Marketing Case Study: Launching WebSiteMarketingPlan.com (2001 - 2002)

The Challenge

WebSiteMarketingPlan.com was to be a companion site to the Web promotion and marketing plan guide "How Much for Just the Spider? Strategic Website Marketing." Although the approach was relatively new -- marketing plan development integrating traditional and online marketing strategies -- the general "Internet Marketing" category was crowded and very competitive. Additionally, I had much offline marketing experience, but zero online credibility.

My initial challenges when launching the Website were:

1.) to gain online credibility and

2.) to be heard in a crowded and often hype-filled category.

By February, 2002 the site was nearly ready. I had fought through a FrontPage learning curve and had a site brimming with content but a bit hard on the eyes (let's just say I could never make a living as a graphic artist). I signed on for a basic hosting plan with Lexiconn and uploaded my Website. Within days, Alexa found the site. Rank? 17 million and some change.

With the site up but largely unknown, an early focus was to get my target audience -- those looking for strategic marketing and planning ideas -- interested enough to visit WebSiteMarketingPlan.com. Making it even more difficult (wouldn't want to make anything easy on myself), I had decided on a severely limited budget -- no consultants and no expensive marketing programs. Just a computer and a truckload of reference books.

Marketing Site Launch Case Study: The Approach

To gain credibility for both the marketing plan book and for myself, I had to show that the approach explained in the book was solid. For this reason, I developed a marketing plan for the site using the same planning process detailed in the book. When done, I had a summary page with four strategies and four to six programs under each. The 20 programs were to be implemented over 12 -18 months, revised as necessary over time.

Thinking in terms of the customer acquisition stages of "awareness," "interest," "trial," and "repeat," I focused first on implementing marketing programs that would build "awareness" and "interest."

Here are some of the marketing programs implemented February through September, 2002:

Getting Listed in Search Engines and Directories

To gain site awareness I manually submitted the site to about a dozen search engines and directories -- the large ones plus a hand full of specialty sites.

Because of budget constraints the Yahoo! directory, at $299 a year, was not feasible. I paid a one-time submission charge to Looksmart (this was before they "improved" to a pay-per-click model) and submitted two URLs to Inktomi through PositionTech.

I purposely did not submit to Google because I had read more than once that Google rankings may be higher for sites Googlebot finds on its own. I do not know if it made a difference but Google did find the site, with cheer-invoking results.

Publishing a Newsletter

Early on, I started a newsletter and continue to publish every one to three weeks. Strategically, this was both to gain personal credibility and to have my own publishing and advertising venue. The first issue was published in March, 2002 -- with five subscribers, including my mom. lol!

I am adamant about growing a targeted, quality subscriber list so I stayeded away from mass acquisition tactics. Going with slow and targeted methods, my opt-in list at end of September, 2002 was around 600 and growing by 5 -10 daily. Far from spectacular, but in line with my expectations.

Writing Articles

Also to gain both personal credibility and awareness, I wrote and distributed articles. Mostly, I added the articles to content sites. Publishers may reprint an article at no charge as long as the article remains intact and the resource box at the bottom is used. This creates a win-win situation. The publisher gets free content and I get free advertising.

Joining Organizations

I also become a member of a few organizations. Early on, I joined the eMarketing Association. This has become a mutually beneficial arrangement. In addition to the normal membership benefits, several of my articles appeared in the monthly newsletter and article of the week.

In 2003, WebSiteMarketingPlan.com was also accepted into the International Council of Online Professionals (iCop). I also joined the Internet Affiliate Marketing Association (iAfma) and the Internet Warriors.

Communicating

Personal communication with select high-level marketers and specialists garnered mentions of the site as well. Actions that have led to personal communication with several high-caliber personalities include: 1) Answering questions on bulletin boards, 2) publishing guest articles in my newsletter, and 3) publishing others' material on the site (with permission, of course).

Note that I always initiated contact by giving something of value. I did this for two reasons:

1) More likely as not, I had learned from them through their writing. In my own mind, it was a small payback for that free advice.

2) I am uncomfortable with "selling," so do not push goods/services, etc. on others. If the relationship produces revenue, hooray! If not, refer to #1.

Learning from Others

WebSiteMarketingPlan.com and its companion marketing plan and Web promotion guide are "big picture," planning resources. When it comes to implementing promotional tactics, top specialists have been a tremendous resource. I do not always take their advice, but they are indisputably more knowledgeable than I in their chosen fields. Three of my favorites, in alphabetical order:

- David Frey, MarketingBestPractices.com David's a former Anderson business consultant and top executive. He now makes his living from home with several successful information products/services.

- Paul Myers, TalkbizNews.com Paul has a rare combination of abilities. He can understand issues from all sides, develop innovative marketing programs, and write with great wit. Don't let the rough exterior fool you -- there are some smarts under that hat.

- *Jill Whalen, Search Engine Optimization at HighRankings.com (See note and disclaimer below.) Jill takes an ethical, common sense approach approach to search engine optimization and marketing. She is also highly visible in the search engine optimization community. Several Jill Whalen articles appear in All Info About Search Engines and other information sites. Jill Whalen interviews appear across the Web as well, on sites such as Search Engine Blog. She also runs a highly successful forum.

Other programs were in progress or "on the back burner" until the timing was right.

The Results

The initial challenges - gaining credibility and attracting attention - were well on the way to being met.

As of September, 2002 (seven months after launch), monthly visitors to WebSiteMarketingPlan.com were consistently growing and numbered about 10,300 for the month. Just over 8,000 of those were unique visitors.

The site had a top-5 Google ranking -- usually first or second -- for both "Internet marketing plan" and "Website marketing plan." The site was also in the top ten -- usually fourth, fifth, or sixth -- for "marketing plan" (all terms without quotes).

While the interest level and number of visitors to the site far exceeded expectations at that point, the conversion rates (which had not been a focus) were disappointing. It was time to move to the next stage of implementing the site's marketing plan -- focusing on "trial" and "purchase" through increased attention to improving conversion rates.

*Jill Whalen Note: I am -- as of 2004 -- one of Jill Whalen's forum moderators. So , I'm now playing "favorites" and expanded the Jill Whalen section a bit compared to the original 2002 article. - Bobette

About the Author

Bobette Kyle draws upon 12+ years of Marketing/Executive experience, Marketing MBA, and online marketing research in her writing. Bobette is proprietor of the Web Site Marketing Plan Network, http://www.WebSiteMarketingPlan.com, and author of the marketing plan and Web promotion book "How Much For Just the Spider? Strategic Website Marketing For Small Budget Business." ( HowMuchForSpider.com/TOC.htm )

Copyright 2002, 2004 Bobette Kyle. All rights reserved.

---

About Testimonials and Customer Focused Sites

Think about it, when you browse any web site, you... Read More

Niche Markets and Mini Sites Profits - The War Has Begun!

Niche markets and mini sites are taking lately by storm... Read More

Top 7 Ways To Promote Your Website, NOW

We will start with the best, than make our way... Read More

Marketing Your Website

Market my website? Why should I have to spend time... Read More

How To Use Banner Ads Effectively

It's no big secret that banner ads have become less... Read More

Local Business Website Promotion - How to Skyrocket Your Business with Area Specific Traffic

If you are a local business that gets most of... Read More

Avoid Search Engine Blacklisting

The best way to avoid being blacklisted by the search... Read More

Ten Day Plan to Online Sales

Recently one of my students asked a great question: We... Read More

I Need Real Visitors, NOT Search Spiders!

The answer to the first question is simple, the difference... Read More

4 Steps to a Robot?s Tea Party

Creating a new website is only the first stage in... Read More

Kick-Off Your Web Traffic Virus!

Have you noticed lately how savvy webmasters are using simple,... Read More

A Successful Link Exchange

Interested in boosting your link popularity, raising your Google PR,... Read More

Why You Should Learn HTML

Do you have a website or are you planning on... Read More

Viral Marketing Techniques Every Web Site Should Be Using

Viral marketing can work wonders for any business, web site... Read More

Do Not Post To FFAs (Free For All Sites) & Link Farms

With learning about online promotion, there is so much information... Read More

Marketing Tips for Your Web Site

Here are some simple and easy tips on how to... Read More

10 Magic Ways To Multiply Your Orders

1. Use reward programs to keep people revisiting your web... Read More

Website Promotion: 10 Electrifying Tactics To Boost Your Profits

Is your business lagging behind?Are you frustrated?Cheer up.Here are 10... Read More

Secret PopUp Technique - Can Drive Thousands Of Targeted Visitors To Your Web Site

I think you all know that buying pop ups in... Read More

Eight Simple Ways To Use Promotional Products Online

With the increase competition on the Internet, it can be... Read More

Using Free For All Links Pages as an Effective Marketing Tool

Free For All Links Pages have been given a bad... Read More

SuperCharge Your Website With Multi Linking

Here's a fairly obvious Multi Linking Strategy that is probably... Read More

Hunting For Online Directories - The In depth Strategy

Directory marketing can help boost your companies performance a great... Read More

Test Your Website Marketing Knowledge

Here are 5 questions to flex your mental muscle to.... Read More

Dont Put All Your Promotion Eggs In The SEO Basket

One of the most frequent questions I get asked by... Read More

Increase Traffic With a Good Title

There's such a thing as taking search engine optimization too... Read More

Get Ahead on the Web: How To Bring Visitors To Your Website - For Free!

Search engine optimisation ? it's the holy grail of website... Read More

Can What You Dont Know About Web Analytics Hurt Your Site? Yes is an Understatement!

Web analytics. Don't worry, it's not as boring as it... Read More

4 Simple Tips for Targeted Traffic

Here are 4 of the most easiest and... Read More

The Sure-Fire Ways To Attract New Customers Now

1. Give Away An Electronic Information Product The product could... Read More

Donuts Anyone?

When we ran the contest back in 1998 we had... Read More

Writing Quality Articles to Promote Your Business

Writing and distributing articles is fast becoming a popular method... Read More

How to Promote Websites Popularity?

Once your site is launched, half your battle is won.... Read More