One of biggest problems faced by website owners today is promoting their sites. More and more people can build them (and build them well) but most people (web designers included) get stumped when it comes to promoting.

What should you do? What shouldn't you do?

I am always trying to put promotion into simplest terms possible and I think this 3-step program is about as simple as it gets:

1. Choose to target keyphrases that aren't overly competitive
2. Modify your web page content for these terms
3. Seek (buy) external, one-way, inbound hyperlinks to your website with your keyphrases as link text

(At end of each step you will notice a "Resources" section. These resources will help you accomplish each task and are given a rating out of 10 based on our knowledge and experience.)

Step 1: Targeting Keyphrases

In order to start and run a successful website promotion campaign, you need to have objectives. Figuring out which keyphrases you'd like to rank well for is first step. Ideally you want terms that are closely related to your business (obviously), searched for frequently, and don't have a lot of competition.

The ratio of how popular a term is to its competition is referred to as KEI: Keyword Efficiency Index. Try to maximize this ratio when selecting your terms.

If you have a web design business, pursuing a term like "web design" is just not realistic. Sure, there are a ton of searches for it every day but competition is very steep. The likelihood that you will ever break top ten is extremely unlikely. A term like "calgary web design shop", however, may still be fairly popular but it will have far less competition. It will also be much more targeted to your specific business so it should result in a higher conversion rate of browsers to customers.

Resources:

• WordTracker (paid service) - 10/10
• Overture Keyword Selector Tool (free) - 8/10
• Google AdWords Keyword Tool (free) - 6/10

Step 2: Modifying your Web Pages

Now that you have identified terms you want to pursue you'll need to modify your web pages to ensure that these terms are targeted. This is referred to as web page optimization. Don't be intimidated, though. A decent piece of software and a basic knowledge of HTML can get you through this task.

This step is done so that when search engines arrive, they gobble up your web pages and index them favourably for keyphrases that you identified in Step 1.

For every internet marketer out there, there is a different opinion on what is important and what isn't when optimizing pages. I recommend that if you're not using one of recommended pieces of software that you leave this step up to a professional - it can take practice, experience, creativity and finesse to master this skill.

Resources:

• WebPosition Gold - 9/10
• IBP - 8/10
• WebCEO - 8/10

Step 3: Inbound Links

You can't always control who visits, however, you can have some control over who stays.

Here are a few website no-no's that I have come accross that made me leave without even clicking past first page.

1. Slow loading pages - For those of us still on dial-up internet access this is one of primary reasons for not hanging around.

If you think you are going to load your page up with lots of images and javascripts to make it look nice and do great things, think again. They slow down loading of page. Save that stuff for later pages when you have your visitors' attention. If you offer them something they came to find they will have a little more patience as remaining pages load.

2. Curser followers - We've all seen them, those little dots or letters that follow curser around page. They are so annoying that I don't even bother to read first paragraph.

OK, so maybe there is a place for them. If you have a site based on entertaining children then perhaps you can use them effectively. However, if your site is focused on getting signups for your affiliate programs try to keep it professional looking.

3. Flash Intro - These are not as bad as they used to be due to fact that most search engines can spider and index them now.

What is annoying though is when a site has a flash intro and does not give visitor a way to skip it and go directly into site. Again this is particularly bad for those with dial-up connections. If I have to sit and watch a little colored bar that says 'loading', guess what, I'm gone. Always give your visitor a means to skip intro if they want to.

4. Colored backgrounds and printing - Have you ever had to get up close to your monitor to read words on a website? I have and I can tell you that I didn't read too many lines before I was gone.

There are definitely some color schemes you should stay away from. For example, red letters on a black background are extremely hard to read. I'm sure you have come accross some yourself that were sure-fire triggers for 'back' button.