Marketing Your Website

Market my website? Why should I have to spend time and money marketing my website? It's supposed to be marketing my business!!!

That's how so many business owners feel, they spend a bit of money on their website design and then sit, doing nothing, waiting in vain for it to start paying dividends and bringing in the customers.

It's very simple really, nobody is going to come to your new site if they don't know about it - if they don't see mention of it, a link to it or aren't recommended it.

So how can you get your website noticed? Here's a list of the common methods you can use:

Traditional Ads & Marketing

Search Engines

Online Directories

Links Development Campaign

Participation in Online Discussion Forums

Article Submission

Pay Per Click

Banner Ads

Traditional Marketing

Magazine & newspaper ads, Yellow Pages, PR articles, leaflets & door drops, business cards, email signatures, company stationary, company vehicles, the front of your store. These and many more are places you can and should advertise your website's URL.

Search Engines

Getting to the top of a keyword search on the major search engines - Google, Yahoo etc. - is high on the wish list of most website owners. Unfortunately it's not something that will happen straightaway. It can take many months of adding content, getting links from other sites and optimising your content for keywords to get a high listing.

Online Directories

Directories are collections of website addresses that are collated by human beings. Most will charge a fee for inclusion, dmoz/odp is the one everyone wants to get listed in - it's free and will have a great effect on your search engine ranking, but expect to wait months if not years for a listing.

Links Development

This is one of the most powerful ways of promoting your site. It means getting other (hopefully related) sites to include links to yours. To get a link simply email the site owners and ask for one. Often you'll have to reciprocate the kindness i.e. link to their site as well but some will be happy to list your URL for nothing.

If you're a member of local business groups then don't forget to include your web address on their sites. What about all your suppliers, can you get a listing on theirs?

Not only will you get people visiting your site via all these links, you'll also improve your position on search engine listings (search engines algorithms take the number of links to your site to be an indication of its importance).

Discussion Forums

Another way you can attract attention is by participating in online discussion forums (to do with your area of expertise of course!). Most will allow you to include a website link in your signature, i.e. a link to your site in every post you make.

Article Submission

This is a brilliant way of getting noticed. If you don't have any problems writing essays then get your pen out! There are many sites that allow you to submit your articles for free and they should all allow you to include a resource section on yourself or company with a link back to your site.

Pay Per Click

Pay Per Click (PPC) is a very good way of driving traffic to a site in the short term. Google's dmoz/odp is one of the best known PPC systems around, dmoz/odp provide another.

When somebody searches for keywords in Google you get a list of 'sponsored links' on the right hand column (go to Google and search for 'catering work' and see the sponsored links on the right). The owners of the sites don't pay anything unless the person browsing clicks through to their site.

Banner Ads

It might be worth putting up a Banner Ads on sites you know your prospective clients are likely to visit. The ads, which will be made to click through to your website, come in GIF format or, increasingly, are created in Flash for a more striking and memorable ad.

Pricing is often Cost Per Click (CPC) but most common is Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM). CPM is related to how many people see your ad.

As you can see, there are many ways of building up traffic to your site. If you've got products, services or content that people want and you're willing to put some effort into some of these methods then you will soon start to see a rise in visitors.

Trevor Lewis has over 10 years in the Software Industry. He is currently a Senior Consultant at dmoz/odp. EMNM offer a range of new media design services including dmoz/odp and website design.

limo prices to midway Crystal Lake west of Randal .. Lockport Chicago limo O’Hare

In The News:

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

The number of people affected by a UnitedHealth data breach in February 2024 was actually higher than previously reported and was the largest medical data breach in U.S. history.

A phishing campaign uses Google Calendar to schedule fake meeting invitations that appear legitimate, redirecting targets to phishing sites.

Toll road text scam: Fake messages claim unpaid fees, seek payment via fraudulent links. Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson says this scam is becoming increasingly sophisticated and widespread.

Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson says these steps ensure that your friends and family get to the exact moment you want them to see. Try it out and streamline your sharing experience.

Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson offers tips on how to protect your identity: Be vigilant, monitor accounts, use smart security, know theft response.

Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson says cybercriminals are exploiting iMessage phishing protection, tricking users to reactivate links.

It's hard to imagine life without in-flight Wi-Fi these days – but sky-high web surfing comes with its own set of privacy concerns. Here's how to protect yourself.

Over 400,000 cases of credit card fraud were reported in 2024 to the Federal Trade Commission. The CyberGuy explains how to protect against becoming another victim.

A nondescript metal box transforms into a fully functional electric motorcycle that blurs the line between vehicle and urban infrastructure.

Many apps unrelated to location still ask users for tracking permission, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit seeking to end this alleged practice by Allstate.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Melody, the artificial intelligence-powered robot, is life-sized and represents a move toward creating robots that resemble people in appearance and interaction.

Here are five easy smartphone rules from the National Security Agency that you can follow to better protect your mobile device from hackers and scammers.

A U.S. robotics company has developed "Jennie," a robotic pet powered by artificial intelligence that's designed to comfort those facing mental health challenges.

Healthcare records for more than 184 million Americans were breached in 2024, but you can take steps to minimize that risk. Kurt the CyberGuy explains.

The Skyrider X1 from Rictor claims to be the "first amphibious flying passenger motorcycle," and it combines land and air travel in one sleek design.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Home inventory and restoration apps help itemize and track every item in your home in the event you have to make an insurance claim after a natural disaster.

The White House launched a new cybersecurity safety label, the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark, intended to help consumers make informed decisions on smart device safety.

Today's tech can help make life so much easier — if you know how to use it. Here are a few tips on the quickest and best ways to make your phone, laptop and other devices work for you.

Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson offers Windows 11 restart fixes: Update drivers, run system scans and check hardware.

Sony and Honda's Afeela 1 EV launches with advanced tech and entertainment for $89,900. Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson gives his takeaways.

With limited hard drive space, tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson offers these tips for storing large video files and photos.

Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson says the $236,000 Yangwang U9 electric hypercar boasts 1,287 horsepower and can jump obstacles.

Marketing Your Website

Web Site Promotion