Web Site Start-up and Promotion

Web Site Start-up and Promotion
Guide For Professionals
By Milana Leshinsky

The biggest problem I've always had promoting my web site is keeping myself focused. After all, what should I be doing? Publishing my own e-zine, placing classified ads, looking for link exchange partners, writing articles... My head is beginning to spin just from trying to list all the promotion strategies available today!

But when my friend who is just putting her professional practice on the Internet asked me, "Milana, what should I do now?", it all became very clear: don't spread yourself thin. Choose up to 2 ways to promote your web site and do it for at least 1 month to see if it's effective.

I wrote a brief plan for her to follow this month and I wanted to share it with you. This strategy focuses on writing and thankfully most professionals - coaches, consultants, writers and speakers - are very good when it comes to communicating thoughts on paper.

You must set aside approximately 3-4 hours a week (which is nothing compared to how much time most online business owners spend) and stick to the plan.

Do not try to implement any other strategies at this time. If you get an idea, write it down and try it later. If nothing else, this plan will surely bring your site steady growing traffic. Ready?

1. Create a simple 2-5 page web site. Use an easy-to-use web page editor, such as free Netscape Composer which is available from the Netscape web site. Place your sales copy on the main page and use other pages for information about you, your other products and whatever else you would like your visitors to see.

IMPORTANT: For this strategy, please offer something free on your web site via an autoresponder. Use GetResponse.com to be able to automatically follow up with people who download your free gift.

Since this promotion strategy will generate a good amount of traffic to your site, you MUST capture your visitors' e-mails or else you will waste the traffic to your site. Mention to them that you will be sending occasional mailings and that they can always leave your list.

2. Add TITLE and META tags to your web pages and submit them to major Search Engines. Make sure these tags are short and mention only what's relevant. Ask yourself, what word or phrase would I type in the Search Engine if I was looking for my product?

Below is the list of "Submit Site" addresses for most of them:

Lycos
AltaVista
Google
Northern Light
Ask Jeeves
AlltheWeb
HotBot

3. Locate up to 20 e-zines that target the same audience that you do. Make sure they accept articles. Create a text file and record their e-mail address (where you will send your articles), e-zine's title and publisher's name.

TIP: If you want to save even more time in the long run, enter all this data into a mailing list program so all you have to do is click the "Send" button and your articles will be sent to everyone on the list.

Now your web site is set up and the promotion strategy is in place. The rest of the plan will have to be implemented weekly to be effective.

4. Write one quality and informative article a week of interest to your target audience and do the following:

- Add a resource box to the article about you & your product
- Add TITLE and META tags to it and submit to Search Engines
- Post your article on your web site for content
- Submit it to the e-zine list you generated earlier
- Submit it to article directories and lists

Here is a list of the most popular article directories and lists:

Yahoo Article Announce
Yahoo Free Content
EzineArticles.com
AuthorConnection.com
GoArticles.com
Internet Clinic
NetterWeb.com
WebPromote.com
MakingProfit.com
ArticleCentral.com
World Wide Information Outlet

5. Locate up to 3 popular forums where your target audience hangs out. Post replies to their questions up to 1 hour a week. Leave your web site link (or specific article link) behind so people know who you are and why they should listen to your advice.

Follow this plan for at least 4 weeks. Make sure your articles are of high quality and offer a solution to a problem that your target customers might be facing. If your articles are published, expect an increase in traffic to your web site. And, your freebie should take care of capturing your visitors e-mails.

Your follow-up messages should introduce your products or services. As always, make sure your subscribers can leave your list at any time.

About The Author
Milana Leshinsky is a professional web developer, and the author of web design manuals for beginners: Create Your First Business Web Site in 10 days and Mesmerizing Website Power.