Using Hubpages to Promote Your Small Business

Whether setting up a new business, or promoting an established business, Using Hubpages to promote your small business can make good sense as it can help you reach new markets and become an authority in your product range or niche market.

Done well, you can reap the rewards in many ways - for just a small amount of your time spent writing informative articles around your specialist subject.

Using Hubpages as part of your marketing mix can even be enjoyable - something you'll be looking forward to doing, rather than a lot of other marketing methods which might leave you cold and disconnected.

Whether your small business is as a dog walker, or washing machine engineer, a builder or even an Avon representative who wants to attract new customers - it doesn't matter what your product/service is, there are ways you can use Hubpages to bring you relevant traffic and sales.

The benefits are many-fold, but the main benefits in writing articles on Hubpages are:

• An easy way to get essential backlinks to your website.
• Helps with your SEO efforts with off-page and long-tail marketing.
• World-wide, or country-wide, exposure to potential customers for free.
• A good way to get other sites linking back to you.
• A great way to get high quality free website traffic to your website.
• Become an authority in your subject/product.
• Article writing is easy - and even fun, rather than being a tedious chore, making the task more enjoyable and your day more pleasurable.
• Good stats, so you can see what people are looking for.
• Comments box enables anybody to leave a comment, giving you feedback on what interests people, helping you to expand your portfolio or predict the marketplace.

There are many sites you could write articles on on the Internet, here are some reasons why choosing Hubpages for your article writing works better for you:

• Hubpages has high Google ranking
• Get an Author Score of 75 or above and your article links become dofollow links - which are highly prized backlinks to your website.
• You can earn an additional income stream from your knowledge through the revenue sharing system.
• You can tweak, modify and edit your articles at any point in the future - you're not stuck with what you wrote the first time you published it.
• Copyright of your writing is yours.
• Hubpages isn't a "low-rent" site, so you're not devaluing your brand.

First of all, you need to understand the simple rules on Hubpages and what makes a good "hub". What you can and can't do - and why you should really sit up and look at using Hubpages for your article writing and marketing efforts.

So here's an overview - the rules are short, not even 10 rules!:

• When you write on Hubpages, you are allowed up to TWO links back to your own website.
• You can use tracking links if you wish, although these aren't recommended as readers might assume they are affiliate links
• Don't write "product adverts", write informative articles that help people to solve a problem or understand something.
• Affiliates are allowed to promote through affiliate links - there are a few things you are not allowed to advertise and a few sites (e.g. Clickbank) that you aren't allowed to link to. If you are purely an affiliate you can use Hubpages in many ways, just make sure you're not writing low-level spammy drivel :)

Write articles as if you were writing for a magazine. Write articles as if you were a columnist. Never write a dull and boring, spammy, advert :)

Now let's explore how you can use Hubpages to promote your small business.

Whether you're selling cosmetics or gardening equipment, many people who might be a buyer will want to read articles that explain to them how to use the products. Articles that explain the product and show people how and when to use something are well-received and help them to decide it's just what they want.

If you've got, or could make, Youtube videos of your products, you can use Hubpages to showcase them - using the article to explain who would buy the product and how it is to be used - Hubpages gives you the opportunity of writing out the video presentation using words and explaining things to people.

Remember: this isn't to read like a product advert - write it as if you're explaining it to your best friend.

If your customers are regularly asking you the same questions, this is a clear indicator that more information is required. Many websites will produce a FAQ page, but the answers are often short. You can use these questions and FAQs as inspiration for what to write about. Take an in-depth question/answer and really expand it, explaining to people why a product/service could be used, who would use it, show them how to use it using video.

This can encourage customers to buy from you as they can see you understand what you are selling and they can see that it's just what they need to solve their problem.

People buy from good businesses, from honest people, from people who are an Authority in the subject. Hubpages gives you the chance to become that authority.

By producing good quality, informative, articles you will find that websites around the world will link back to your writing to answer questions people are asking in forums etc. This type of traffic is pure gold for your marketing efforts as people looking for answers are lead straight back to your articles - and they can then link through to your website and buy from you!

Here are some examples of how you could use Hubpages to promote your business. These are just "off the top of my head" ideas that'll get you thinking about how you can adapt these ideas to fit your own business or circumstances:

If You Are: A Hotel or in the Tourism Industry

You could write articles on local attractions, where to go and what to see in your area.

How about: 3 Places to Visit in the Rain; 4 Restaurants with a View in ...; Art Galleries in ....

If You Sell: Fruit & Veg

You could write articles on how to store, freeze or bottle different fruits and veg. Provide people with regular recipes with common and unusual fruit/veg.

How about: 3 smoothies to wake you up; 5 things to do with old potatoes; making and freezing vegetable stock.

If You Sell: Handcrafted Goods

You could write small tutorials showing people how to make an item, or how to use a tool that you have.

How about: making a sock monkey; DIY craft show table layouts; make your own Xmas decorations.

If You Provide: Web Design Services

You could write small tutorials on specific software you use, or the processes and stages involved in designing, hosting and going live with a website or e-commerce website.

How about: A checklist for choosing a web design company; 3 ways to design your site navigation; 4 free alternatives to using Dreamweaver.

If You Provide: Gardening Services

You could write about plants, growing plants or plant maintenance - or even articles on garden design and garden landscaping/

How about: Best BarBQ designs for small gardens; 3 plants for shady spots; 4 garden tools for small gardens; lawn mower reviews.

If You Sell: Wedding Planner Services

Write articles that help people with planning their own wedding.

How about: Choosing a wedding venue; Wedding etiquette for grooms; 4 DIY chair sash tie-backs; negotiating a venue discount successfully.

If You Sell: Cupcakes

Write articles that give people ideas for cupcake decoration, or recipes.

How about: 3 Xmas cupcake designs; Cupcake wedding cake alternatives; freezing, defrosting and decorating cupcakes.

If You Are:A Photographer

Write articles about photographic techniques, or even do some camera reviews.

How about: How to Photograph food; Taking great Sports shots; Shooting photos for resale; Why a Professional Wedding Photographer is Better.

The key thing here is to share information, share ideas, share processes and techniques - and you don't need to keep it 100% focussed on your exact product or service!

If you're not sure what to write, why not leave a comment below explaining your business type - and I'll come up with some ideas for you to get you thinking!