Web 2.0 marketing strategy tips that is not about SEO

Every single website marketing strategy tips that I find on the Internet virtually all talk about some sort of SEO technique.

Yes, SEO is important, we know this already. Now, has anyone actually written a marketing strategy resources that is not about SEO since SEO is overdone already and everyone already knows that you have got to do SEO so those articles are not insightful at all...

What are some marketing resources (articles, etc.) about how to market a website (strategy, tactics, etc.) specifically on user generated web 2.0 sites that is not about SEO?

I recommend reading this book http://inboundmarketing.com/book

1. It's easy to read
2. It's co-authored by the founder of this website
3. It has lists. This makes it easy to execute on
4. It has good advice

There are many other resources, but the above is a good one to help you get your bases covered. The last section, in particular, has a great list of tasks for startups to tackle - 26 items to be precise.

It sounds like you have really been doing the rounds on reading up and trying to find the answers you need. Frustrating I am sure.

I have spent around 7 years working in SEO and I still don't know everything. So don't discount it, it’s the most cost effective method for generating traffic and there are loads of opportunities.

So to answer your question:
Web 2.0's well, your currently on a Web 2.0 UGC(User Generated Content) website. Each site Digg, Youtube, Facebook and all others require you to have an authority voice and followers / viewers of some description.

• Followers are people that have seen what you wrote and liked it.
• Viewers are people who for some reason have found what you have created online, a video, post, article.

Understanding the above two points is important because there is no specific strategy that works for everyone. The most important thing is to understand each Web 2.0 property and join in, every site is different. Digg for example only certain topics work very well, other topics are just not worth trying on Digg.

So first you need to engage viewers, whatever your offering a product or service, people ideally will want it or use it. This is where USPs are important, but more important are making things fun, enjoyable and easy to digest. Web 2.0's are all about viral content, things that get viewers talking and sharing with others. The ones that like your content will become 'Followers'.

You may find that Web 2.0 doesn’t suit your products or services, but even a window cleaner could utilise Web 2.0 well:

• Facebook - Larry the Window cleaner, cleans the windows of six houses in 15 mins and he could create a nice photo set, clearly identifying the location of where he works. So locals may contact him or notice landmarks.
• YouTube - Larry the window cleaner demonstrates how to get rid of that soap scum on a glass shower.
• Digg - Larry does something on a massive scale or scary, like a great photo of him cleaning a massive high rise building in a costume, something amusing and impressive.

Well there ya go some ideas that could turn viewers into followers waiting to see what Larry does next. Others may become followers with the intention to purchase from Larry in the future.

I wouldn’t recommend one channel only, Social Networking, Web 2.0s, PPC, SEO, Facebook Ads, Banner advertisements on relevant websites. There’s so many things and a good mix of all often works very well.

I really enjoy this question. I think that there is so much of a marketing focus on the Search Engine Optimization that often many of the other basic options and opportunities for web-based marketing lose priority simply due to the limits of available budget and oxygen. It might also be because maintaining effective SEO strategies takes so much time and energy while being clouded in mystery.

I think there are two ways to read your post. One is about how to market a website. The other is how to use one's website as part of an overall marketing campaign. Not knowing exactly which of the two your question is referencing -- I will answer both:

How to Market One's Website:
I believe the best way to market ones website is to stop marketing ones website -- and start marketing one's company. The website should become an online sales, marketing and customer support application which is integrated with the overall business strategy

I would propose that one of the biggest diversions since the dawn of the internet has been the overemphasis of the web and the website as an end in and of itself rather than as a means to the core business goals. May out the process from lead, to prospect, to opportunity, to customer, to fulfillment, to ongoing relationship. Identify each step of the way who is doing what-- and then how the website as a tool can help and support that person, that step, all as part of the process.

That framework will then create the stakeholders for the website and will redefine what it means to market the site. Each of the unique users will need to be introduced to and supported in their use of the site in different ways.

Then the full range of marketing and advertising, online/offline, direct and indirect, outbound and inbound all become viable options for promoting your website. A business card with special offer to hand out at a conference, a giveaway with a QR code at a community festival, a key chain to capture mind share when people open tier car door, direct mail to a target group of business owners with squeeze page support, -- all of these could deliver a great ROI within the scope of the overall sales and marketing plan within the context of the business development plan.

The best marketing comes from you having deep insight into how your business niche operates, and being creative in figuring out how to market something.

All widely known marketing techniques quickly turn to mush after everyone starts doing it. Best marketing is being ahead of the curve in marketing - not reusing others' stuff.