Have you ever thought about creating a contest on your website to attract customers and clients? It’s a great way to garner interest in your company and to get visitors coming back to your website to see what new offerings you have after the initial contest is over.

Online contests are becoming more frequently used as marketing tools that help Internet businesses gain an edge over their competition and enhance their business reputation at the same time. You can promote your contest in social media by Tweeting or posting Facebook updates about it and thereby drive increased traffic to your website.

Contests are a great way to create a buzz about your company and generate excitement for your clients and customers. And because it’s your contest, you can create rules that will keep participants coming back again and again. You can either allow multiple entries at a rate of one per day or have fairly quick turnaround between contests so that even those folks who don’t win will return over and over to see whether they have another shot at getting a prize.

You can also use contests as a way to grow your client list and marketing contacts by requiring that they respond to consumer surveys or provide their email addresses prior to entering.

From a simple blind drawing of participants names to randomly select a winner to requiring a submission of some sort such as a short essay on, “Why I Am the Best Person to Win the Jackpot,” there are tons of different contest ideas and ways you can offer a shot at a prize. We suggest you find something that works with your field of interest and remember that the more you ask of your contestants the better the prize needs to be.

And, perhaps the best part of using an online contest as a marketing tool is that besides the prize, it’s practically free!

A great, easy way to market your online business is through creating and maintaining a blog. Stay current with your clients, establish your expertise in your market and develop an ongoing conversation around your topic of choice. With a blog, you can drive traffic to your main website, generate interest in your company, increase revenue and provide added value to your customer base.

Not just for online journaling anymore, blogs are now authentic marketing tools that have the capability to create an entire community of people around your ideas and submissions. Initially you might be overwhelmed by the thought of having to regularly update posts, but it’s a lot simpler than you might think. Because of their informal nature, blog posts can consist of anything you choose. Upload links to interesting YouTube videos, share tips or how-to articles, or other information that is relevant to your customers.

What’s more, writing a blog humanizes your business so that you become more than just a website. You can inject your own personality so that your clients think of you the person, not just the company. Use your blog to link back to your website to create more click-thru traffic and inspire your readers to use your services. Communicate with an online community of folks through the comments feature and position yourself as the go-to source for information on your topic.

Be sure to contribute relevant content, update regularly and participate in the ongoing discussion by replying to comments. When you’re on other blogs, make comments there as well with links back to your posts to inspire even more community and draw increased traffic flow. Once you’ve established a loyal fan base, you can even expand your blog to include advertising, creating yet another revenue source for you and your business.