PROMOTING YOUR WEBSITE

Once you have a website, how do you get people to visit?

Registering with search engines is a good start, but it isn't enough. To get the best return on your investment, you should do everything you can to attract visitors to you new site.

The following methods are all good ways to encourage people to visit your site. Depending on your business and your implementation, some will be very effective; others will not work at all. The secret is to try them. And if one method doesn't work, it doesn't mean that you should give up on it. You may just need to refine your implementation.

Talk to your designer about promotion before the design starts to see if any of the following promotional tools need to be included in the design of your site.

REGISTER WITH SEARCH ENGINES AND DIRECTORIES

Your website is displayed on the Internet and many of your visitors will come from online searches. The best way to promote your website is to register it with the major search engines and directories.

EXCHANGE LINKS

Another good way to promote your site is to exchange links with other sites that complement your business. Text links or simple graphic links on related sites can bring you lots of well-targeted visitors. Select your link exchange partners carefully, choosing those that complement your business and attract your target market. You should also consider listing with trade and professional associations.

Having links on other sites has a side benefit. Some search engines use link popularity (how many sites link to your site) as a factor in determining ranking.

SEND OPT-IN EMAIL

When you visit a website that asks if you would like to receive more information about their organization, services and similar products, and you agree, you have "opted-in." You have said that you are interested in this type of information and you would like to receive more. Your name and any information you provided (email, questionnaire results, etc.) will be distributed to other suppliers of similar information. Soon you will begin to get email from similar businesses with similar products. That's OK though, because you said it was acceptable.

You can buy opt-in email lists or subscribe to opt-in email services that will send your advertising to interested customers. This is a legitimate means of advertising and can be very effective. But you should be careful where you get your opt-in email lists. Don't respond to unsolicited email offering opt-in lists. If they are sending unsolicited email to you, they are sending it to others.

ADVERTISE IN E-ZINES

E-zines are online periodicals - the Internet's equivalent of monthly magazine subscriptions. Some are free, some require paid subscriptions, but they survive mainly on advertising fees. Find some e-zines that cater to your target market, and advertise there. You can expose your website to hundreds or thousands of interested prospects at very reasonable rates.

START A NEWSLETTER

A very effective means of gathering and retaining clients is to create a newsletter. Every few weeks you can send out a newsletter with the latest information on technology, services, and information that relate to your business. You can also include information on your products, sales, etc. Since this is a requested subscription, it gives you a market of people interested in what you have to offer.
You can manage a small newsletter yourself or use a newsletter service to send your newsletter. The real key to a successful newsletter is to create useful and interesting content for your clients. Information on products and sales alone is not sufficient to maintain your subscriber base.

INCLUDE SIGNATURE LINKS IN EMAIL

Every email that you send should have your email address, your website address, and a business line in the signature. Almost all email tools will let you set up a signature file that will automatically append you signature to every email that you send. (Make sure your software actually includes the signature at the end of the e-mail; some programs treat them as attachments, which are an unwelcome nuisance and will not be seen.)

PARTICIPATE IN ONLINE DISCUSSION GROUPS

There are many online discussion groups and newsgroups. Find some that relate to your business and join. Sit back and watch for a while to get a feel for how they operate, then start to contribute. Don't use your contribution to sell your products and services or you will be kicked out. Instead, ask questions when you are new, answer questions and give advice after you have been there a while. You will find that other members will begin to visit your site and will contact you offline. Just be sure to include your email address and your website address as part of your signature in every submission.

INCLUDE YOUR WEBSITE ADDRESS ON YOUR STATIONARY

Put your website and email addresses everywhere you put your phone number. This includes company stationary, business cards, invoices, envelopes, advertisements, mailing labels, etc.

SEND DIRECT MAIL

Direct mail is an excellent promotion technique. You can send letters and fliers to your prospective clients through the mail. Be sure to include your email address and your website address on everything you send.