steps to promote

The 5 key steps to promoting your website

Promoting your website can seem like a daunting, complicated
task. The truth of it is that it's not a trivial undertaking. But
with some well laid plans, you can be sure that you're leaving no
stone unturned and working toward the best possible results.

Step 1: Preparation

Prepare your website for the search engines

This is a critical phase where elements such as keyphrase
selection and web page optimization come into play. Whether you have
a website already or not, this is where you need to start. Your site
must be prepared and optimized to ensure that when the major search
engines and directories visit your site, they index it properly and
favourably.

Step 2: Popularity

Establish a network of incoming links from other sites

It is crucial that you establish plenty of quality, relevant
links to your site. This typically means approaching websites in
your industry (be they indirect competitors, vendors, suppliers or
directory owners) and asking for a link, or offering to exchange
links. Having a strong initial link popularity greatly increases the
chances that the major search engines will find you before you even
let them know you’re out there. During this phase you should also
consider purchasing pay-for-inclusion memberships at some of the
major directories. Although the costs can add up and typically need
to be renewed yearly, the links that they provide are often
extremely valuable.

Step 3: Broadcasting

Let the search engines and directories know about your site

This step is essentially web site submission. You should be
submitting not only your site, but all pages within your site to the
major search engines and directories. You can do this both manually
and automatically (if you have the tools). Getting listed with the
major players typically takes anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks. As such,
you should continue this step until all your pages are indexed on
all the search engines. But be careful: once a page is indexed,
don’t keeping submitting it to that search engine; your work there
is done.

Step 4: Advertising

Purchasing of targeted visitors across the web

This step involves elements such as pay-per-click campaigns,
newsletter ads, website ads, etc. Depending on your budget, this
step can be as expensive as you choose. So long as you invest in the
right programs and design your ad copy properly, you stand to make
an excellent return on your investment here.

Step 5: Monitoring

Keep an eye on your site’s standings

Often the most overlooked step, you need to be very vigilante of
how your site is performing in the eyes of the search engines. Have
your keyphrase rankings increased? Decreased? When? Why? Tracking
and charting your progress is extremely important to measuring the
effectiveness of any changes you make to your promotion campaign.

So now what?

Now that you’ve gone through the 5 key steps, it’s time to
repeat the process. Actually, once you complete a phase you
should never leave it alone. You should be addressing each of these
5 steps on an on-going basis.

Optimized pages become un-optimized the moment a search engine
changes its ranking algorithm; which, as any SEO specialist will
tell you, happens all too often and all too randomly.

Sites will drop their link to your site without letting you know,
or maybe add you and not tell you. Keep your ear to the ground on
this front to ensure that you’re capitalizing on any opportunities
and keeping your inbound link numbers high. You can also do some
optimization with your pay-for-inclusion listings, so take advantage
of that.

Pay-per-click advertising is a complete science unto itself, so
expect to spend plenty of time learning which keyphrases and ads
works, and which don't. Freshen up your ads to grab attention if
they're underperforming.

And finally, by tracking your progress you will ensure there are
no surprises. Well, there are sure to be surprises, but hopefully
you won’t find out about them two months after the fact.

Good luck!