Seven Steps to Successful Website Promotion

One of the most common misconceptions in business today is the notion that once you have a website developed with great content, packed with information, and pleasing to the eye, that one need only sit back and watch the business roll in.

Obviously this isn't the case, since otherwise I wouldn't have taken the time to write this little ditty!!!

The fact is that you can have the best, most entertaining website in cyberspace, and nobody is going to see it if they don't know how to find it.

Here are 7 tips you can use to promote your website.  Most of them cost little or nothing at all to implement.

Display your address on your correspondence and promotional material

Your URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of your website. A full URL looks something like this: http://www.mysite.com. Your URL should appear on every piece of correspondence you send out. It should appear on your business cards, on your stationery, on your brochures, and on every single piece of e-mail you send. For printed material leave off the http://, but for e-mail correspondence leave it on, because on most e-mail readers, adding this http:// turns the address into "clickable link".

In addition, your e-mail address that's included on e-mail correspondence should include the word "Mailto:" (without the quotes) immediately before your e-mail address. There should be no space between Mailto: and your address, for instance, Mailto:Info@WeddingPros.org. Adding this Mailto: tag makes your e-mail address clickable in most e-mail readers.

This concept extends to your print advertising and bridal show participation as well. Your bridal show booth should be promoting your website and the magazines you advertise in. Your magazine ads should display your web address as well as your e-mail address. And your web site should promote the magazines you advertise in as well as the bridal shows that you participate in. When used together the total benefit is definitely greater than the sum of the parts.

List your website with Search Engines

Most people find information on the net through the use of search engines. There are literally hundreds of different search engines on the Internet, and more are appearing every day. In most cases (and in the case of ALL of the major search engines), submissions are free. The major engines to submit to are:

Each of these search engines have a link that reads "Add URL", or "Suggest A Site", Add A Site", or something like that. Click the link and follow the directions.

It's usually best if you have a few pre-prepared descriptions of your business ready, each a different length. It's suggested that you have a descriptions in 15, 25, 50 and 75 word paragraphs.  Most of the time you will be asked to provide this information, and it's easiest if you have them pre-prepared before starting your project. Make sure you include your company specific keywords and phrases in your descriptions.

It should be noted that there are companies and software available that say they will submit your URL to thousands of search engines for you. We do not recommend their use. Although they may indeed submit your site, there is no guarantee that the submission will be received and accepted properly. You stand a much better chance of getting quality rankings by submitting everything by hand. It is tedious, but you get the best results. Start with the majors, and work your way down to the smaller engines. The exception to this are companies that will guarantee you a particular ranking based on certain keywords, but their fees can be rather steep.

Use Newsgroups

Usenet newsgroups are an excellent way of getting your company's name out to a large group of prospective clients, but there are a number of caveats.

The three major wedding related newsgroups are:

Unlike most newsgroups, direct advertising is encouraged on Alt.Wedding.Marketplace. Advertising is why the newsgroup was created. It is suggested that you submit ads to Alt.Wedding.Marketplace 3-4 times per month. It's important to remember that most people will find your ad based on Usenet archive sites like http://www.deja.com/ , so it's important to have ALL relevant information and keywords in your posts. Remember that Usenet is an international forum, so make sure you include your location information and the states that you serve.

On the other hand, advertising is strictly forbidden on the other two newsgroups. However, this is not to say that wedding vendors shouldn't participate on the other groups. These groups are frequented by brides and grooms who are looking for answers to their problems and questions, (and seeking to vent a little frustration about the whole process).

At any rate, vendor participation is encouraged as long as you don't go out of your way to blatantly advertise. If you restrict yourself to answering the questions that are asked in a straightforward manner, the participants of the group will seek you out as a reputable vendor who knows how to play by the rules.

Remember that you ARE permitted to use a four line signature file on your responses. Your signature file should include your name, company name, location (remember that the internet is an international forum), your e-mail address and your website URL. Remember to include the http:// part so your website becomes a "clickable link".

For more information on vendor participation on newsgroups, refer to the article posted at www.WeddingPros.org/articles/vendor_participation_on_usenet.htm.

Purchase Banner Ads

Banner advertising can be an excellent way to drive traffic to your site, and it can also be a glorious waste of money. The key is to find a pertinent, popular website where prospective clients might frequent. There are literally thousands of wedding related websites on the net, some more popular than others.

A good way to identify the most popular ones is to go to a major search engine and type simple keywords like "wedding, vendor, Maryland". Check the results and visit the pages that appear in the top 10. Some of these sites may well offer banner space for sale. There are a number of sites that offer free listings as well. Participate in as many of these as you can find, since the more links there are to your site helps greatly in determining the ranking your site may receive on certain search engines.

Negotiate "Reciprocal Links"

The concept of a reciprocal link is simple. You provide a link to someone's webpage from your site, and they provide one from theirs to yours.

Obviously there are a few qualifiers here.

First, you probably don't want to provide links to your immediate competition. Notice I said "immediate". There's nothing wrong with a limo company in Maryland exchanging links with a limo company in California. You're not in direct competition with each other, (theoretically).

Second, you should make sure that your links to other sites open a NEW window in the visitor's browser. That is, your page is still active, and a new window opens if they click on one of your links. Otherwise they might not find their way back to you.

Third, make sure you use a separate page for your links. You don't want to put links to other sites on your home page...make people dig into your site a bit in order to get to them.

Write articles for other sites

Nothing advertises your company better than showing the world just how much you know about your business. Take the time to write an article about the business you're in. A great many wedding related websites accept submissions such as this and will provide a summary of your company and a link to your site in exchange for the rights to use your article on their site.

The first place you should consider doing this is on the AWP website, where members are encouraged to author articles for the general public on their area of expertise. Remember that this information is submitted and indexed by search engines as well, so when someone is looking for information on Bridal Consultants, if they come across an article on the advantages of using a consultant, (as opposed to a plethora of ads from other consultants), guess which one they're going to click through to?

Direct E-Mail

There is no more cost effective form of advertising than direct e-mail. Most wedding businesses have access to mailing lists containing e-mail addresses. Bridal magazines and bridal shows in the area all offer lists with this information.

When someone registers with a magazine or at a bridal show they are implicitly giving permission for you as an advertiser or exhibitor to send them information, and this includes e-mail. However, we all receive unwanted, unsolicited e-mail, and get rather perturbed when it clogs up our in-boxes and makes it difficult to find our real mail.

For this reason, care must be taken to make your mailing piece appear informative and professional. If you plan multiple mailings to the same group of addresses you should also allow them to "opt-out" by sending a return reply asking to be removed from the list. Make sure you promptly take care of these requests.

You should also tell them how and where you got their name. Although this isn't required, it goes a long way in the credibility department and presents your company in the best light possible.  Spam is everywhere, and you do not want to be perceived as being just another spammer harvesting e-mail addresses from whatever source you can find.   Note:  Under NO circumstances should you harvest e-mail addresses from Usenet newsgroup posts.  It might be tempting, but please, resist the temptation.   It will do you far more harm than good!!!

When sending information to a large group of people, use the "BCC" (Blind Carbon Copy) option of your mail program. This hides the other e-mail addresses from the other recipients, and helps to ensure the privacy of the recipients. It also helps avoid overly large headers that can make reading a message rather difficult.

Make sure your "Subject:" line is catchy. A catchy Subject will entice the recipient to read on. Otherwise your message quickly goes the way of other unsolicited mail...straight to the recycle bin. Be aware that certain phrases are automatically filtered by certain software packages. Avoid the use of stock phrases, words, and symbols like "$$$", "best value", "you've won", and above all, "FREE". Yes, you can use these in your text if you want, but to use them in your Subject line will frequently send you straight to the recycle bin without even being seen.

Closing

It is hoped that these tips will assist you in bringing quality visitors to your web site.  Most of them require only an investment of time.  Fortunately this time does not have to be continuous.  My suggestion is to first make sure you create a quality signature file and make sure you use it automatically. 

Then assign yourself the task of submitting your site to at least one search engine each day. This is a minimal undertaking, requiring less than 15 minutes each day.

Sign on to the Usenet groups at least 2-3 times a week and scan the headers for topics that you can respond to with authority.

By using these guidelines you should be able to increase the traffic to your site significantly.  Whether or not they stay there and read all you have to offer is another story though, one that is best addressed in another article.

Stay tuned!!!

As CEO of Kimbell Consulting in Gaithersburg, Md, Steve Kimbell has been active on the internet for over 10 years. Specializing in web site design, support, and analysis for the wedding and music industry, the company offers on-site training for do-it-yourselfers, web site analysis for existing sites, and complete custom designed websites. The company can be reached at (301) 258-9382, or via e-mail at Info@KimbellConsulting.com .  Steve also performs with and manages the wedding band "Oracle", designing and maintaining their website.