1. Your Site. Having a professional website is just the beginning of your online advertising campaign. For many of your customers, your website is all they may ever see of your organization, make sure it reflects your culture, your style and your company before you drive traffic to your site.
2. Banner Ads. From your site it is relatively easy to create banners for placement on other sites or submission into a search engine's pay-per-click ad program. Regional newspaper websites offer great ad placement programs and the fees are reasonable considering the exposure to local markets. Look for placement in areas of higher traffic, i.e. job classified section, sports page and real estate. Choose areas that relate to your products or services.
3. Exchange Links. Find sites where you can trade a link on their site for a link on yours. Don't be afraid to send an email to the marketing manager or sales department to inquire about linking to infomation you may have that relates to one of their products. You may find related news or articles on their site and ask for reprint permission or syndication. This increases your site's gross content and creates a bigger target for search engines. Make sure you do not violate any copyright laws and get written permission first.
4. Sponsorship. Sponsor pages that have your customer's interest and make new clients aware of your business. Memberships in professional organizations can also get your name out to more than businesses in your industry. Often these organizations are nationally affiliated and promote themselves in several corporate arenas. Sponsorship can also be a great publicity tool that fosters a relationship within a particular community.
5. Blogs. Blogging and social media sites are more popular with younger audiences although are creating a growing interest among older consumers. Blogging can be considered the online equivalent of a daily column in a newspaper with the additional benefit of interaction with its readership. Having a corporate blog is a great way to post news about your products and developments, and increases your site's content. Archived articles continually build links to your site. Reposting your articles on a social media site like Twitter will provide another pathway for your customers to follow your news releases and product updates quickly.