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By Robin Eldred
Don't make the mistake of ignoring website promotion. Every website
is selling something, be it a product or a service, or maybe simply
trust or a brand. This means you need visitors; the more targeted,
the better. Simply creating a great site isn't enough, although it's
an excellent first step. You need to be out there actively promoting
it if you truly want to achieve revenue through your site.
1. Web Catalogs & Directories
Taking out annual subscriptions in one or more of the major web
catalogs (e.g. Inktomi, FAST, AskJeeves, etc.) and business
directories (e.g. YellowPages, Superpages) can help garner some
immediate traffic for your website. Web Catalogs tend to work well
for new sites, as they get you some all important links in the early
stages. Business directories work for virtually any business as they
put a listing (or ad) for your website right in front of people
looking for exactly what you're selling.
2. Link Exchanges
This is a fantastic way to increase the importance of your website
in the eyes of the search engines. The rationale that the search
engines use is that if other sites are linking to yours, then your
site must be important. A link from another site to your site is
considered a "vote" for your site. The more of these votes, the
better; to an extent, of course. Steer clear of such black hat
techniques as link farms and free for all (FFA) sites. I recommend
starting by asking your vendors, suppliers and customers if they
could link to your site in exchange for a link to theirs. You could
then branch out into related businesses that service a different
audience (e.g. a competitor in another city that you don't service).
3. Search Engine Submission
This step is critical for any brand new website. You'll want to let
the major search engines know that your new site exists, and
prompting them to visit it with a search engine submission campaign
is a great start. Don't bother buying a big 1500-engine submission
package – there's only about 7 to 10 major search engines worth
worrying about, and once you're listed on these, the other 1490 will
pick you up (not that they'll send you any measurable traffic…). The
controversy here is whether or not to continue a submission
campaign. Does it help an established site? Does it hurt it? Our
research indicates that it doesn't hurt. As to whether or not it
helps – for some engines yes, for others no. A big tip to give you
here is to be sure to work hard to get your site listed in the
important directories like DMOZ and AltaVista.
4. Electronic Newsletter
An electronic newsletter is a fantastic method for staying in touch
with not only existing customers, but potential customers as well.
Provide useful, interesting information on a regular basis and be
sure that people can subscribe and unsubscribe easily. Utilizing a
good tool (e.g. Constant Contact) will make your life easier and
allow people to forward the newsletter to their friends and
colleagues (known as Viral Marketing). You can also use the
newsletter as a vehicle for announcements or specials. Never charge
anything to subscribers, and build your list by running contests or
promotions.
5. Pay-per-click
I saved this one until last as I believe it is the single most
important item in this list. If you remember nothing else from this
article, remember pay-per-click (or PPC). By paying for visits from
people who are searching on keywords related to your product or
service, you are almost ensuring that your website will generate
more revenue with a higher conversion rate of visitors to customers.
The more popular programs include Google AdWords, Overture Content
Match and Site Match, as well as smaller players like FindWhat,
Kanoodle and Mamma.
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