Taking Your Website On The Road (Really Mobile)

Everyone with a website wants to advertise the fact that it exists. We do this with article writing, links, and other forms of SEO using the Internet. After all, the Internet is free and who can afford a billboard. What most people fail to recognize is that inexpensive advertising can be had in the “real” world for just a few dollars.

The answer is vinyl graphics. That simple lettering you see on windows of businesses and vehicles.

Vinyl lettering can be a bit pricey if you visit a local sign maker. Just a few weeks ago I called and visited about a half dozen of these brick and mortar businesses in my local area to try and find the best price for having vinyl cut lettering made for my vehicle, so that I might promote one of my older websites that is doing well (but I want to dominate my local area).  Nothing fancy. No printed pictures on vinyl – just simple lettering in a color and font of my choosing. I would do the installation myself (a very simple procedure that they charge way too much for).

Even with me doing the installation the prices of my lettering ranged from $0.75 to $2.50 PER CHARACTER! The larger the letter (or blank space), the more expensive it was. Considering I had 8 lines of text that totaled more than 100 characters, I wasn’t about to pay over $130 when the bill was totaled. I try to support local businesses, but not when they try to do unspeakable things to my backside.

I decided to go the eBay route and found a graphics guy that charged by the length and height of each line, rather than by the letter. What a deal it was, too! $6.00 for 30″ of text up to 4″ in height.  I purchased my 8 lines, giving him the needed info for each line and it was at my doorstep via Priority Mail in 3 days. Cost: $47 and change and every bit as good as what I would have received locally. My vinyl graphics came with instructions on how to apply each line of text and I was even provided with a squeegee tool that is needed to properly adhere it to my car windows.

If you want your own lettering I give him my personal endorsement and you can find him on eBay by clicking HERE, but I digress… let’s get back to advertising your website outside the Internet.

What you are looking for is name recognition and a small, one-time investment that will last for years. You want as many people as possible to see your website address and a tag line of what your website offers.

With more people using smart phones giving them Internet access it’s quite possible they may access your site as they park next to you, or make a note to visit your site when they get home. In any event, you’ve turned your vehicle into a mobile billboard. Every time you go to your “real” job, or take your kids someplace you are making your website known.

I put one of my businesses on my Jeep. It’s my “fun” vehicle, but because the Jeep club I belong to has a lot of business owners as members it attracts questions and gets me clients. I don’t have to hand out business cards and initiate the business conversation. They come to me. It’s the best form of passive advertising there is.

Now, I chose to use every side of my vehicle (I even have the website name on the top of the windshield), but you might prefer it only on your back window.

It will be seen and you will increase traffic.