Exposing

1
Exposing Promoting

• If you design it, will they come? Only through
  exposing and promoting your site can it be
  successful.

Obj. 7.02
2
Attracting Visitors

• Signature FileCreate an AutoSignature for all
  your e-mails. The file is a prewritten identifier
  placed at the end of each e-mail message you send
  with your companys URL and information. This
  simply file will help ensure that everyone will
  see your company information.
• Search EnginesSubmit your site to at least the
  top 10-20 search engines.
  
• There are numerous companies that will promote
  your site to a large number of search engines on
  a monthly basis. There is a fee but it can give
  you much wider exposure.
• It is important to change your listing frequently
  (monthly) so that you will garner new visitors.
  
• Meta TagsThese are tags that are placed in the
  HEAD section of your XHTML home page. They tell
  the search engines what is on your site. These
  should be updated frequently to give more
  opportunities for greater number of visitors.

3
Exposing and Promoting

• Banner ExchangeBanner exchanges are a good way
  to bring in small amounts of traffic to your
  site. The only draw back is that you have to
  place a banner from the exchange on your site.
  If you run a business site, this may not be the
  best thing for you because it tends to take away
  from the professionalism of your page. Check
  these out below
• BannerClicks
• Link Exchange
• Banner Swap
• Smart Clicks

4
Exposing and Promoting

• Web RingsWeb rings are similar to the banner
  exchanges except that web rings tailor to your
  site more. Web rings group sets of similar pages
  together. Check them out at www.webring.org.
• LinkingLinking your page with other pages on the
  net that are similar is one of the best ways to
  gain traffic. Go to the major search engines and
  search for pages similar to yours. Go to these
  pages and send the owner an email telling them
  your page address and description of your site.
  Ask them to put a link to your page on their link
  page in exchange for a link back to them on your
  link page. Most people will be glad to do this,
  and it really will increase traffic to your
  site.
• Newsletter (ezine)Start a newsletter on your
  home page. Put a form on your web page to allow
  viewers to send you their e-mail address to join
  your free newsletter. It does not have to be an
  extensive document, just simple updates. This
  creates a sense of community for your site and
  keeps people coming back.

5
Exposing and Promoting

• News GroupsThere are numerous news groups and
  list serves on the web that relate to different
  topics. Find one that relates to your site and
  join. News groups are free and available to most
  web surfers. Take an active role in each news
  group you join by submitting letters to them on a
  regular basis.
• AwardsThis is a great way to obtain short bursts
  of high traffic. Submit your site for all the
  awards you can. Each time you win one your site
  will gain a temporary burst of traffic because
  most award sites place you on their winners
  page.
• Guest BooksMost sites have a guest book. When
  you find one on the net, sign it using your home
  page address. You will also want to include a
  guest book on your site to collect names of
  prospective customers for future contact.

6
Exposing and Promoting

• Page TitleChanging the title tag in your home
  page every few weeks and resubmitting to search
  engines will help increase new traffic to your
  site. The name of your site might be
  Helicopters and the second month it could be
  Helicopter Info. Next change it to Learning
  about Helicopters, etc. The search engines will
  think these are different pages and place them
  differently, while optimizing your listing on the
  browsers.
• Free StuffOffer something free to your customers
  such as free information, free report, etc.
  Offer a free listing on your link page. Try to
  keep it within the bounds of your sites subject
  matter. This will make people get in touch with
  you and create a sense of realness to your
  site. This way you get to interact with people
  that come to your site and they can get a feel
  for your business.
• Ezine AdvertisingAdvertise in all the ezines
  (electronic magazines) you can afford! This is a
  great way to target your market and they offer
  the highest response rate for your money. Some
  charge as little as 10 dollars per ad. You can
  find them by going to your favorite search engine
  and typing in ezine.

7
Exposing and Promoting

• Offline Free Advertising
• Press Release--Write an article about your
  company and send it to local newspaper editors
  and be sure to have your website address included
  within the article. This type of press release
  can be beneficial to your business.
• Mailing ListsA mailing list is a group of
  individuals who receive communications by e-mail.
  The two types of lists that are common on line
  are discussion lists and announcement lists.
  Also, use the information you receive from your
  guest book.
• Mailing ListsYou can find discussion forms and
  access more than 90,000 mailing lists at Liszt.
  Reference.com enables you to easily find, browser
  search and participate in more than 150,000
  newsgroups, mailing lists, and web forums. Lists
  can be purchased by any demographics you select.
• Remember Your eCommerce business is a
  reflection of your creativity. You must spread
  the word for your business to prosper and grow.