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If You Must Promote Your Own Web Site
A "great" web site needs a sustained marketing effort. Learn to Promote and do it as often as allowed. This page is starting with the premise that you have an up and running site. That it functions well and displays well in the major browsers. What follows is the outline for acquiring some of the skills needed to promote your site. If this is not the case - start here.
Why you want to you want to promote your own web site is a part of the basic question. "To get a job done right you must do it yourself", sound familiar? Many folks like to be compeletely "hands on" in everything they do. Others just like the exercise of learning a new area or skill. These individuals are usually able to put in the time and effort it takes to do a good job of promoting their own site. It will, however, take longer to get it done. But the time and effort are rewarded by the increased traffic and reaching your own goals by yourself.
The most important information, lesson or idea you can take away from the RLPG Site; NEVER rely on any one single promotion technique! Do all of them. Web promotion is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Web site traffic comes from what ever method is used to promote the site. The greater number of ways a site is promoted, the greater number of visitors.
Web Site Promotion Tips, Tricks and Secrets!
- Meta Tags: The "meta-tags" contained between the <head> </head> html tags are used by many search engines to define the title, description and content of a web site. Proper use of meta-tags will help in placement with some of the "big 10" search engines. If the search engines can't find and properly index a site, neither can surfers using those engines. Learn about optimizing meta-tags.
- Facade Pages: Use registered variations of the domain name to build, link, promote and track, "facade pages", to boost traffic to the primary domain. Web host hrc4.net offers facade pages.
- Update Frequently: Give your surfers a valid reason to return to the web site(s) by constantly updating information, entertainment, providing a new service or presenting a new product. Make a "what's new" link part of the index page.
- Learn Search Engine Guidelines. Achieve proper listing in the major search engines. If at all possible hire a professional, Site Solutions or rlpg.com. It is that important. If you must do-it-yourself here are two places we recommend; addme.com and ineedhits.com. It is very time consuming and there are plenty of cost-effective ways to get it done.
- Test your site. Use the free parts of Site Solutions to see how well your site is working (performing). Fix broken links. Redo keywords. What ever Site solutions finds wrong - needs to be repaired or rebuilt from scratch.
- Simple Navigation: Think of web site navigation in outline form. An organized presentation of information. Simple. Easy to follow. The path may need to be forced. Several different links leading to the ultimate goal. That goal is different - based on what the site is trying to accomplish. Have several different "testers" try the site under observation. Modify, based on their reactions, questions, success or failure to browse the site.
- Ask For Feedback: Contact information and Email links must be easy to find. Ask for Questions and Comments!
Marketing Concepts:
What are marketing concepts? Put simply, the various methods used in attracting surfers (visitors) to any given web site (or business).
- Once the site is up and running apply for your merchant Credit Card processing. Most gateways and processors need to find the site up and running before granting the ability to accept Credit Cards. We are currently suggesting Charge.Com. Accepting Credit Cards online will increase web based sales.
- TRACK YOUR TRAFFIC. The traffic will come from where the marketing efforts are directed. Choose an IPP that allows (helps) track the source of the traffic. ( HRC4 does ) This allows you to measure the effectiveness of your marketing and promotion efforts. This ROI is the best way to understand how well you are doing at self-promotion.
- Utilize frequent, traditional and online, creative Press Releases. Media attention is a very effective way to get traffic. A single mention on national TV will bring thousands of curious visitors. Make sure they have something wothwhile to come back to.
- Write relevant articles for newspapers, journals, magazines and periodicals. Volunteer to speak at schools, civic groups, business and service organizations. Try to work with local and national radio and television stations as a web information source. Offer to provide content to other web sites. In all cases promote the web site URL(s). Make it part of any printed byline. This is where an easy to remember, simple domain name is worth its weight in gold! NEVER say "my web site is http colon forward slash forward slash www dot my domain name dot com forward slash index dot html" NEVER! Just say "domain name dot com" (correct extension BUT it should be dot com).
- Develop a relevant, consistent mutual link program (both in and outbound). The more quality inbound links a site has the better they do in search engine rankings. An extensive web search can make this a do-able (but tedious and time consuming) manual operation. It is usually better to try one of these; Zeus Internet Marketing Robot or Links Manager.
- Include web site URLs on everything: The extensive rlpg.com list!
- Develop an e-mail based newsletter. Build an Opt-In Form and send the newsletter to your subscribers and customers. Ask them to forward copies to their friends and family. The newsletter helps to build traffic ... and sales. Announce any change to the site or new product! Use the newsletter to let your current customers and newsletter subscribers know about it - for free.
- Utilize "true" customer testimonials to add credibility to your web site goals!
- Join relevant newsgroups, chat rooms and listservs (Electronic Mailing Lists). Practice proper netiquette. Don't make it an ad - provide useful information and help. Let your "signature file" do the promotion.
- NEVER resort to SPAM! NEVER! It can cost you your web site and it is never an effective marketing tool for any long lasting web site gains.
- Always use a "signature file" with every e-mail. This needs to include Name, phone number (if appropriate), service(s) offered and web site(s) URL(s).
Keeping Surfers Coming Back
So Important - Worth Repeating: When all this work pays off and surfers arrive make sure they have something to reward their efforts. Content, new content, fresh content! A stale web site is a dead, dying web site. As noted; a web site "must" inform, entertain, provide a service or present a product. if one visit to a site does everything, sees everything and reads everything - then one visit is all you get! New information - a new special, a new product - additional information - that is what keeps surfers coming back. Keep up to date, keep changing; keep them coming back and back and back!
Questions?... Comments ... Please E-Mail us!
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Web Services - I want to promote my own Web site; last updated: 11/12/02 cl
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