If you own a wholesaling business, the Internet can be a very powerful tool. The wholesale industry is an important link in the economy, which can see a great deal of business if it is advertised well. Online advertising is possibly the most important type of advertising, as it can reach a huge demographic regardless of geographical location.
Finding Your Niche
The process of advertising your wholesale business will partly depend upon what you are wholesaling. Clothing may be a hard market to break into, as companies such as American Apparel are already well known and possess a huge client base. More specialized areas of sale may give you a better chance of becoming recognized on a large scale. Know the type of wholesaling your business is doing, and be prepared to advertise within the appropriate niche. You might even decide to change the types of products you offer for greater recognizability and success.
Making a Website
A lot of wholesale companies are at a disadvantage in that their websites are unnecessarily complicated and do not offer easy access to information which potential customers are interested in. For example, many wholesale companies require that you register with their site in order to view price lists. Your goal should be to make your website as simple, intuitive and user friendly as possible. This will make you stand out from your competitors in a positive way.
Optimizing Your Website
A hugely important part of online advertising is optimizing your website for search engines. Whenever anyone types "wholesale [product name]" into a search engine, you want your website to appear at the top of the results. Two great ways to optimize your website are by using SEO (Search Engine Optimization) content and linking.
SEO writing is a method of writing web copy which contains strategically placed keywords. Whenever anyone types one of the keywords into a search engine, you have a chance of being listed near the top of the results if you have those keywords on your website. However, many people utilize SEO content and may be using the same keywords as you. To combat this, you should use linking, which is when other websites link to pages within your website. The more links you have pointing to your website, the more important your website will seem, and the higher you'll be in search engine results.
To begin setting up a network of links, you can:
- start a blog
- join social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook
- network on forums relevant to your product
- submit your website to directory sites like Dmegs.com and WoWDirectory.com
Buying PPC Ads
PPC (Pay Per Click) advertisements are a good way to help drive traffic to your website. To set up PPC ads, go to Google AdWords, log in or create an account, and follow the posted instructions. Depending on the keyword you choose, you may pay only a few cents per click or upwards of a few dollars. Make sure you have a specific advertising budget in mind, or you may end up getting more publicity than you can immediately afford.
Having an optimized website, and promoting it in as many ways as you can think of, will help your wholesaling business gain a following.
