101 Ways to Promote your Web Site

by Robert Earls

Having a website which nobody visits can be a very expensive waste of time and money, not to mention the frustration it causes. You need your website to be successful or there is no point in having one except for vanity sake. This is where "101 Ways to Promote your Web Site" comes in.

Some of the subjects author Susan Sweeney covers, include

• Planning and creation of your website
  
  • Defining your objectives
    
  • Defining your target market
    
  • Storyboarding your website.
  Perfecting your website before you start marketing it is a trap that a lot of businesses fall into. Sweeney delves into the aesthetic and technical aspects and give a good run down on very common mistakes to avoid which turn customers away.

• Encouraging repeat visitors
  
  • "What's new" pages, "tip of the day"
    
  • Contest and competitions
    
  • Discussion groups and community building.
    
  • More ...
  A much undervalued area of online marketing is getting people to visit your site again and again. Some of the highest traffic websites on the internet do so by creating a community or offering new and interesting content. If every time someone comes to your website, it's the same old thing, then they will find more interesting sites.

• Search Engines
  
  • Designing your website to be search engine friendly
    
  • Submitting your website to search engines and directories
    
  • Pay per click inclusion
  A number of chapters are devoted to search engines marketing and it's a very good introduction to what is quite a large and constantly evolving subject. A lot of good on line best-of-breed resources are mentioned which will further your knowledge in this field.

• Email marketing
  
  • Mailing lists
    
  • Dos and don'ts of signature files
    
  • Autoresponders
  You should not underestimate the power of having a list of people who have expressed an interest in your products. Marketing to a random selection of people will only bring a small fraction of potential buyers. But being able to contact a large group of people, (with their permission), who you know are already interested will be much, much more effective. There are a number of chapters which discuss the issues and effective solutions to problems in this area of marketing. Although the legal issues raised concerning unsolicited commercial email (UCE) or spam are related to US laws (this being an US book) similar legislation is in place in the UK.

• Other forms of marketing
  
  • Affiliate marketing
    
  • Winning awards and "Cool Sites" etc
    
  • Banner adverts
    
  • On-line press relations
    
  • Web rings
    
  • Webcasting
    
  • etc

This book covers an awful lot of ground. There are 28 chapters, over 429 pages, and each of them covers a subject in a readable, common sense manner. Each packed with useful information, pitfalls to avoid, examples, and recommendations of tools and websites for further information.

This is a very effective book which, if all the advice is taken and acted upon, then your website cannot fail to increase its traffic.

Highly recommended.

"101 Ways to Promote your Web Site" is written by Susan Sweeney, and published by Maximum Press. The new edition of the book will shortly be available.

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