Direct Sales Business

Building your own business through a direct sales company is one of the most well-known avenues to generate extra income for your family’s budget.  A major benefit of working with a direct sales company is that, quite often, they provide you with a free website to send prospective team members.  While this company website might do the trick in a pinch, if you want to see your sales and your team explode, consider purchasing your “own domain name” and creating your “own website”.

Seven Benefits of  Obtaining your “Own Domain Name” and “Own Website”:

1.  Your own domain name can be easier to remember, especially if you keep the name short and sweet.  As an associate of a direct sales company, “your” webpage will lead prospective clients to the company, using a URL similar to this:  http://www.parentcompany.com/yourname.  If you purchase your own domain name, your website address would look quite different:  http://www.yourdomain.com.  It is much easier for a prospective customer or team member to remember the second domain name.

2.  Your own website and domain name sets you apart.  Choosing your own domain name allows you freedom to add your own personality to your business.  You’re not required to maintain the company’s status quo if you have your own name.  Your business reflects you and helps you stand out from the crowd.

3.  Your own domain name allows you to track your results.  If you have your own domain, you can track the number of visitors to your website, and you know how they’ve found you.  You can try different marketing campaigns and see which one is bringing in the most traffic. Having a company website doesn’t allow you this option.

4.  Your own website and domain name allows you to offer more for your team members.  Having your own domain name, as opposed to a company website, also allows you to offer your clients and team members extras.  Do you want to provide content to help your team members?  Consider writing articles that will give them tools to grow their business.

5.  Your own domain name provides the opportunity to create multiple emails.  Just imagine, instead of having all your company email coming to one address and having to plod through each and every one, you could have an email address to match each function of your business: one for those requesting further information, one for a newsletter that you’ve started, one for comments/suggestions, and one that’s dedicated to team members only.

6.  Your own website allows you to generate your own leads and offer your own newsletter.  When you send your visitors directly to your company’s website, you usually have no more control over what happens next.  With your own website, you gain more control over capturing your own leads by getting your visitors to sign up for your newsletter.  You get to remain in full contact with you subscribers.

7.  You have full ownership over your domain name and website.  What if your direct sales company goes out of business?  What if you decide to switch companies later down the road?   If you have your own domain name and website, all the directories you submitted your site to, all your webpages indexed by the search engines and all the advertising you’ve down will not be down the drain.  You still have your piece of real estate.  Your website can easily be readjusted (that is, if you continue to sell the same types of products) to feature your new business and products without completely starting over.

While these 7 benefits for having your own domain name and website for your direct sales business aren’t the only ones, they are something to consider before you choose to only use the site your company has provided.  The reasons for having your own domain name are varied, but ultimately the choice is up to you.   Just remember to read up on your company’s policies concerning marketing on the internet and how many products you may be allowed to offer on your own site.  Many companies have different guidelines concerning members having their own sites.

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