Promoting Your Website

There are two ways to get your site noticed on the
net. You can pay an ad agency or promotion company
to spread the word about your 'window to the world'
or you can do it yourself.

It's all a question of time and money. If you have
more money than time, hire an ad agency to do your
promoting for you. If you have more time than money,
do the promotion yourself, promote for peanuts.

Lets face it, this is a numbers game. As long as you
have a website that can demonstrate and sell your
product, all you need to do is get it in front of
your target market.

This quick guide is for those of us who have limited
promotional budgets, but need to drive traffic to our
sites. Here is a handful of FREE and low cost resources
that can drive traffic to your site quickly.

1. Email. Email is the most direct and effective way to
get people to your site. There are literally hundreds of
thousands of dollars in a good email list. Build your
list by:

- giving your visitors a special limited time offer, a
freebee, a contest, or something that will draw them to
your site. While your visitor is at your site, invite them
to sign up for your newsletter.

- offering your visitors a newsletter gives you a reason
to contact them on a regular basis. Repetitive contact builds
up a trust level and allows you to make easier sales, more
often.

- offering your current subscribers a reward for referring
their friends and colleagues to your newsletter. This one
technique alone can increase your subscriber base
substantially in a very short time.

One more email hint: Make sure your subject line grabs the
reader and draws them into your mail.

2. Links. Use reciprocal links with complimentary companies.
If you sell dog food, link to pet stores, groomers, or
veterinarians in return for them posting a link to your site.
Do not negotiate reciprocal links with your competitors, it's
like shooting yourself in the foot.

3. Articles. Write articles about your industry. Presumably
you know tips, techniques, secrets and tidbits of information
that would be helpful to people outside your industry. Assemble
these little gems into an article and submit it to ezines in
your industry. Getting your article published in an ezine is
more valuable than placing advertising because it doesn't cost
you any money and you include your tag line at the end which
refers readers to your website.

Writing articles also gives you credibility in your market.
Your prospects start to see you as an expert in your field
and trust your opinion. They are more likely to buy from you
when the timing is right for them.

4. Advertise. Put your URL on all of your print material. If
you run ads in print publications make sure your URL is eye
catching. Be sure to have your website address on all of
your stationery, letterhead, business cards, envelopes, etc.

5. Register. Register your site with all of the major search
engines. Make sure that each of your pages are search engine
friendly. Get all your META tags in order so you get the best
possible ranking.

6. Position. Advertise on as many safelists, FFA pages and
classified ad sites as you can. Why? To get the benefit of
the links to your site. The number of links to your site has
become a key factor in the positioning of your site on the
search engines.

There are literally hundreds of ways to promote your site.
Some cost big bucks, others are free or cost very little.
Experiment with everything that you can find and see what
brings you the best results. This is a business of trial and
error. As you gain experience specific to your site, you will
be able to sharpen your techniques and bring in the visitors
in droves.

Half the fun of reaching your destination is enjoying
your journey.

Good luck