Website promotion is the continuing process to promote a website to bring more visitors to the website. Many techniques such as web content development, search engine optimization (also known as SEO), and search engine submission, are used increase the traffic to a site.
List of ways to promote a website
Seek out quality, on-topic sites using search engine
Use a 'traffic exchange' program
Put website URL on all printed materials
Multiple domain names covering common variations of business name and type of service or product the business sells
Add URL to email, newsgroup and forum signatures
Put URL on business uniforms
Put URL in all business press releases
Put URL on company vehicles
Regularly add good content to a website
Submit written reviews of your website to print media such as magazines
Include URL in any classified advertising
Use the link as your signature in related forums
Search engines positioning: high rankings
Search engine positioning (in other words, obtaining high rankings
on search engines) is one of the simplest and most affordable ways of promoting
your website.
The reasons for getting your site high rankings in search engines are
pretty clear.
Searching the Internet is the second most popular online activity
after e-mail. Every day 57 % of web users use search engines, according to
Statistical Research Inc.
These engines drive extremely targeted traffic your way. The visitor
who finds your site with an online search is looking for exactly what you're
offering.
As a result of their popularity, sites like Google are now indexing billions of pages. While this is a good thing for searchers, it also means that the competition for the best search engine positioning is very fierce.
Adding to this problem is that only seven percent of people go further than the third page of search engine results when looking for information, according to Search Engine Watch.
What this means is that expert search engine positioning is vital if you want to take advantage of the potentially excellent traffic from search engines.
Search engines are also placing more emphasis on paid submission and advertising. The search services that charge to review your site for submission vary in worth. Some, like Yahoo!, which now charges US $299.00 (from having been free a while ago), still represent good value.Some companies claim that the more search engines you submit your site to, the more traffic you'll receive.
Linking strategies: boost search engine rankings
By getting other sites to create links to yours and increasing your "link popularity", you'll generate traffic to your site and increase your search engine rankings. Establishing links to other relevant sites provides your visitors with additional, useful content. Linking strategies do not need to cost you any money - making them an affordable marketing option for businesses.
Linking strategies are based on a very simple idea: you get other sites to link to yours and you link to theirs.
Despite its simplicity, the idea is rather effective since:
Incoming links drive traffic to your site. Following links between
websites is the second most common way people find information on the Internet.
Outgoing links can improve your site by providing your visitors with useful
information.
Links to and from your site will improve your site's rankings on search
engines as a result of an increase in.
It won't cost you anything, apart from some time and effort to encourage
other sites to link to yours.
There are a few things to keep in mind though if you want to get the
most out of the approach.
The number of links pointing to your site will influence how well
your linking strategies work. This doesn't mean that you should try to get
every conceivable site to link to yours though.
The quality of the links is also important, with those on good, popular
sites being far more valuable to your business. You're also more likely to
attract visitors from the larger amount of people visiting a well-known site.
Link popularity for search engines
Link popularity is one of the most important factors used by search engines when ranking a web page. Discover how to obtain the best links to your site and also which pages are currently linked to yours.The assumption behind link popularity is clear: if other sites are linking to yours it must be good. And since the search engines want to provide high quality results, websites with more inbound links are assumed to be better and are given a higher ranking.While linking strategies take advantage of this tendency, the majority of engines include other factors when calculating link popularity.
Link Popularity Tips
Obtaining Links
It can be time-consuming to request links. Try this simple solution to get
some relevant links to your site quickly:
Go to any search engine and enter the following in the search field:
"your keyword" + "add url" or
"your keyword" + "add link" or
"your keyword" + "submit site"
where "your keyword" is a word or phrase relevant to your website,
that also appears in your meta tags.
In this way you'll find the most popular and most visited sites for the
keyword that allow you to add a link to your site automatically. The sorts
of pages that will crop up include guestbooks and forums.
E-mail marketing strategies
E-mail marketing strategies are an excellent and affordable way for businesses to promote their website. E-mail can help build a database of potential customers, generate traffic to your site, encourage online sales and promote new products or services.
E-mail is the most popular Internet-based activity and is becoming more widely used than standard post. In the UK, for example, the number of e-mails being sent and received from households exceeds letters by nearly 300 million per month.
Some of the reasons for the success of e-mail marketing strategies are:
Viral Marketing in Action
An e-mail goes directly to a person's in-box, whereas your website
needs people to visit it.
It's very easy to use.
E-mails are also quick to send and download - more so than web pages,
for example (depending on how they're designed).
You can embed links and even search boxes or forms in your
e-mail to encourage people to visit your site or communicate with you.
Subscribers pass your newsletter on to friends or colleagues - an example
of "viral" marketing.
Once people have subscribed they'll stay with you for a long time
if you provide them with regular content that they can use, learn from or
enjoy.
You build your subscribers' trust, so that your site is the first
they think of when they're ready to use a service or buy something.
Viral marketing for website promotion
A viral marketing strategy encourages other people to spread the word about your website. This makes it an inexpensive, yet reliable, marketing option for a business reluctant to pay the high prices associated with online adverts.
Although the term "viral marketing" sounds as though it has something to do with a contagious disease, it's nothing more than a new Internet buzzword for "word of mouth". Also known to online marketers as "word of mouse", it's based on the familiar principle of encouraging people to spread your marketing message for you.
Advantages of viral marketing strategies:
They can work very well since you're taking advantage of other peoples'
existing networks of relatives and friends.
If people receive a message from a friend rather than a stranger, they're
more likely to read it, treat it seriously and respond to it.
They're inexpensive to set up.
Once set up, they can go on and on working without costing you any
extra money.
Some examples of effective viral marketing strategies include:
Giving visitors the option to "recommend this website"
by e-mail.
Offering virtual postcards, interesting articles, humorous or creative messages,
or other items on your website that are easy to transfer and replicate.
Featuring a valuable incentive in your e-mails that readers will
want to let their friends know about - like competitions, free services or
discount vouchers.
Simply encouraging people to forward your e-mail newsletter to friends.
Online advertising strategies
Paid online advertising strategies can give you more exposure than other online marketing techniques. As online advertising tends to be rather expensive, they're not always the most cost-effective option for businesses, though. So, it's advisable to find the options best suited to your business before spending money on these strategies.Marketing on the web is just like marketing in the real world. If you want to get the best online advertising space you're going to have to pay for it.
Banner adverts:Banner adverts are one of the most common form of paid online advertising strategies. Although they're usually quite small, the adverts are animated so they can present multiple images and a fair amount of text. Also, people can click on the banner to be taken directly to your own website.They may be very prevalent and can increase awareness of your site or brand, but banner ads are generally seen as overpriced and ineffective. They have extremely low click through rates, which means that as few as 1% of people will actually click on a banner.If you're undaunted by this, though, and would still like to use banner ads, maxworkpublishing World can design and develop them for you.
Affiliate programs:For online merchants, these can be a reliable - and sound - way of advertising products because you only have to pay for the promotion when you sell an item.How it works is, other websites join your affiliate program, at no charge, and place at least one link on their site to yours. In return, they receive a percentage of the sale when somebody follows the link to your site and makes a purchase at your online store or through your website.If the idea seems appealing, we can implement one of these programs and keep track of orders through your affiliates.
Paid listings on search enginesSearch engines and directories have cottoned on to the fact that they've been providing a lot of valuable online advertising to websites for free, and are now trying to earn revenue from webmasters.There are several different ways in which they're doing this. Many are now charging for you to submit your site, which was previously free. You can also pay to have your site appear high in the rankings for particular keywords and then your ad will usually be marked as a "sponsored advertisement". Alternatively you can pay for assorted sizes and shapes of banner ads that appear only when relevant to the search conducted.
Paid listings on portal sites:As part of their services to users, many portal sites like yahoo.com and msn.com feature graphic links to online stores in various categories. This creates a type of "shopping centre", taking advantage of the tendency that some users use portal sites for nearly everything. Of course, for your site to be listed, you'll need to pay - either a flat fee or a percentage of any sales generated directly by the portal's listing.
Paid adverts in targeted e-mail newsletters:With the huge number of e-mail newsletters available, this can be a very cheap and effective option if your ad features a click-through link that takes readers straight to your site. As each type of newsletter is aimed at a specific market, make sure you choose those that target audiences who'll be interested in your products or services.
Offline advertising strategies
The majority of marketing messages still reach people through print media like newspapers and magazines, and through radio and TV. As a result, traditional adverts, press releases and company stationery can be combined with your online strategies to spread your promotional communication as far as possible.In other words, if you want to tell the largest possible number of people about your website, you can't limit your advertising campaign to the Internet.Instead, offline media like newspapers, magazines, flyers and even business cards play a very important role in spreading the word about your site.
Press releases:Like its web-based equivalent, offline promotion doesn't need to be expensive. It can even be free.When there's a newsworthy event to publicise, like the launch of your new online store, you can send a press release to industry-related newsletters, other relevant publications or radio stations.Unfortunately though, with the large number of companies looking for free publicity, there's a chance that your press release won't actually be featured - especially if it's filled with marketing blurb instead of newsworthy information.
Print adverts
Although print adverts aren't free, there are so many options available that you'll be able to find a format that suits your budget.Nevertheless, whether you decide to place an advert in a national newspaper or targeted trade publication or use a full colour brochure, the principles stay the same.Regardless of its size, your ad doesn't really need to contain more than your website address and some text that will encourage people to visit it.All your marketing information can then be featured on your website which acts as a permanent online display. It can contain far more information than could be included in a full-page advert or even a brochure. Your site will also be more cost effective because it can always be updated – quickly and easily.
To entice visitors to drop by at your online display, the text on your print ad should let them know that they'll actually gain something from visiting your site. People are more likely to drop by if they can take advantage of discount coupons, special offers, online ordering facilities or additional information.
Company stationery:Placing your URL on your company stationery – including business cards, letterheads and envelopes – is a very easy and cost-effective way of telling people about your site.With the ever-increasing number of Internet users, your website address is becoming as important as your phone number. Many of your potential customers will prefer to get information about your products and services from your website instead of phoning you.And if your site contains enough relevant information and provides answers to common questions you'll spend less time answering queries from possible clients.Regardless of the strategy you choose though, offline promotions shouldn't be overlooked. They form an integral part in the marketing of your website, ensuring that it's exposed to the largest possible number of people.
If you're interested in maxworkpublishing performing search engine positioning and obtaining high rankings for your website, or any of the other services we offer, please go to ourcontact page or e-mail us at info@maxworkpublishing.com or call at +88029336307
