Getting people to your site

The marketing of your web site is important if you want to draw visitors to your site. If you don't promote your web site no-one will ever see it. There are a number of different ways of advertising your web site. The best strategy is one, which integrates your existing promotion methods with your web site.

1. Office Stationery - Including your web address and email address on your stationery is probably the easiest way to draw attention to your site. It's cost effective and gets your Internet presence out there in the market place.

2. Business Cards - When printing business cards you should include the individual's email address and main address of your web site.

3. Radio Advertising - Radio Advertising should include your web address. Don't include the http://, try "Visit us on the internet at www.qikphone.com.". If your budget is limited, you may wish to consider community radios.

4. Email and Mail-Outs - Let your current customers know the details of your web site. You can either send them an email or a letter/postcard. Keep your web site's content up-to-date and they will keep coming back!

5. Print Media - Print advertising should include a generic email address for the company and include your web site address. Normally positioned at the bottom right or bottom center of your advertisement.

6. Search Engines & Directories - People looking for your web site who don't know the URL are most likely to use an on-line search engine to look for your organization or the kind of products and services you offer. There are over 300 major search engines and directories, but you should I concentrate on the larger, more commonly used ones. These include: Google, Yahoo, Altavista, Anzwers, Inktomi, Infoseek, Lycos, Excite, HotBot, MSN, Dogpile, AllTheWeb etc.

7. Links from other web sites - A good way to attract visitors to your site is through the use of hyperlinks placed on other sites. If you know of another site which has a list of links and you think your web site would be a good addition, let the web site owner know. You might also offer to provide a link from your site back to the other site. This will encourage the web master to include your site. You should also seek out partners for trading links including vendors, suppliers and providers of complimentary products.

8. Link Exchange - Another way to getting a link is through a system called Link Exchange, a free public service designed to help web sites advertise each other. With Link Exchange, you agree to display advertising banners for other Link Exchange members and they agree to display banners for you. The System is automatic, you simply add a piece of HTML code to your web page and Link Exchange will display an advertisement for another web site. The disadvantage with Link Exchange is that you don't get any control as to where your banner ad appears or the type of banner ads that will appear on your web site. It is not possible to guarantee that a competitor of yours may have their banner ad displayed on your site.

9. Paid Banner Advertising/Affiliate Marketing Programs - Various sites give you the opportunity to purchase banner advertising on their site. Some sites will charge you a flat monthly fee while other sites will charge you based on the number of people who see your ad.

by Ivana Katz