How can I promote my web site???Written by Glennette Yelverton
It can be really exciting to get a web site for your business and a lot of pride goes along with knowing that you now have an internet presence! However, many people don't realize that having a site is not worth very much to you if you’re only one who knows it's there.The following are recommendations for promoting your site: (1) Live, breathe and eat your site - Well, OK, maybe I'm exaggerating this point but what I mean is that you should always have your site at forefront of your mind. By doing this, you'll remember to tell people that you meet about it, you'll remind your family and friends about it, etc. It's very important to let everyone you come in contact with know about your site, especially if you provide a service! Even if someone isn’t in need of your service right now, they may be in near future! Also, they may be talking to someone a week later who is looking for service you're providing! (2) Take time to research how search engines work! The vast majority of popular sites on internet can attribute their site's traffic to search engines. It's important that your site is registered with search engines. Sites like http://www.sitesell.com and http://www.searchenginewatch.com can help you learn all about how search engines work. The word you need to keep in mind when trying to get listed is "Persistence"! If at all possible, take time to submit your site manually and keep track of how it's doing. Don't "spam" search engines by submitting too often but keep a watch on your positioning and re-submit as needed, in accordance with each search engine's guidelines. (3) Promotional items - This goes without saying, almost. The single most important item that can promote your business is business cards! They're pretty inexpensive when bought in bulk (about $.03/card if you buy 1000) and they're so readily accepted. I give my card out to just about everyone I come in contact with. You will be surprised how many people need your services once they know that you provide them. When you give someone your card, you’re not just giving it to them. You’re giving it to people they come in contact with because, like I mentioned earlier, someone may ask them a week later if they know anyone providing your service. Remember that people love FREE stuff! If you can have T-shirts, pens, caps, etc. printed with your site's name and URL, people will gladly accept these. I haven't had anyone say "No thank you" yet!
| | P is For ProcessTrading Links - Any Real Value?Written by Gail Hornback
If you manage a website, then you know that trading links with other sites is said to be a valuable method of promoting your website, and getting more traffic. But true value of it really depends on how you go about it. We receive at least one or more "form letter" emails every day, telling us that one of our sites has been visited, and our link has been added to their site, with a request to return link. These are from automated link trade programs that list hundreds, even thousands of sites, categorized in various ways. My guess is that these pages of links are not perused very often. I don't spend any time looking through them. Do you? In fact, when I received most recent "form letter", I went to page to check out my link. I found it after scrolling to bottom of page. It was there, alright. But description was first 3 or 4 lines of text off of main page of my site,which, in that context, used as a description, did not really describe my site at all. Some of descriptions I saw there for other links made NO sense whatsoever, as they had just been harvested off of site by automated harvester. So, do I trade with them? To tell you truth, I won't even consider a link exchange, unless person requesting trade has called me by name. Then I know he, HIMSELF, has REALLY visited my site. My name and contact information are easily found there. Secondly, I wouldn't consider it a "fair" trade, since link trades placed on my site are of a different nature. They are more valuable!! If you are serious about promoting your site by trading links with other sites, then take time to do it right.
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