By itself, search engine optimization is not a reliable promotion strategy. The results of "fighting with the search engines" rarely justify the time investment.

Smart online promotion leaves little to chance. For example, a well-planned ezine (electronic magazine) campaign will expose your business to thousands of targeted prospects for about the price of good sunglasses. This ezine (about ostriches!) reaches 29,000+ subscribers. A well-known digital-coupon ezine reaches half a million people. Other effective strategies include:

• Magnetic marketing
• Viral marketing
• Permission marketing
• Partnerships (reciprocal links)
• Online contests
• Press release campaigns
• Offline promotions
• Digital discount coupons and coupon website listings
• Affinity program partnerships
• Branded email
• Free publicity vehicles
• Traditional search engine optimization

Without a strong conversion rate, traffic is irrelevant. The conversion rate is the percentage of website visitors who take action, usually by making a purchase.¹ Traffic is easy. Conversion is difficult. In the rush to market, this key metric is often overlooked — in hopes that mere clicks and "eyeballs" will result in sales.

A good conversion rate depends on many factors, including design, branding, usability, conversion tools, and copy. A well-branded site appeals to users' emotions, and delivers a memorable experience. Good usability reduces confusion, clutter, and wasted time. Conversion tools like "tell a friend," digital discount coupons, and digital gift certificates extend the length of visits, promote repeat visits, and encourage customers themselves to refer new business. Strong copy guides, entertains, and enlightens, while underscoring important benefits. These factors, brought into balance, can dramatically increase a site's conversion rate.

Pay-per-performance promotion means you pay when it sells.² Advertising risks are lifted from your business and placed squarely on the shoulders of businesses that agree to promote you.

Using this model, your company can precisely calculate ROI, and make campaign adjustments in real time. Pay-per-peformance promotion provides free branding, since you're not paying for impressions (banner views). Affiliate programs are the best known form of pay-per-performance marketing, but there are other forms. Some can work concurrently, resulting in potentially huge traffic with relatively little up-front investment or risk.  learn more »

phpAgency can create an online promotion strategy for your business that brings measurable, day-to-day results. Our promotional goal is not just to generate high traffic, but to bring targeted visitors — people likely to buy. Our marketing goal is to create a site that converts visitors into customers, encourages repeat visitors (who bookmark the site), and is a profitable online sales channel. In addition, we can provide the tools you'll need to monitor ad campaigns and determine what's working: "Who bought?" "From where?" "What were the net profits?"

¹In some cases, the conversion rate refers to visitors who become registered users or who request more information (as in the case of a mortgage site).
²Or, you pay for advertising when another predetermined action is taken by the Web visitor, such as signing up or downloading trial software.