Marketing Your Website

“If you build it, they will come” does NOT apply to websites

Marketing your website is as important as designing it — how will you get people to see all your information if they don’t know about it?

Getting your site to show in online directories is an important step in getting your site seen. There are ways to verify and push your new site to Google and Bing – but there is no way to do this instantly. You should list your site with SuperPages.com, Google, Bing and Yahoo. Websites will usually get listed with Google and Yahoo on their own, but it will take longer. After you submit your site, it can take 3 – 12 weeks before it is listed.

Additional Marketing Tips

  • As you develop a list of favorite vendors, put their name & web address on your site (AS APPROPRIATE! and as long as they will put YOUR link on their site) will help increase your traffic & listing.
  • Search for organizations on the web that are similar to yours, and see what sites link to them. Send an email to the webmasters of these sites telling them that you think they should link to your organization as well. Tell them which page(s) of theirs you would like to be linked from. The more sites that link to your web site, the greater your ranking on sites like Google.
  • Announce the website on appropriate online discussion groups (however, please remember your netiquette and don’t announce it in online discussion groups that are not related to your organization). Any search engine can help you find appropriate online discussion groups.
  • Ask friends, family, employees, etc. to visit the pages of your web site via their own personal web computers! This can be helpful locally as well as friends and family worldwide. If it’s appropriate, ask these people to forward your website link to their friends. Getting LOTS of visits to your site in the first few weeks is very helpful to getting your site noticed by the Search Engines. (Asking for their input on your site can be helpful too.)

Offline Marketing

Offline marketing of your web site is JUST AS IMPORTANT as online marketing of your site. Remember to add your website address to:

  • All literature and publications (business cards, letterhead, newsletters, fax cover sheets, etc.) It is as important as your organization’s physical mailing address and phone number
  • Your organization’s telephone voice mail message
  • Display ads in magazines and newspapers
  • If you write an article for a publication, ask that your organization’s web site address appears with your name or bio at the beginning or end of the article
  • When talking to the press, remember to mention your website address
  • Within the text of all press releases
  • On all t-shirts, posters, buttons and other items given to the public. Make the address LARGE and easy-to-read from a distance!
  • On all signage for your business or organization: storefront glass, trade show banners, even your car or truck