Promote Your Web Site

The Web site is on the internet - now what?

Announcing your Web site or - how do you advertise/promote your Web site?

OK. So you've built a Web site and it's on the Internet. But aside from you and your parents, no one else knows about it... That's a difficult problem. A Web site that has no visitors is the nightmare of every Web site owner.

There are several ways to publicize the Web site, but don't rush to advertise it if it isn't finished. No respective Web site portal/index will add a Web site with empty/incompleted pages. Even Internet surfers who come to your site while it's under construction will be irritated and disappointed by its poor content and incomplete design, and that will just about guarantee that they'll never return.

Warning - If the Web site really isn't good enough, it is better to wait and NOT publish it until you improve it and save yourself the heartache and disappointment.

Try to examine your Web site as objectively as you can. If it wasn't your own site, would you be impressed by it? Be honest with yourself.

Try to get opinions from people you know, both young and old, that use the Internet, like your parents and/or relatives. Sit them down in front of the Web site and observe them silently. Let them work, don't explain to them what to do (I assume that you won't be able to explain what to do to every visitor who enters your Web site, right?) Your job is just to watch and take notes. Watch them as they browse through the site; try to get inside their heads, see how they act, try to understand where they get stuck and why, what bothers them, what they don't find and where they hesitate - this is your control group. Listen to their comments. You don't have accept their comments, but it is your duty to listen. Don't try to argue with them and "teach" them how to work on the Internet. They learned about the Internet by working on it and they are trying to use the knowledge they have already accumulated while visiting your Web site.

If it's hard for you to decide, send your Web site address to some close friends and ask for their criticism/opinions. Another way is to request criticism of the Web site on Web site critique forums or Web site builders' forums. View the criticism and the comments you receive as an opportunity to learn and to improve.

Forums (chats)

There are thousands of forums on the Internet that deal with every subject on earth. The participants in these forums are active Internet users and therefore they are also an excellent target audience.

A forum is an excellent place to announce your new Web site to everyone, but be careful that you aren't too "brutal" in spreading the message. Out of the thousands of existing forums, find the ones that deal with the subject matter of your own Web site. The participants in that forum will have an interest in your Web site. The forum administrators do not like advertising, so publicize your Web site in a manner that won't annoy them and the regular forum members. In the Web site builder forums your announcement will almost certainly be deleted, but it's worth a try there as well.

If you send out a request for help or for a critique of the Web site it will usually ensure a flow of visitors, as well as criticism (positive or negative). Some of the popular forums have a bulletin board or special forum for various advertisements where you can advertise your Web site safely.

In principle, you can also leave a message about the existence of your Web site in forums that are not connected with your Web site subject matter. Before you write something in the forum, it's a good idea to read some of the messages and see what the atmosphere is in the group. It is also a good idea to read the "opening letter" or "Webmaster's message" in order to learn the forum rules. In any case, each time you write something in the forum, answer a question or respond on some subject, leave a link to your Web site, even if the Web site is not exactly connected with the forum subject.

There will definitely be several forum administrators who will view this as advertising and will delete your message, but don't spend too much time worrying about that. You may write to the less visited forums who wish to get traffic from all sorts. Write a simple, friendly message and don't forget to leave a link.

Banners

A banner is a strip of advertising placed on various Web sites, which contains text, pictures or animation, with the aim of attracting the viewer's attention. Clicking on a banner connects the viewer to the Web site of the advertisement.

Advertising space can be purchased for placing banners. The cost of the space depends on: the popularity of the Web site, the placement of the banner on the page and its location within the Web site (on the main page or on the internal pages), the amount of time of the advertisement is displayed and other parameters. In any case, it is quite expensive.

You can also have advertising banners for FREE. The first method is to join a Web site that deals with exchanging banners among the various sites (banner exchange). Read the membership conditions carefully. If you do so, you'll understand that the ads of the "big" advertisers will appear on your Web site far more that your advertisements will appear on their Web sites, if at all!

A second possibility is by exchanging banners with another Web site. Find Web sites on your subject that are prepared to include a link to your site, in exchange for a similar link from your site to theirs. You advertise another Web site and another Web site advertises you. It is, of course, desirable that the Web sites have something in common, but it's not essential and sometimes it's preferable to find a Web site that complements yours and not one that competes with it.

There are advantages and disadvantages to using banners. On the one hand, the existence of a banner to your Web site from another Web site increases the chances of bringing visitors to your site, but on the other hand, your Web site becomes a kind of advertising Web site and you must devote space to advertise others.

Web site rings

A Web site ring or advertising ring is a chain of Web sites that are linked and share a common subject. The idea is that Internet surfers who are interested in a particular subject can move from Web site to Web site within the ring and know that all of them deal with the same subject. The advantages of the method are clear from the user's point of view. It's worthwhile for you, the Web site owner, because there is mutuality - just as you connected to other Web sites, other Web sites are connected to you. Additionally, a Web site ring does not require the same amount of space that would be necessary if the Web site owner wanted to link all the Web sites in the ring by means of banners or even by regular links.

Written and broadcast communications

Today, in every respectable medium (newspapers, television, radio) you can find a news/items/articles about the Internet. Take a look at your newspaper and you will find sections, and even supplements, devoted to the Internet. There are special magazines and journals on the subject. There are also special programs on TV and radio devoted to what is happening on the Internet. A news item or article about the Web site in the media is an excellent way to expose the Web site to a new Internet surfing public.

All journalists who deal with the Internet have an e-mail address, which appears next to their names, in the printed newspaper or on the newspaper's homepage. Publishing the e-mail address invites readers to write, to respond and to report on new subjects and Web sites. Even programs in the broadcast media have Web sites you can e-mail a letter to tell them about a new Web site. Try it - it can't hurt and it's FREE.

Advertising by e-mail

There are e-mail distribution lists (newsletters) on almost any subject imaginable. The top part of the e-mail contains a message on the relevant subject to the addressees on the distribution list, followed by the content of the advertisement. The disadvantage of this type of advertising is that most users don't read past the message that interests them, and thus the chance of them reaching your advertisement is negligible, and if you have to pay for it - it really is not worthwhile.

You can also advertise by means of FREE e-mail. Prepare a well written letter and send it to everyone in your address book. Ask them to forward it to everyone in their address books, and there's a chance that the message will reach more and more people.

Include in your name and a link to your Web site to every message sent from your e-mail. Someone who reads the message might want to know who wrote it and the link can bring visitors to your Web site.

Change line, change banner

On many Web sites, there is an option to change a link with "change line". It is FREE. If you encounter this, leave a link to your Web site. It's a good idea to come up with a cute, catchy sentence that will make viewers curious to check what kind of Web site is behind it. Similarly, there is also "change banner". There are Web sites on which you can change the banner in the special advertising cube. If you encounter this, there is no reason why not to change the banner and link it to your Web site - again, it can't hurt.

Guest book

If you visit a Web site, leave a response in the Web site owner's guest book. It is FREE. Even if you have nothing important to say, write something nice and congratulate the owner or wish him good luck. He'll definitely come to visit, and maybe others who read the message will also visit... you have nothing to lose - you're already there.

Sometimes, on small Web sites, the forum operates as a guest book. The rule is, if there's no guest book on the Web site, leave a message in the forum.

Registering the Web site in the search engines and indexes

Most of the homepages (the page that opens in the browser when you connect to the Internet) of most Internet surfers are portals, indexes, and search engines. Most people don't type in the address of a Web site that they want to visit in the browser's address line.

Most of them look for it by name on the search engines (that's why you need a good, catchy name), and also by subject (for example, they remember that there's a great Web site about…). It is, therefore, a very good idea to distribute the Web site on the search engines and to register it on the various indexes.

If you have a Web hosting server that you're paying for, check the contract to see whether it is supposed to promote the Web site. If it is, give the contact person the relevant details (Web site name, short description, keywords, etc.). Check to see if he really did the work and after about a month check the various indexes to see that the Web site is really there. If your Web hosting server does not promote your Web site, you can do it yourself by means of software that you pay for, or by manually entering the Web site in each one of the search engines.

Usually, on the main page of every search engine or portal there is an "Add Web site" or "Submit a Site" link. Clicking the link opens a form for registering the Web site. There are places in which registration is not done by means of a form, but rather by e-mail. In order to understand exactly what they want, read the instructions carefully.

When registering your Web site, you will generally be asked for personal details: address, telephone number, fax number and so forth. In some cases, there's no need to give all the details, but some of the search engines don't accept the registration if one of the lines in the form is empty. There are sites in which the important lines in the form are marked, so be sure to fill those in.

Before you begin working, draft yourself a list of actions you need to take:

Copy the address of your Web site to the top of the page and make sure that it's the correct address. Remember, one small mistake in the Web site address and all your work will be for nothing!!!
Type in your e-mail address and make sure it's written correctly. It's best for this to be the e-mail address that you opened for the purposes of the Web site.
Choose keywords - at least five words, you can also use phrases - preferably words that are popularly used on search engines and are connected with the subject matter of your Web site. Study the various search engines and look for their search logic.
Write a short description of your Web site. Explain the content of the site and how it can contribute to those who visit it. The description should be genuine and comprehensive. Don't make baseless declarations, because then there's every chance that your Web site will be disqualified.
Decide on the Web site classification according to its content.
Keep the draft file in your own computer in the Web site folder, from which you can copy (Ctrl+C) and paste (Ctrl+V) the details into the appropriate place on the various forms.

There are Web sites (portals, search engines…) that will notify you, by e-mail, when your registration form has been received. Other Web sites do not inform you and there's no clear way to know whether the application was accepted. There are also Web sites that will notify you that the Web site was inserted in the index - and there are those that don't. It's a good idea to check whether your Web site was registered and placed on the various indexes a month after registration. You can send another application for registration to all the search engines on which the Web site was not registered, but don't flood those sites with messages, which could annoy someone and hurt your Web site's chances of getting into the index lists.

If you do not succeed in registering the Web site, try improving it (by adding content, changing the design) and then register it again.

Significantly improving your Web site, or adding or changing content, presents an opportunity to update all the search engines that offer an option to update a registered Web site, in the hope that a new registration will lead to upgrading the placement of the Web site on the index.

Staying in touch with visitors

After you have worked so hard and distributed the news of your Web site's existence, visitors begin to arrive. It's important to stay in touch with them:

Offer visitors the option of joining the Web site's distribution list to receive periodic e-mails, which will inform them of what's happening on the Web site (new sections, additional services, etc.).
Make sure that your e-mail address appears in a prominent place so that visitors will be able to send you e-mail. This is the easiest way to stay in touch with visitors to your site.
A forum is also a way to keep in touch with visitors to the Web site. Before you build a forum, think about who it's meant for. Who will manage it and how many participants will take part in it?

Conclusion

The promotion work will never end. This will be a continuous effort to let every body know about your Web site. Keep your mind open: try to evalute where to spend less time and effort and get more visitors, search for new advertising tools and think about promoting your Web site outside the Internet.

Part I

Part II