When it comes to Yellow Pages Advertising, whether you go direct to Yellow Pages via their sales reps, or via a marketing and design company, their are some important factors that you should consider:

1. In order to get more out of the Yellow Pages, you need to understand how someone uses to book. If you can understand this then you can get more from it.
2. The first thing that someone does is looks for the classification. When they find it, they are looking at the top bar of the page. Psychologically  they do not want to miss anything so 92% of all customers turn to the front of the section.
3. Once at the front, they start to decide what ads to choose. A fundamental buying motive in business to business and domestic to business buying, everyone wants to buy locally. You pay for the Yellow Pages on a circulation basis. In other words, whether you like it or not you are paying for all the towns and villages in your book’s area.
4. The one thing potential customers know is their local STD telephone code. Generally people are unsure of 0800 (National Companies) 0845 (most people don’t understand), if you simply drop in a couple of local STD codes into your advert, you can appear more local to people.

For more information about Yellow Pages Advertising, and to purchase local STD codes for you business, we recommend visiting our web-site.

This trade secret was submitted by Creare - Yellow Pages Advertising Consultants

The marketing category falls into two main areas.

1. Driving Customers to your web-site
2. Shopology - Maximising sales conversions.

Organic Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

In order to understand SEO, you need to understand what Search Engines are trying to achieve. What they are trying to do is reflect the best possible search results for the user. If the user is satisfied he/she will return, and so begins a self-sustainable Search Engine.

There are 2 types of search results displayed in a search engine, one is the free organic listings that are down the left hand side of the screen. The other results that are at the top and right hand side of the screen are Pay Per Clicks Adverts. With Pay Per Clicks, web-site owners or marketing agencies, pay to appear instantly for specified searches.

Organic E-Commerce SEO consists of 2 things, ‘On-Site Optimisation’ and ‘Off-Site Optimisation’. On site optimisation consists of designing your web-site with good use of Meta Tags, Titles, Headings, Keywords and Text Paragraphs. Off-Site Optimisation is a little more difficult to identify. Links from other web-sites, the more industry specific the better, blogs and articles.

This is the most profitable way of generating new business as you are not paying for each click, and Organic SEO has a lasting effect. If you are outsourcing your organic SEO, then it is essential that you find a company who knows what they are doing and can back this up with examples of live online shops.

You will need to identify early, the phrases that will generate traffic but more importantly which phrases will convert to sales. The next thing to do is to employ an SEO company to do this for you.

Per Per Click Search Engine Marketing

This is where you select a number of phrases and you are listed in this search. If a shopper clicks on your site you are charged for that click. Essentially Pay Per Clicks work like an auction, whoever is willing to pay the most per click, gets to the top of the Pay Per Click Rankings. Pay Per Clicks have many advantages:

1. You can control daily, weekly and monthly spend budgets
2. You can limit the regional areas that you come up for, i.e a 50 mile radius of a town
3. You can pay as much or as little as you like per click.
4. Instant results, once you account is up and running, your site will instantly be added.

The most important element of a Pay Per Clicks Account is management. Again the best advice is to go to a company who specialise in this. The main factors are:

1. What phrases return the most traffic.
2. What phrases will convert to sales.
3. Detailed reporting of cost for each click. You may not choose the most popular because the third most popular phrase may allow 8 times as many clicks for the same money and therefor give you a higher yield. What you are really looking for is the cost per click per sale.

Referrals & Reciprocal Business Networking

This is traffic from other web-sites. In a lot of cases there is a synergy between businesses and a buying cycle. Take weddings for example, the bride will probably book the venue and look at dresses. At the same time a good example of referrals & reciprocal business would a links strategy between a hotel, wedding dress maker, jeweller, car hire company, florist cater etc.

With the right advice and a bit of effort, these strategies can be extremely profitable.

This Trade Secret Was submitted by E-Commerce Web Design http://www.e-commercewebdesign.co.uk/ 

When considering e-commerce, it is not a decision to be taken lightly. The process if you want to be successful should be similar to that of any considered business venture. I would suggest the planning and execution of this falls into 3 main areas. They are:

1. Research & Planning
2. Site Build
3. Marketing

E-Commerce Research & Planning

This is a vital stage. The first things to consider are:

• What is my business proposition?
• Who are my competitors?
• What is my USP (Unique Selling Point)?

Most shops will work at this stage if you can offer something or a service what people want to buy. You then need to offer something or a service that people want to buy. You then need to find a way of getting to them in a manner that is profitable to you. Once you have your product offering look on the internet using a variety of phrases to search for who might be your competitors. Look at their site, note what you like about it and what you don’t. Ask yourself where you can be more competitive i.e do you offer a better product, service or price? It is vital that your new site reflects your UPS (Unique Selling Point).

It is also important to understand what your customer wants and how they buy it. If it is purely price driven, then you need to be competitive. If it is quality driven, then you need to reflect this or it may be a combination of the two.

Along with your web-site research, we would suggest you do a business plan. When writing your business plan, you should consider the following:

1. Set up costs.
2. Stock – in some rules it is necessary to carry stock in order to be competitive.
3. Resource – You may need to employ people or rent premesis.
4. Marketing – Your website, promotion and marketing.
5. Accounting – New company set up.
6. Fulfillment – There will be additional costs like packaging, post and stationary.

Building Your E-Commerce Website

When considering and E-Commerce business, the site is one of the most important factors. Firstly the site has to look trustworthy. Even if you are selling the cheapest products, your site will not reach its’ full potential if it is not well designed. Secondly, it must demonstrate the customer’s buying motive. If this is price driven then this needs to come across clearly. Thirdly the site must be easy and quick to navigate.

There are a number of companies who offer E-Commerce web design however the majority do not have all the skill sets to make your site a success. It is important that the company you choose has design capabilities. Ideally all should be in house and they should be able to show you a portfolio of examples.

The best advice is to have it designed professionally. If you cut corners or try to do too much yourself, you are not likely to get the best results.

This Trade Secret Was submitted by E-Commerce Web Design http://www.e-commercewebdesign.co.uk/