Top 5 Off Line Website Marketing Ideas

There's more to advertising your website than search engine optimisation and pay per click marketing. There's plenty of advertising that you can use that doesn't even involve the website. Offline marketing can bring plenty of good results for your business and a lot of it can bring long term customers without too much expense.

Here's my favourite 5 ways of marketing your website - without using the internet!

Advertise in your shop - if you are a shop owner, or at least have a premises that your customers might visit or pass, then advertising there is a definite must. Get your shop sign altered to include the website name. Have your price tags printed up with the shop name and on posters around the shop include your website address. Remember that people might be passing your place of business and see you and want to get in touch. A website address is far easier to remember than most phone numbers. It could be that you are a solicitor and they are about to move and drive past you every day to and from work. Whatever, make sure that passing trade sees your website address.

Advertise on literature - basically, put your website address on everything you print. Every receipt, invoice, statement, business card, letterhead etc should show your website address. This one, unless you are throwing away old literature to make way for newly printed stock, is a free one! But it's reminding current customers at a later date how to contact you.

Fliers - getting a batch of fliers designed and printed isn't going to break the bank. Then get them out as quickly as reasonable possible - they aren't doing any good in your drawer. Stick them on cars; give them out to potential customers you are meeting; post them through letter boxes; even just drop one into each carrier bag. You could be reminding existing customers about you or drawing in new customers depending how you distribute them.

Give aways / promotional items - similar to fliers, here you get some pens, stress toys, keyrings or whatever printed and distribute them as you wish. Maybe you give them out on the street or to customers. Or give them to customers who spend a certain amount (to encourage further spending) or have a set printed and give out a different one each week, saving the last one for online orders only. Whichever way you use them, having your URL printed on them means that your recipients are seeing your message and website name and can visit your site.

Magazine Adverts - this one is saved to last as it's probably by far the most expensive of all of the off-line ideas. By being listed in a magazine with a good circulation its readers are finding out about your site and associating you with the magazine. By using a specialist magazine you can really target your audience well and several of my customers use this, with some having sites just to give the readers a point of contact. But, depending on the quality and circulation of the magazine, this can be an expensive exercise. Done well, the returns can be even greater.