Email List Mistakes

Company email lists are fast becoming a common business practice. When done correctly, they are useful tools that allow you to stay in close contact with your customers. However, many small businesses fail to benefit from a successful email list because they make common mistakes.

Forgetting to ask people for their email addresses is a mistake that most small business owners make; even companies with Facebook and twitter accounts make this mistake. Email lists are much more cost-effective and useful at communicating with customers directly than any other marketing method. Along with directly asking for email addresses, websites need to have clear email list opt-ins. The opt-ins should be visible and not buried in the back of the webpage.

When requesting email addresses, be consistent. Make sure that employees understand the importance of requesting as many email addresses as possible. Provide them incentives for gathering information, and train them in the appropriate techniques. As important as it is to gather email addresses, it is equally important to keep customers happy. If a customer does not want to share any personal information, tell your employees not to force the situation. Harassing a person for his or her email address will only create tension and possibly cost you business. Try creating a script for employees to follow that is informative and low pressure.

When asking customers if they want to join an email list it is essential to provide them with a valuable exchange. In an age when identity theft is rampant and inboxes are spammed with useless information, people need to know what signing up for an email list will do for them. Inform your customers about the many benefits that the email list will provide. For example, tell them about any money that they will save. It is also important to promise not to spam people, and then do not spam them. Unless you already agree to sell customer information, promise them that you do not share their information with anyone else. Often, people opt-out of email lists because they do not trust companies to keep their personal information secure and confidential.

Submitting Your Website To Yahoo: The Basics

If you have an e-commerce website, a company website (or really any type of website in which you'd like to attract more visitors), you will typically rely upon search engine crawlers to find and rank your site. However, an additional method utilized in order to have your site rank in a specific category for various search terms is to use website directories.

Yahoo is easily one of the most popular website submission directories, and as such, it is inundated with thousands of requests each day, which obviously causes your website submission to be delayed, sometimes for months.

Delays aside, HOW you submit your website is what counts. You will want to ensure that you are placed in the proper category, or your website is liable to fall into the abyss of websites that never get found due to poor placement. There are a large number of specific categories to choose from, however, so finding one that best fits your website shouldn't be a problem.

Additionally, Yahoo will ask you for a short description of your website. Choosing the proper keywords here can be critical, as they can help you rank higher than other websites within a specific category.

You can also pay to be included within the Yahoo directory, which ensures you a quicker response. Paying does not increase your chances of receiving a higher ranking.

SEO within your site will still play an important role regardless of whether your site has been approved by Yahoo into their directory or not. Strong SEO will help you rank higher on Yahoo, both within directory categories and for organic search results.