Marketing Your Web Site

							by: Lynn Holter

Congratulations! Your Web Site is finished! Now what? Your first instinct is to submit to every
search engine possible and leave it up to them to bring traffic to your site. Despite what you may
have been told, it doesnt happen quite that way. Yes, you will need to submit to the search
engines, and they will eventually bring traffic your site. It will take anywhere from 3 6 months
for a search engine to even get you listed. After that another year or so to make it to the top of
the listings, that is, if you are extremely diligent in promoting to them monthly and following all
the different rules for each search engine.

There are several ways to market your web site yourself. Your marketing efforts will yield more
results than any other form of marketing.

Include your URL on the following

      Business Cards I cannot stress enough the importance of putting your URL on your
       business cards!
      Letterhead also on envelopes.
      Anything your company uses such as statements, invoices, order forms, etc.
      Anything that your company publishes or advertises.
      Anything your company prints and sends out to people such as fax cover sheets.
      Include a plug with your Phone Message Service like: visit our web site at
       yourwebsite.com.
      Window stickers and Bumper stickers.

Basically put your web site address on anything you would put your company name on.

Check your Chamber of Commerce. Find out if they have a web site you can add your URL to.
Find out if your town has a Visitors Information center. Find out if you can list your business
with them. Also find out if you can leave brochures or business cards at the center for people to
browse when they visit.

Include your web site URL in your email signature. This way your site URL is being sent to
everyone who receives an email from you or anyone in your company.

Keep the lines of communication open with your web designer. Remember it will take a joint
effort to make your web site successful. Be willing to provide information your designer will
need in the creation of your site.

This article was posted on January 20, 2004