First-time website owners often wrongly believe that once they have a website people will simply find it. Unfortunately this is not the case. The World Wide Web is a gigantic place, far too big for anyone to catalogue entirely. In fact, all the websites indexed on all the major search engines only account for a fraction of the websites available, and new sites are becoming available every day.
Despite what you may read, there is no secret to being found on the internet. There is no magic strategy that guarantees high ranking on search engines. Moreover, search engines are only one of the many ways that people can find your website, and for small sites they are usually not even the best way.
This article will introduce you to a few of the most common ways to promote a website, from search engines to newspapers. Of course, how you decide to promote your website will depend on your specific needs and goals.
For small websites, search engines are not always the best or most effective means of promotion. Nevertheless, they are usually the first place people turn to get the word out about their website, so we will discuss them first.
Being placed on the popular search engines is an art form as much as it is a science. There are many strategies involved in making your site optimized for search engines, but these can only take you so far. Google, for example, is currently the most popular search engine in the world, but no one can "submit" their site to Google. Instead, Google automatically searches the entire web for new sites and lists them according to relevance and popularity.
Another method of being placed on search engines is paying for advertising space. All the major search engines allow this in one way or another. Most charge a per-click fee. These fees can range from a few cents to several dollars, depending on the popularity of the keywords with which the ad appears.
For small websites word-of-mouth or self promotion is by far the most effective advertising. Happy customers will tell their friends.
Another style of word-of-mouth promotion is being linked with websites frequented by the target audience. You can exchange links with other websites, or if you provide very useful content you may find that interested parties begin to link to you as a resource!
Self promotion is using what you already to get the word out. Simply printing the URL on your business card or adding to your printed flyer is very effective.
So-called "banner ads" are almost ubiquitous on the web today. Because of this, they have lost much of their effectiveness. Nevertheless, a well-placed banner ad can help direct traffic to your website. There are many link exchange programs which place your banner ad in rotation on several websites. A targeted approach, however, is more useful.
Spam is more than just an annoyance. It clogs mail servers, slows web traffic and is a nightmare for users. Moreover, the response rate on most email advertisement is less then 1%. Obviously just blasting emails to as many people as possible is not responsible promotion.
A well-designed subscription email newsletter, however, can be very effective. By providing visitors with useful and pertinent content, you can create a long-lasting relationship that will grow.
5. Non-digital advertising
Just because a website is digital doesn't mean that you can't use print! The power of newspaper, magazine and other such ads is enormous. Just like any advertising campaign, you should be certain to target your audience and advertise in publications and venues that your audience frequently uses.
Of course television and radio present another realm of possibilities. In the end, promoting your website must become a part of your overall promotion strategy.
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