I create a lot of websites. The easy part is coming up with ideas and actually creating the website. The hard part is promoting these websites so they can be easily found and used by the people who may be interested in them. I often times see people on message boards (ok, ok, I do this as well), get sucked in by the thought that if their website can get 1,000 visitors a day, then they could make some good money. While this may be true, getting 1,000 visitors to a website each day may be a little more difficult than what one would expect!
There are numerous ways to promote a website, but perhaps an all-encompassing plan that can be created even before a website is developed could go a long way in being successful after launch. What keywords should be focused on during content creation, how much money is going to be allocated for advertising, and which message boards or blogs will be used to promote the newly created website?
Over the past several weeks, I have been thinking of a procedure to follow that will organize the important aspects of website promotion. While the following procedure may not yield real results, I am going to implement this for a few upcoming websites to see if formalizing and organizing the process will yield any greater returns. The plan includes creating a marketing document, which includes the following.
1. Create a General Description, Keyword List and Essential Information Listing
This is used to organize thoughts on the website, and includes:
* Title of the website
* WebsiteURL
* Short description
* Keywords
These can be taken from the META tags from the website home page (these fields should change for every page on the website), and will be used frequently when submitting to web directories. This section is at the top of my marketing plan document.
2. Directory Submission
Submitting to directories is an important piece of the search engine optimization strategy. The marketing document includes a list of web directories that have been tested for quality and ease of submission. The list is used for multiple websites, and is continually updated to create a list of only the highest quality directories. Submission to directories is a time consuming process, and can potentially be outsourced.
3. Create a Message Board Listing
Compile a listing of Message Boards to become a member of for the purpose of promoting the newly created website by using signatures which link back to the website and/or linking to the new website directly in relevant posts. Just make sure that this isn't spammy, and that postings offer something of value to the discussion. As an added bonus, use the message board as ideas for content. Are there questions that people are asking that could be answered on a newly created website?
4. Create a Listing of Blogs
Compile a listing of relevant blogs that allow comments, and allow for search engine friendly links back to the website.
5. Create a Listing of Social Bookmarking Websites
The listing of social bookmarking websites should be compiled, along with usernames and passwords so that submission to these sites is easy. The listing should contain a list of specific pages on the website to submit.
6. Compile a Listing of Additional Websites
Create a list of websites that aren't covered by the sections above to submit the site to. This will potentially include other relevant websites that are within the same niche, sites like Yahoo! Answer, or website gallery sites if the site is particularly beautiful.
7. Determine the Advertising Budget
If pay-per-click or another online advertising source is going to be used, determine a realistic budget for advertising, and identify the advertising avenues that will be used.
8. Timeline
Create a timeline that lists when advertising is in place, how many promotional message board postings need to be completed, and a goal for website traffic.
After completing the above tasks, it would then be time to actually design, build, and launch the website, and since the promotional strategy has been created, promotion can begin immediately once the site is up and running.
