Animal Pets and Friends Articles and Websites

As a proven Internet marketer of pet products over the last five years, I have learned how to market online to pet buyers all over the United States. The newspapers are a thing of the past, as pet buyers are now using the Internet to shop from home. The effective methods I will discuss all start with a website to promote whatever it is that you are selling, so this is the most important part of the article. Make sure that you have a professional looking website that is optimized for the search engines. This means having keywords related to your topic throughout the pages of your site, along with pictures and pages named with the same keywords you are trying to promote. Also, it is important for you to have a website title and website keywords that match your target audience. For example, if you were selling Yorkies, it would be essential for the title of your website to include Yorkies and Yorkshire Terriers, as well as the keywords Yorkies and Yorkshire Terriers. Don’t forget testimonials of satisfied customers, with pictures if possible! It is better to have someone with experience create the website for you if you are not familiar with building websites that are search engine friendly, as well as an experienced professional in the pet industry.

Once your website is up and running, there are many tools you can use to promote your business. Here are some of the methods I have successfully used to promote pet businesses:

1. YouTube.com. YouTube is the leading video site on the Internet, and it is relatively easy to create your own video. Videos can be either shot with your digital video camera (maybe puppies running around in the backyard), or you could make a slideshow movie using still pictures of your product with easy to use software that can be found online. Remember, cute and/or funny always works on the internet (think about all the funny emails you get forwarded to you). Also, be sure that you have the last frame of the movie an advertisement for your website! There is nothing more frustrating than a great movie that provides no mechanism to reach the intended product. Don’t forget that when you upload the video to YouTube, you can use the keywords needed to find your product, and also put a link to your website in the description of the video! Also, Yahoo and Google also have video areas that you can upload the movie to.

2. MySpace.com. Social networking is becoming a bigger part of today’s online advertising. Create a free MySpace account with a page that talks about your product (don’t forget to include your new video), link to your website on the MySpace page, and start networking. Start by adding friends and family to your MySpace “friends”, and then join groups that have the same interests as you. You will be surprised how quickly your “friend” list will grow, and MySpace enables you to email and post comments to all of them. What a great way to spread the word about your new website!

3. Facebook.com. Same as MySpace.com, becoming a real contender within the social networking community. Why not have an account with MySpace.com and Facebook.com?

4. Blogs. Use a major search engine like Google or Yahoo and locate blogs that are in your segment of the market. Or, better yet, start your own blog! Either way, be sure to comment on other stories that involve your segment of the market, and always be sure to sign your name and website link at the end of each blog entry.

5. Write articles. Why not start writing your own articles and submitting them for online publication? You can also submit them to article directories. A great way to talk about topics in your field of expertise and establish yourself as a guru. Do not make it sound like a sales pitch, but feel free to put a link to your site at the end of the article.

6. Squidoo.com. A site dedicated to helping people accomplish tasks through a one page informative site. You can build this page for free (called a lens), and it should be informative, such as “How to find a Yorkie from a reputable breeder.” Also, be sure to include your video here, and of course a link to your website!

7. Free classified sites. You will be able to find free classified sites that allow you to post ads in different categories for free. Write your ad, and include a link to your site. Some examples are Craigslist.org and Backpage.com, but there are others. Be sure to pay attention to the rules. For example, Craigslist does not allow the sale of pets on their site.

8. Answers.Yahoo.com. This is a place where people post questions to problems they have, and a great place for you to establish yourself as an authority on a particular subject. Find questions that need answers, and submit your response (along with a link to your site again next to your name at the end). Find topics that relate to your website subject, and you will find interested customers!

9. Google Pay Per Click and Overture (Yahoo) Pay Per Click advertising. I mention these two options because they are a good way to get targeted traffic onto your website, but it can be costly. You will bid against other advertisers to have an ad appear on the search engine for keywords that you choose. For popular keywords (such as “Yorkie”) it is very competitive, but if you can find more specific terms instead, you could find some better cost per click rates. For instance, “yorkie puppies for sale in new hampshire”.

10. Start collecting email addresses on your website for a newsletter. What better way to reach your potential customers than a targeted newsletter (or Ezine, short for electronic magazine) that you email to your database of contacts? Talk about promotions, contests, and current events in your industry. Don’t forget to link to your site! Many times people will forward your newsletter to others that might find your content interesting.

11. Sell on Ebay.com. Animals cannot be sold on Ebay, so pay attention to what can and cannot be sold on Ebay. Ebay is the world’s largest online marketplace, so what better way to start selling your product?

12. Write an Ebook. You can create a PDF file that gives instructions to others on how to do something, for instance, how to find a reputable dog breeder. This information can be posted for sale (yes, you can earn money on the book too!) in places like Ebay.com and Amazon.com. Don’t forget the links to your site in the Ebook!

13. Online press release. If you have a new and exciting product to introduce, try writing a press release and submitting it online. Many services (such as PRWeb.com) have their own distribution channels that can get your service or product in front of the right people. Don’t forget a link to your website.

14. Trade links. There are websites that connect people that are willing to exchange links to each other’s website. One example is LinkPartners.com. Be sure to exchange links only with people that have related websites (for example, if you sell pet food, be sure to only swap links with other pet related websites).

As you can see, this is just a small sample of things you can do to market your pet product online. Most of these are free or very low cost solutions. Remember, it all starts with your own website to market your product. For more information on getting your own website or for implementation of any of these techniques, visit us online at Petwebdesigner.com.

To Your Success!

Ron Ayalon

Author's Resource:

www.petwebdesigner.com

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