Website Promotion Guide
The staff of Tierra Hosting has developed this list of various channels you could use to promote your website to your potential customers and site users.
SEO
- Submit your website to search engines like Google, Bing, MSN, Dmoz, and many more.
- Make sure you do not submit your website more than once a month. Multiple submissions of the same URL to some search engines could be considered as spamming, which may ban you from being listed.
- Submit your website to web directories, into the relevant categories.
- Put your website link in your email signature.
- Sign e-mails with your desired job position for your website, for example: John Doe, CEO of Fun SIte. This will intrigue people into checking the link for your website.
- Forward interesting information – stories, photos, videos, and all kinds of mails to your friends (make sure they do not mind receiving such emails). Your friends will forward these mails to their friends.
Community
- Become a member of several forums and make sure you take an active part by posting your stories or comments
- Use a catchy username
- Put your website link in your forum signature
- Don’t overly promote your website - this will get you banned from most forums. Instead, participate in discussions by providing valuable information - this will make other users check out your profile and your website
Lenses
- Create lenses with popular sites like Squidoo. Make one lens for your website and make different lenses for items you may have for sale or offer to your users. Link all related lenses together
- Make useful comments on other people’s lenses. Your username will link back to your page, which links to all your lenses
- Submit your new lenses to Squoogle, tagfoot, Reddit, Digg, KaboodleThe Isle of Squid, Squidpedia, Stumpedia, Lensroll.com, Squiddit and more
- Use Lensroll to link to related lenses
Social Networks
- Join and participate in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and more
- Build a fan page in Facebook
- Promote your Facebook page on your website. Answer to all posted questions. Don’t delete negative opinions, answer them calmly
- Build a custom Facebook landing page and advertise your top offer. Consider running a Facebook game with rewards from your website - people will share your URL with their friends if they have a chance to win something. The awards can be in the form of various products or services, depending on your target audience
Tweeting
- Make an account in Twitter and tweet regularly
- Add Twitter to your website, store, blog, lens and more
- Include a Twitter application on your website, store, blog, Facebook page, lens
Social Bookmarking
- Bookmark all your stores, websites, blogs, lenses at del.icio.us, tagfoot and more
- StumbleUpon your stores, websites, blogs, lenses and more
- Give positive and useful reviews in StumbleUpon, tagfoot and more. Do not spam
Blogging
- Create your own blog using popular free platforms like Blogger, WordPress, MySpace, etc.
- Create posts about your website at least once a week and include links to your website's different pages
- Use good keywords in your blog titles
- Ping your blog to let search engines know of your blog updates. Use Icerocket, Weblogalot, Pingomatic, Pingoat, and more
- Offer different RSS / social bookmarking options on your blog like del.icio.us, StumbleUponand more
- Submit your blog to blog directories like Weblog Directory, We Blog a Lot, Kmax, and many many more
- Post useful and honest comments on other blogs
- Get guest writers for your blog. Write guest articles for other blogs and link back to your website. Write an ebook on a certain subject and provide it to users for free
Newsletters
- Create newsletters for your store. You could try with MailChimp or YourMailingListProvider
- Offer freebies or special deals to newsletter subscribers when they sign up. Remember to include your website address
- Keep an archive of your old newsletters on your website
- Promise your newsletter subscribers before they sign up that you will not sell or share their email with outside parties and that you will not spam them
- Let your subscribers know how often you will send them your newsletters before they sign up
- Put a newsletter opt-in form on your website / store / blog / lens
Press Releases
- Write and submit press releases/ articles
- Give good and useful comments in other people’s guestbooks
- Hold online contests on your website, stores, lenses or blogs. Give away your free stuff containing your links as presents
- Get other bloggers to write about your website. Example: PayPerPost
Know-how Sharing
- Become a contributor on Yahoo Answers, Answers.com, AllExperts, Wiki Answers, MyLot, and many more. Create a name for yourself.
Discussion Groups
- Take part in discussion groups using services like MySpace, Yahoo Groups, Microsoft Groups, Google Groups, Facebook, Kaboodle, and many many more
- Start an Internet war related to your website. Do not offend any person / company / brand / products. Be creative!
- Announce your Internet war via discussion groups, blogs, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Monkey Brain, popular forums and any other medium you can think of
- Do not start a flame war - this will generate negative opinions about you and your brand
Podcasts
- Create a podcast about your website and any products or store you may have
- Submit your podcast to iTunes, Odeo, Podcast Alley, PodOmatic, Podscope and more
- Post your podcast on your blog / website
Classifields
- Submit your website, store and products to classifieds. Put your advertisement where most of your customers and site visitors came from. Example: Kijiji, Ablewise, Craigslist and more
- Look for niche classifieds for your website or products and submit to them
- Submit your product feed, if you have a store, to Google Base
Photo Sharing
- Upload your website images to Flickr, BubbleShare, Fotolog and more
- Tag your photos at Flickr
- Join and participate in Kaboodle. Add in as much stuff from your website (products, etc) in Kaboodle as possible
Videos
- Embed or link any of the videos on your website in forums or any platforms where you actively participate
- Submit your videos to Metacafe, YouTube, Vimeo, MySpace, Digg Videos, AOL Video, Google Video, GoFish, Yahoo Video and more
- Remember to put your links in your video and also to use keywords and descriptions
- Monitor video comments - answer questions and delete spam
Links Exchange
- Exchange links with your competitors.
- Consider investing in a link exchange program with popular blogs
Paid Advertising
Affiliate Programs
- Use affiliate programs like ShareASale, Commission Junction, LinkShare and more; design standard banners with all kinds of sizes.
- Use the affiliate link in forums, blogs or social networks - this will increase the chance of bringing new affiliates.
Polls
Other
- Get your friends and family to include your website URL on their blogs. Get them to talk about your website and products for free. Engage in word-of-mouth marketing.
- Create some useful software that advertises your website and distribute it for free on your website
- Create a fun application that advertises your website. Distribute these applications for free. Example: tickers, avatars, banners, etc.
- Run an online forum
- Offer freebies with purchases. Make sure your freebies contain your company’s name, logo and the URL of your website
- Offer special discounts on subsequent purchases (if you have a store)
- Exchange links with yourself - between your website, store, blog, lenses, and more. Exchange only related links
- Write an e-book related to your website and products and advertise your website in your book. Distribute your ebook for free
- Consider running print ads in your local community
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