FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
This
document answers some of the more commonly asked questions, and
was last updated on
June 22, 2007
.
General
Our company and services
Software and shareware sites
Search engine optimisation/optimization
 Do
you only work with Shareware?
 Shareware
isn't a type of software. It's a marketing method. Shareware
is any form of software that allows the user to try before
they buy. Some companies prefer to name their Shareware
version a trial application, a demo, a free trial or demoware.
All of which fall under the umbrella label of Shareware.
Many of our clients choose not to
use the word Shareware on their website. And why should they?
The technical term for their chosen marketing method is of as
little interest to their customers as your dentist's drill
preference probably is to you! No matter how you choose to label
your software, if the user can try before they buy, we can work
with it.
I’m a
small company. What can SharewarePromotions do for me?
A lot more than you can do
for yourself.
If you have a good product, then you already know the
amount of time that’s taken up with customer support, sales issues,
maintaining your website, running your business, keeping up to
date with the
industry and so on. And that’s before actual product
development comes into the picture. And marketing?
Who has time for marketing? (Hint: we do!)
Something has to give - whether
it’s
the emails that lie unanswered for days at a time, the fact that
the new release is always “about to” come out, or the
bad links on your website… there just isn’t the time
to get everything done.
Let us lighten your workload.
As well as submitting and uploading your software versions
to the sites, we can raise your profile on the search-engines,
on the newsgroups, and within the industry as a whole. We can
help
you with your product marketing, your link popularity,
get you write-ups in the computer press, handle your Google AdWords, PPC advertising and more. This can be as short or long
term as you like; if you have the need, then we have the time,
experience and capability to carry it out.
I’m
from a medium-sized or large company. What can SharewarePromotions
do for me?
SharewarePromotions
knows the industry like no one else. We know how to get your
software in front of the right people. We work with press releases,
website optimisation, search engine optimisation, Google AdWords,
PPC, PPD and more.
But we don't just work with these areas, we're experts
in our field.
For example, we submit software to the shareware
and software sites on a daily basis, and know where to go, what
to send, and how to make sure it appears as quickly as possible.
If you’re
not familiar with the rules and regulations of some of the
larger sites, we can help and advise you.
Do you know whether there
are still sites that won't list software with VisualBasic runtimes?
Whether
a 8.3 filename format is needed? What about naming the file - should
there be a generic name, or should the version number be included?
And how can you get on CNET’s Shareware.com, when there’s
no way of submitting the software? And what happened to WinFiles,
and ZDNet Hotfiles?? Are Download.com and CNET one and
the same? Which sites now charge for submission? And which
are actually worthwhile? We know our way round these issues.
Problem with the listing?
We’ve dealt with it many times, and know who to
contact, and how to fix it.
We carry-out
all of our submissions by hand. Why? Because it’s the only
way to be sure it’s done correctly. We aren’t interested
in short-cuts or time-savers, we’re only interested in getting
your software seen.
Our working with a large number of
clients means that we get to see the bigger picture. We know
what works, and what will flop. What consumers want, and what
businesses are looking for. We know a good advertising opportunity
when we see one, and can save you time and money in ensuring you
get the most out of all your advertising and promotional campaigns.
When your next release comes
along, rather than starting the process of submitting all the
details to
each of the many sites, and then spending months chasing them up,
why not hand it over to the one company that only deals with
software promotion and software marketing. The success of your
software couldn’t
be in safer, more qualified hands.
And don't forget that we handle much more than just submissions.
We can advise on PPC and PPD opportunities, co-ordinate and
monitor your advertising, Google AdWords management, press releases,
search engine optimisation, optimise your website as a sales
tool, measure advertising ROI, website behavioural analysis, pricing and more.
Is
it worthwhile being listed on so many sites?
Yes,
definitely. There are two main reasons for being listed on as
many "good" sites* as possible. First of all, even
a low number of sales is worth some amount of effort. Look at
it this way. How many sales would you say that a site has to
generate in order to be worthwhile? One? Two? In other words
if a small site generates only one single sale every month, don't
you want to be listed there?
Second of all, being listed on the
shareware sites is good for the search engines. Like any other
website, shareware sites want to receive as much traffic as possible,
and will always submit themselves to the search engines. So when
someone looks for a specific type of application, they're almost
certain to find some of the shareware sites in their results
too. You want to make sure that your software is in there.
*Click here for details of how we choose the sites
Will you work with any software?
No. We no longer work with games of any kind.
We also reserve the right to refuse to work with any application that we are not comfortable with. This may include (but is not limited to) adult, gambling, lottery, fortune telling, applications that are based on unsound principles, applications promoting violence of any kind, and any application that we deem unfit.
In addition, we will not work with any software that we feel will not benefit from our services. This may include (but is not limited to) software that we feel will not sell, software that is poorly implemented or software offering no competitive advantage.
Just another submission service?
No
- far from it. While there are many services that can promote
your website and even your software, you won't find a single
other company that only work with software promotion, that will
take care of all aspects of your submissions (including file
uploads and on-site registrations), with our experience, expertise
and knowledge of the industry. We handle everything - registration
with the sites, uploading of your software, sending the screenshots,
the icons, the GIF files, the modified PAD files, and even checking-up
on the listing, weeks after the submission.
We also work with the search-engines, Google AdWords, press releases, copy writing, help-file optimisation,
website navigation, advertising, web log analysis, tracking your
marketing efforts and more.
We have the benefit of years
of experience, and have worked with a vast number of different
applications, in a multitude of different markets. Consumer applications, internet
tools,
network software, browser tools, plug-ins, office software, financial analysis, business applications, management tools, financial applications,
server-side applications, security, monitoring, image manipulation and many
more. If
you have a product, and there are people out there who want or
need it, then you need our services.
What am I paying for?
The
specifics depend on the package of your choice, but as well as
the A’s, B’s, and C’s of what we do for you, you’ll
find us to be a useful source of information, with a knowledge
of
the industry like no-one else. Just as important as the package
components, you get our experience, our professionalism,
and our knowledge. If you’re wondering what this is
worth, take
a look at what some of our previous clients have said about us,
then decide for yourself.
Even taking into account our
reasonable prices, never forget that we generate more than
we cost.
How else can you explain the number of clients that continue
using our services on a constant basis?
Where
are your prices?
Our
short term solutions have fixed prices, as outlined on
the service pages .
The price for our Premium service depends on how much you'd
like us to do for you. To receive a price quote to suit your
needs and requirements, please fill-out our short form here.
What about follow-up?
For
our Premium clients, we follow-up all the work that we carry
out on a continual basis. We know how long each site should take
before listing your software, so know
when to resubmit your file. We know how long to wait after
a magazine editor hasn't yet answered our enquiry. We know how to
catch the interest and attention of the people who write newsletters,
and how often we can do so without stepping on their toes! We know
how long the different search engines may be taking to list new
content. We’ve
done it all before, and know what we're doing.
We know how to maximise your ROI with
your PPC campaigns, and can improve, optimise, monitor and evaluate
any ad campaigns that you may be running. All the work that we
do is carefully scheduled, and constantly following-up and evaluating
the work we've done so far is a regular part of our service.
Why
do you keep mentioning that availability is limited?
SharewarePromotions
is a small company. At the time of writing this, there are three
full-time people, and all of our work is carried out by hand.
We do not use software to automate any of the work that we do, as our experience has shown us that the best results are obtained by hand, with a combination of knowledge, experience and expertise.
Our time is therefore limited, and we prefer to reserve as much of it as possible for our paying clients.
We are also careful to ensure that we never take on too much work at any given time, and have occasionally had to open a waiting list for companies wishing to engage our services.
If or when you and your company start to use our services, you will appreciate our working methods and priorities.
Which sites do you submit
to?
This depends on a combination of different factors - the package
that you choose, and the software itself. In general - all
the main
sites,
and
many of the better "not-so-main" ones too! More information on
how we choose the sites may be found on our site
selection information page.
Do
you submit to sites that charge for submission?
Most
shareware and software sites will accept submissions without
charging a fee. However, a small number of sites are
now charging for software submissions and updates. We can (and
do) take care of this for some of our Premium
package clients
as required, by paying for this service on their behalf.
Why don't you submit to
hundreds of software sites?
Because when you reach a certain level, the time required to submit
to the very small sites may be better spent elsewhere. More
information on how
we choose the sites may be found on our site
selection information page.
If there’s
a site that we want to submit to?
It
depends on the package. If you’re a Premium client -
no problem. Our clients can and do send us URLs all the time;
we take care of the submitting almost immediately.
Why do you insist on working
with a PAD file?
Because
it is simply the fastest and most efficient means of getting
your software out there as quickly as possible. It is better
for the shareware and software sites, better for you, and better
for us. Further details about PAD are available here.
Do you upload the actual
files as well? What about the other files that some sites require?
We take care of everything, and send the file
itself, screenshot, icons, text-files, PAD
files and logos all in the correct formats as needed.
Demos, shareware, freeware,
adware, trialware???
We can work with any category of software.
What
happens when we finish using your services?
When
we have completed the work for a company, we send
a list of all user
accounts, details and passwords that were setup or
used on their behalf.
In other words, we do not force you
to continue to work with us, nor do we in any way tie you in
to our services. The next time you have a new release, should
you decide to handle this yourself,
you
will
have
all the information you need at your disposal, in one place.
It has come to our attention that
some of our competitors force their clients
to use their own domain name for the submissions. Our experience
has also been that the same companies are extremely unwilling to
disclose any account details, even though these have been setup
on behalf of their paying clients.
When you use SharewarePromotions,
we will supply all details that you may need to pick-up where
we left off. We hope that you choose to use our services again,
but prefer you to use the results of the work that we do, as opposed
to forcing you to stick with us!
Do
you work with Search Engine Optimisation?
Yes
we do. Despite the overwhelming number of changes that have taken
place over the past few years, the Search Engines still offer
an extremely cost-effective means of drawing in the most highly-targeted
of traffic. We have been working with Search Engine Optimisation
for many of our long-term clients for the past few years, and
now offer this as a standalone package. Click
here for details of our search engine optimisation packages. Or click here to see a case study of one of our clients.
Are
doorway pages dangerous?
Like
many issues related to search engine optimisation, there is a
great deal of confusion, and more speculation than fact. On the
issue of doorway pages, there are in general two types of doorway
pages. Those that are legitimate, and those that are not.
A legitimate doorway page is a page
that is setup to address one particular aspect of an application.
For example, if the application in question is a network messaging
tool,
there might be a page detailing the security risks of using a
web-based messaging tool versus
a network
messaging solution. Another page might address the benefits
of using internal messaging over email. Another might compare
the
product in question with ICQ, Messenger and so on.
In general,
we create a very small number of these pages, each covering a
very distinct and separate topic, and each built around two or
three very specific keywords.
These pages are not designed to trick
the search engines. They are perfectly legitimate content pages
that can and should be linked to from within the rest of the
site. Upon finding one of these pages, the visitor will be unaware
that
the page
is any different from the rest of the site. The risk of being
penalised by the search engines for using one of these pages
is zero, as the pages are perfectly standard, genuine content, and do not
employ any tricks or specialised techniques to trick the search
engine spiders.
There are other types of doorway pages,
those that aim to trick, deceive or "tweak" the search
engines. In the past some of these techniques worked very well,
but they've had their time, and nowadays range from either
harmless and ineffective to high-risk!
As the search-engines become ever
more adaptive to the latest tricks, the only reliable means of
performing well on the search engines is good, solid keyword
research, substantial content, and effective implementation.
Your spelling is UK based. Will this be a problem?
Not at all. We have worked with many US based companies over the years, and in fact tend to tailor most of the work that we do around a US based spelling system. Bearing in mind that we have been promoting software via the web since 1997, this has never caused a single issue or problem.
And if I have any more
questions?
Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have. We take
all enquiries seriously, and will usually reply within one
working
day. You can contact us in any of the following
ways:
By email: Write to dave@sharewarepromotions.com
By phone: +44 796 759
5911
By fax: +44 870 442
5271
By ICQ: 19120203 - no
authorisation is necessary
Please understand, however, that we are only a small company with a limited amount of time on our hands; most of which we prefer to devote to our paying clients. Because of this, you will receive a far faster response to an email enquiry than a voicemail message.
If or when you sign up for our services, you'll appreciate this approach!
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