Businesses no longer depend solely on window shoppers, walk-bys or walk-ins. While having a solid location for a place of business is still an essential part of building a customer base, business owners can do more for their business by running a second storefront online. When tasked with making an online appearance, you may be confused about where to begin. There are countless ways, outside of having a personal site, that businesses can advertise themselves successfully. Advertising online is similar to advertising an upcoming sale. It must be done on a regular basis, daily when possible. Forms of online advertising include having a Facebook fan page, purchasing ads through Google Adwords as well as using Twitter to increase traffic.
Instructions
Build a Facebook Fan Page
1. Go to Facebook.com and log in using your email address and password. In order to create a fan page on Facebook, you need to create or use an existing profile first. This is so your profile will show up as the owner of the page.
2. Navigate to the fan page creation area and select the kind of page you'd like to build. You can choose between a local business, a company, products, bands, entertainment and even charities.
3. Type in the required information. Depending on the page you choose, these details will differ slightly. For example, if you choose a local business, Facebook will ask for the address and phone number of your business. If you don't want this information on your fan page, select "Company or Organization." Once you add the requested information, click on "Submit." You'll be taken to the front of your fan page after it loads.
4. Add a profile image for your business. If you own a store, you may want to include a photo of either the exterior or one of the products you carry. You can then start filling out your "wall" by adding status updates, a discussion forum, a photo gallery and more.
Use Google Adwords
5. Go to Google.com and scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Find the link that says "Advertising Programs" and click on it. You'll be sent to a new screen. There you'll have a choice between Google Adwords and Google Adsense. Adwords are used to advertise your company, while Adsense is used by other online publishers to help you advertise by placing your ads on their website.
6. Click on the blue "Get started with Adwords" button on the left of your screen. If you have a Gmail account, Google will ask that you log in to continue. If not, create a new account for your business. This email can remain private if you wish; it's just so Google can keep in touch with you better.
7. Click the bullet points on the account creation page that best describe your personal settings. For example, if you have a Gmail account, you'd click on the bullet next to "I have an email address and password...." and then in the following setting you'd choose between using an existing Gmail account or creating a new one. If you choose an existing account, it'll ask you for your login information.
8. Click on the "sign in" button to continue the account setup process. The next page you're sent to asks for your time zone and preferences. Make any necessary changes and click "continue." Google should verify your account within a few minutes. However, you won't be able to run ads through Google until you update your payment information.
9. Click on the "sign into your Adwords account" link to be sent to your user dashboard. Here you'll be able to create an ad campaign, update account information as well as input your payment options. When creating a campaign, keep your monthly advertising budget in mind. You can even tell Google not to run ads after a certain amount has been spent for the month.
Use Twitter to Increase Traffic
10. Go to Twitter.com and click on the yellow "Sign Up" button on the right-hand side of your screen. You'll be asked for things such as an email address, user name and password.
11. Click on the "Create my account" when you're ready. You may need to activate your account by checking your email address. Sometimes this isn't required, but it changes from person to person.
12. Sign in using the name and password you used during your account creation. Once logged in, you'll want to update your profile so that your "followers" can navigate to your website, business blog or Facebook fan page easily.
13. Click on the "settings" link in the upper right-hand corner of the page to update your profile information. You can change your user name, email address, password and overall design in the settings area as well.
14. Click on the "profile" link at the top of the page. Here you can upload an avatar or image of your business, list the business name, a website address and any other details you feel your visitors may want to know. For the best results, change your profile's "bio" when you're having a sale or other promotion.
