10 Simple Ways That You Can Promote Your Website

Back to basics.



At times, website promotion can seem confusingly

complicated. There seem to be so many, sure-fire new ways to

get thousands of hits to your site. Whilst some of these

methods work, most just waste your time.



So, welcome back to the basics of website promotion - 10

simple, effective, ways to promote your site. Learn

something new, or just remind yourself of an 'old

favourite'.





1. SUBMIT YOUR SITE TO SEARCH ENGINES & DIRECTORIES



Submit your site to all the major search engines and

directories (except Yahoo!). Repeat at monthly intervals

ONLY if your site isn't listed - this especially applies

to Google!



Links:

- http://www.addme.com/submission.htm

- http://www.shoptour.co.uk/submit-all.html

- http://www.shoptour.co.uk/go/affiliate-announce.html

http://affiliatetoolkit.com/affiliateannounce/



Tip: Hand submit your site to the major search engines here

- http://www.howipromotemywebsite.com/site-submit





2. SUBMIT YOUR SITE TO YAHOO! (ZEAL & DMOZ)!



Both Yahoo!, Zeal and the Open Directory Project (DMOZ) are

search directories that are edited by real people (on Zeal,

*you* are the real person!). As such, you must follow the

submission guidelines of these sites exactly, or your site

will not succeed in getting listed.



A listing on Yahoo! is useful as it's still one of the

busiest sites on the web, and DMOZ helps your chances of a

good listing on Google.



Links (how to suggest your site):

- http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest/

- http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/info/include.html

- http://www.dmoz.org/add.html

- http://www.zeal.com



Tip: (see below)





3. SWAP LINKS WITH OTHER SITES



To swap links, do the following:

- Identify sites with similar content to yours;

- Get in touch with the site's webmaster (use their name);

- Politely ask for a reciprocal link, then create a "Links"

section on your site and put the links there.



Not everyone will respond, but it is worth your effort as

search engines (especially Google) rank sites based on how

many other sites link to it!



Links (more information on what to do, and what not to do):

- http://www.cashway.com/secrets_of_reciprocal_linking.htm

- http://www.reciprocallink.com/article1.html

- http://www.howipromotemywebsite.com/link-swaps



Tip: (see below)





4. JOIN A FREE BANNER-EXCHANGE PROGRAM



Place a banner ad. (or text ad.) on your site and other

sites will place your ad. on theirs in return. It's a great

way to get your site noticed, and there are many free banner

exchange programs to choose from.



Links:

- http://www.ukbanners.com

- http://www.bannersgomlm.com

- http://www.linkpartners.com

- http://www.txtswap.com/cgi-bin/txtswap/ea/aff.cgi?832

http://www.txtswap.com



Tip: (see below)





5. USE A SIGNATURE FILE



A signature file (sigfile) is a block of text that can be

appended to the end of each e-mail message sent by your e-

mail software. Use it in your e-mail, or whenever you

participate in discussion groups relevant to your services

or products (see below).



For example, I sometimes end emails I'm sending to a fellow

webmaster with the following text:



"Thanks,

Steve

---------------------------------------

Free webmaster articles help you build, promote

and profit online. Read them online or by email.

http://www.wise-buys.info/webmaster-articles.shtml

---------------------------------------"



Links:

- http://www.siglets.com/addasig.php



Tip: (see below)





6. POST A NEWSGROUP (OR FORUM) DISCUSSION



Somewhere, there's a newsgroup or forum involved in

discussions relevant to your site. You can find a great

variety of newsgroups at Google Groups, which allows you to

search all of the Usenet newsgroups for a particular term or

phrase.



Post a message to a suitable newsgroup using Outlook Express

(or other newsreader software), or via Google's news-group

site, or via the forum itself. Do follow the newsgroup

guidelines - but it is usually okay to use a signature file

with each of your posts.



Links (Google Groups):

- http://groups.google.com

- http://www.forum-tracker.com/

- http://www.webmasterworld.com/



Tip: (see below)







7. OFFER AN AFFILIATE PROGRAM



Affiliate programs are a win-win opportunity for you and

your potential partners (affiliates). Apart from the instant

sales force you develop, you create lots of links back to

your site and generally improve site exposure. Your

affiliates gain from adding products or services to sell on

their site.



Links:

- http://www.tradedoubler.com

- http://www.cj.com

- http://www.associateprograms.com



Tip: (see below)







8. PUBLISH AN E-ZINE



An e-zine (or newsletter) allows you to stay in touch with

your visitors. You can educate your visitors with how-to

articles (and so build trust in you and your organisation),

let them know about new offers, or just inform them about

site-improvements. Readers of your newsletter can become

regular visitors to your site, and good customers too. And

running a newsletter can cost little or nothing!



Links:

- http://www.topica.com

- http://groups.yahoo.com

- http://www.sparklist.com



Tip: (see below)





9. RUN A COMPETITION



Competitions are a great way of promoting your website, and

finding out more about your site's visitors in the process.

Offer a prize related to your website, and get people to

fill out an entry form (or even join your newsletter).



When it comes time to announce the winners, send an e-mail

to everyone with the winners name, and add items of interest

about your services and opportunities too.



Even better, there are sites that will actually promote your

online competition, giving your site even more exposure!



Links:

- http://www.theprizefinder.com/asp/addacompetition.asp



Tip: (see below)





10. WRITE A PRESS RELEASE



Press releases (news releases) are one of the most effective

ways to generate traffic to your site. If written well, they

can produce startling results. There are sites that give

advice on how to write a press release, and sites that will

compose and distribute your press release for you (and lots,

lots more).



Links:

- http://drnunley.com

- http://www.prweb.com/

- http://www.pressbox.co.uk



Tip: (see below)



--



So there you are: ten simple ways that you can promote your

website. All that's left to do now is to get out there and

do some promotin'. (So, what are you waiting for!?)



Website promotion.



Get back to basics!



PS To see example tips for each of the steps above simply

view this article online, at

http://www.free-website-promotion-course.net





© Copyright 2002-2004 Steve Nash. All Rights Reserved.