Building a Great Web Site - Part 3 of 4 - Web Site Marketing (4/4/2007)
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In the last article I talked about building the layout and navigational elements of a web site. In this article I'll talk about how to market your web site and artwork on the Internet.
Build It and They Will Come
Okay so now you've got a nifty web site and you're waiting for the cash to roll in. Only it doesn't. Even though a web site is on the internet, it doesn't mean anyone can find it. You have to tell them about it.
There are many ways to achieve this, and I recommend all of them: Search Engines, Directories, Email, and Link Building.
Search Engines
Search engines don't automatically know about your web site. You have to tell them where it is. Most work through some form of URL Submit. The three most important are Google, Yahoo and MSN. Each one works a bit different, so I'll explain each:
Google
Google is the largest and most used search engine on the planet. It is easy to use, and can drive a lot of traffic to your web site. Google's submission system is easy too, just go to the Google Add URL page, type in your web site address, type in the confirmation code and within 2 weeks to 2 months you'll be listed on Google.
Yahoo
Yahoo is the second largest search engine. It is a bit more time consuming to get listed with Yahoo, but worth the effort. You need to create a Yahoo account first, which you can do on the Yahoo Sign up page.
Once you have an account, you can submit web sites for inclusion in the Yahoo directory. You can submit new web sites to Yahoo here. It may take a few months before you are listed with Yahoo, so don't freak out if you aren't listed right away.
MSN
MSN is the third largest search engine, and also the quickest to get you listed. I've had websites get listed in less than a week. You can submit your web site to MSN here. The process is almost identical to Google's.
The Other Search Engines
There are several other web search engines you can also opt to submit your web site too. There are too many to go into detail about, but I'll list a few places you might consider submitting too.
Directories
Directories are a broad term that refers to any site that's sole purpose is to categorize web sites. One of the biggest is DMOZ, also known as the Open Directory Project. Getting listed on DMOZ, gets you listed on several other web site directories like AOL, Netscape, and many others.
DMOZ is really hard to get listed on, and may take several attempts, trying many different categories. The reason is that it is edited by volunteers, and often times there are no volunteers for a specific category. Try to find categories that you're web site will fit in, but also have editors. So many categories don't have regular volunteers though, that you might have to submit your site to a category that doesn't have one. Check back monthly, you can search DMOZ for your site by typing your web site address into their search box. If your web site doesn't come up, your not listed.
To get listed on DMOZ, start by finding a category on their web site that fits with your web site. Once you find a suitable category, look at the top of that page. Every valid category page on DMOZ has a “suggest URL” link. Click on that link and fill out the form.
Email
Another easy way of getting some traffic to your web site is to send out an email. Collect the email addresses of all your friends, family and clients, and send them a quick note telling them about your new web site.
Link Building
Most search engines work by examining the links to and from web sites. The more links from related web sites to your web site the better. Cultivating these links are hard work, but well worth the effort.
One strategy that a lot of web marketer's use is to send a "Link Exchange" email to any web site that is related to the web site they are promoting. Finding these web sites, and the contact information on them, is what takes up most of your time. Start with web sites you already frequent, and work out from their.
That should give you a working knowledge of web site promotion. Remember, that the more time you spend link building, the better your web site will appear on the search engines. In the next and final edition of the Building a Great Web Site series, I’ll talk about keeping your web site visitors coming back.
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