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Promoting Your Small Business Web Site
From AllBusiness.com*
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The success of your business Web site ultimately depends on its quality and value, not just
on your marketing skills. But if no one knows about your site, they´ll never get the chance to
judge it. And with hundreds of thousands of sites clamoring for attention, it´s all too easy
for your emerging company to get drowned out by all the noise.
Short of spending millions of dollars to broadcast commercials during the Super Bowl, there´s
no surefire way to rise above the crowd. But there are plenty of things you can do to make your
Web site more visible.
Register with the search engines. Search engines and directories such as Yahoo and Google constantly look for new sites, but you can speed the process by submitting your own site. You can notify
each search site individually, or you can use one of several free services that submit your site
to multiple search engines. For maximum exposure, some paid services charge anywhere from $30
to more than $100 to submit your site to hundreds of search engines covering every conceivable
topic.
Optimize for the search engines. At its most basic, this involves giving your Web pages
accurate titles, using meta tags that describe what´s on your pages, and placing key information
at the top of each page. These techniques have spawned a cottage industry of companies -- some
more scrupulous than others -- that claim to help your site show up higher in search engine results.
Some of these services go too far, trying to trick search engines into ranking sites higher than
their content would justify. It may sound tempting to "fix" search results in your favor, but
the search engines constantly tweak their ranking formulas to frustrate these manipulators.
Buy and trade ad banners. The one thing you know about your audience is that they´re
online, so it makes sense to advertise to them online. If you have the budget, you can buy banner
advertising campaigns on other sites for prices ranging from $.01 to $.10 or more per ad impression.
If you can´t muster the funds for a big-time online ad campaign, consider trading banners with
other sites. You can do this directly, or you can use a banner exchange service that arranges
the trades for you.
Newsgroups and mailing lists. Usenet newsgroups are a great way to spread the word
about your site for free. Just be sure to do so responsibly and avoid spamming, or you´ll make
more enemies than friends. With thousands of newsgroups to choose from, it´s important to find
the ones that match the interests of your audience. Don´t violate a newsgroup´s customs; while
some groups welcome commercial messages, others strongly discourage them.
Email lists. These are another great way to publicize your site. Again, avoid spamming
by sending email only to people who request information. Try to build a list of loyal readers
by including useful content in your messages, not just promotional fluff.
Go offline. The Web is big, but its audience remains small compared to traditional
media. Don´t get so enamored of cyberspace that you ignore the real world -- make them work together.
Be sure you have a good, easy-to-remember URL and plaster it everywhere you can. It should appear
on every bit of marketing material that your company produces, from business cards to brochures.
Cultivate the media. Finally, remember that the best promotion is something you can´t
buy -- but if you´re clever you can get the media to give it to you. Make sure that you alert
the trade, business and general media to new developments or innovations on your site -- or to
anything else you do that might be newsworthy. A good PR campaign can help build momentum and
jumpstart critical word-of-mouth popularity for your site.
* AllBusiness.com provides
resources to help small and growing businesses start, market, manage and expand their business.
The site has Forms & Agreements, Business Guides, a Platinum Program and Business Directories
along with an extensive library of Articles and Advice to help with all of the activities associated
with starting and running a business. Copyright © 1999 - 2005 AllBusiness.com, Inc., All Rights
Reserved.
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