Promote Your Site Every Day

You want traffic at your site, but with so many new websites
added every day it isn't easy. The only solution is to promote
your site, each and every day...

Here are 7 promotion methods for you to try, one for each day of
the week:

=> Day 1 - Submit Your Site To A Search Engine

No big surprises with this promotion method; just submit your
site to a new search engine, or directory. It is best to
concentrate on the major search engines and directories, and add
your site to minor search engines as and when you discover them.

Do try to keep a log of just when and where you submit your site.

- http://www.HowIPromoteMyWebsite.com/bin/ap.pl?search-engines
- http://jimtools.com/submit.html

=> Day 2 - Post A Newsgroup Discussion

There are newsgroups, bulletin boards or forums on just about
every subject imaginable. A good place to start is
http://groups.google.com which allows you to search all of the
Usenet newsgroups for a particular term or phrase.

Post a message online, via Google, or offline using Outlook
Express (or similar). Follow the forum or newsgroup guidelines,
when you start a discussion or answer someone's query. It *is*
okay to mention your website in a 2-line signature, though.

Newsgroups and forums also prove a good place for you to get
known and develop trust.

=> Day 3 - Swap Links With Other Sites

Links make the World Wide Web go around; they also improve your
search-engine ranking! One way of achieving lots of links to your
site is to swap links with other sites. There is an excellent
article on link-swapping at http://www.bannertips.com/howto.shtml
but basically:

- Identify sites with similar content to yours
- Request a reciprocal link (be polite, and use webmaster's
name)
- Create a "Links" section on your site and put the links there.

=> Day 4 - Write A Testimonial

Writing favourable comments - testimonials - about another
website could make you an instant online friend (we all respond
well to flattery after all!). This could lead to a link-swap or
even a possible joint venture (see Day 6).

Just review their website (or product), and write about the
benefits you gain from the site in specific terms (so it sounds
like you're actually talking about *their* site). Just be honest
and tell them what you like.

=> Day 5 - Be An Expert, Have An Opinion

Believe it or not people are interested in what *you* have to
say! Several websites are even willing to pay you for your
opinion! (And we all have an opinion, don't we!) Remember, it's
good to talk, especially if your listeners then visit your
website!

If you *really know your stuff*, you can become an 'expert' at
several sites. You may have to write articles on your subject of
expertise, or just answer questions from site-visitors. Either
way *you* gain more exposure, and your site gains more exposure
too.

Opinion sites: http://www.epinions.com
http://www.dooyoo.co.uk

Expert site: http://www.askanexpert.com/

=> Day 6 - Start A Joint Venture

A joint venture can be as simple as joining an affiliate program.
But basically you sponsor another's product and take a share in
the profits. Joint ventures can also improve 'site-stickiness'.

You need to:

a) CONTACT webmasters who market similar products/services and
ask them if they would be interested in offering
yours. Share the profits, and it's a win-win situation.
b) PROMOTE another webmasters' product or service (something
you believe in) to your subscribers or customers.

=> Day 7 - Follow Up!

No new websites to visit here; no new methods of promotion. Just
an opportunity to measure the success (or otherwise) of the
previous 6-days' efforts. This is a time to follow-up and perhaps
plan for the next 6-days.

=> And If All Goes Well...

If all goes well then just take a break, but if you're really
keen, however, you *could* take a look at some of these other
promotion methods too:

* Encourage visitors to bookmark your site
* Use pay-per-click search engines
* Write a press release
* Run a competition
* Create great content, and allow others to use it
* Create an online community

- http://www.HowIPromoteMyWebsite.com
- http://www.iboost.com
- http://www.sitepoint.com

Good luck,
Steve Nash