Search Engine Optimization

One of the biggest non-technical things you can do is find places to post a link to your website. Other websites linking to you can generally support your search engine results because it is a sign to the search engines that you are thought of as a respectable source.

However you must be very careful where you allow your link to be posted. Some sites based around massing links together (also known commonly as 'link farms') will often be identified as non-respected sites because they are abusing the idea behind cross-linking. The idea that someone purposely links to another site because they have a normal relation to the site, not to just up gather up a bunch of links in hopes to grow personal SEO. Linking to one of them can actually hurt your results rank because search engines work to identify those sites and then punish its links. A good example of a place to seek out would be something like your local chamber's member listing on their website.

Another thing you can do is register your site manually to search engines to ensure that your content is getting crawled. There area a ton of engines out there and most of them have a simple form you can fill out to notify them that your site it out there; you just have to take the time to find it.

Pay-Per-Click advertising would be a great way to start generating interest in your business. It can be geo-targeted so you only reach specific regions (may help with your shipping costs) and you can set a budget you're comfortable with.

PPC can be very time consuming, but if you start small it can be very manageable and effective. Maybe start with two AdGroups of 5 keywords each, and see how it goes.

I'd recommend starting with Google AdWords - https://adwords.google.com - this is the most intuitive of the PPC bidding engines. Plus Google offers great training and help modules for when you're just starting out.

Another great way to drive traffic to your site would be through social networking. I did a few searches for "chocoholics" and "chocolate discussions" and found a few networking sites where you might want to become an active member, and even post some pictures of your work.

http://www.smallerindiana.com/group/chocolateloversgroup
http://www.virb.com/groups/73511233
http://flickr.com/groups/66035042@N00/discuss/

Pay-Per-Click advertising would be a great way to start generating interest in your business. It can be geo-targeted so you only reach specific regions (may help with your shipping costs) and you can set a budget you're comfortable with.

PPC can be very time consuming, but if you start small it can be very manageable and effective. Maybe start with two AdGroups of 5 keywords each, and see how it goes.

I'd recommend starting with Google AdWords - https://adwords.google.com - this is the most intuitive of the PPC bidding engines. Plus Google offers great training and help modules for when you're just starting out.

Another great way to drive traffic to your site would be through social networking. I did a few searches for "chocoholics" and "chocolate discussions" and found a few networking sites where you might want to become an active member, and even post some pictures of your work.

http://www.smallerindiana.com/group/chocolateloversgroup
http://www.virb.com/groups/73511233
http://flickr.com/groups/66035042@N00/discuss/