Print this page | Go back to previous topic
Forum nameBiz Ideas
Topic subjectRE: I'd like some honest feedback on my site and ideas...
Topic URLhttps://www.businessownersideacafe.com/forums/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=4373&mesg_id=4383
4383, RE: I'd like some honest feedback on my site and ideas...
Posted by Pepperfire, Thu Jun-10-10 08:06 AM
>Hi Mindy!
>
>Yup - I've pretty much exhausted the wedding niche directories
>for now and I've been concentrating more heavily on one-way
>inbound links (article marketing, blog posts, etc.) or
>reciprocal in-context deep linking with other industry related
>sites. I'm a member of a couple of programs that do link
>exchange "matching" based on selected keywords and
>that's done really well.
>
>The problem with some of the free directories (or "link
>farms") is that you're mushed in with so many other
>non-related sites that the links are virtually worthless. Or
>the links are buried deep on a tier 4 page so far from the
>site's home page that no one will ever find you.
>
>So I do searches periodically to see if any new
>wedding-related (DJs, reception venues, catering, bakeries,
>bridal shops, etc.) sites or directories have popped up
>recently and offer link exchanges with them. Helps them and
>helps me! :-)
>
>
>Karen S Musselman
>www.Low-Budget-Fairy-Tale-Weddings.com
>www.Wedding-Favor-Bookmarks.com
>(Powered by SiteBuildIt!)

Hi Karen,

Glad to have you on the site. I've noticed some of your other posts... very helpful.

For yours, some suggestions that you may find useful.

The idea of "if you build it, they will come" doesn't exist anymore. You have to absolutely drive traffic to your site. The article marketing, etc. is great.

You'll want to be careful about link exchanges. With Google's new logorithms, if you are not connected viably in some way with the link you've exchanged with, you will bump yourself down the list.

You should be outlinking to articles that you've written and ensure your article links back to your site. One way links are great, but if you can drive your visitors to your articles, even better.

Two things that I noticed on your website is that it screams of "I do this part time because I don't make enough money to have a dedicated to only my business website". The way this happens is through the Google Ads and the Site Build it ads. Most people will not take you seriously as a business if you have these on your site. It's just not very professional. It's quite one thing to link to your host on your website or to your designer, but when you're driving traffic to someone other than your site, your site is being counterproductive. You'll want to get off of there and onto your own domain as soon as is reasonably possible.

The other thing that I noticed is a distinct lack of a call to action on the page that describes the bookmarks. Whereas there is a link to the bookmark catalog, it is not obvious that you are actually selling them, as opposed to just suggesting they'd make a wonderful wedding favour.

Finally, I distinctly noticed the new Graduation Bookmarks. That's a really cool idea, but what about: It's a boy!, It's a girl!, Sweet Sixteen, 50th wedding anniversary, etc.

We are obviously not in the same business, but some of the products my company sells target this same market that you are going after, rightly named the "ad specialty" market and this is our fastest growing segment, interestingly enough. So, you've got something going on as long as you are unique and fit what people are looking for... to be memorable. You might want to also look into ASI (Ad Specialty Institute) to see if your product fits for them. This can boost your quantity pricing in an interesting way.

Good luck with it. You seem to be doing a lot of things right and I look forward to seeing more of your input on these boards.

Tina Brooks, VP Marketing
Brooks Pepperfire Foods, Inc.
Makers of Peppermaster Hot Sauces
http://www.peppermaster.com

Eat more peppers!