Web Marketing Basics

So, you�ve got this great web site. The whole world needs to know about it, but right now your only traffic is from localhost. You�ve got all this great content, nice and tidy HTML, super SEO�d links, the whole nine yards. So where is the onslaught of traffic you expected? Why doesn�t anybody care? Well, before people can care they need to know you exist!

The most important thing in the success of a new and growing web site is exposure. Too often webmasters adopt tunnel vision when it comes to web site marketing. While marketing on the Web today certainly entails recognition of search engine trends and techniques, at the root of any marketing campaign is exposure. I wouldn�t spend a week creating a new print ad just to leave it lying on the back shelf, and this is in a number of ways what many webmasters are doing with their hard work. This is, embarrassingly, something I have repeated too many times myself.

I don�t blame the phenomena on laziness necessarily, because I think the average webmaster is happier slinging code and tweaking banners in Photoshop than working their public relations strategy. And it�s probably better that we are!

But, if you are interested in creating traffic for your web site instead of bending heel to search engines for the rest of your life, here are a few steps any good webmaster should follow to get their web site off the ground.

1. Trade banners with complementary link partners. Lots of them.
   
2. Create a list of complimentary web sites that publish news and events for sites like the one you run. Send a link, summary, and polite note to every one of them when you publish new content.
   
3. Don�t act like your link back is some special privelege. Getting a few hundred hits a day does not make your web site significant, and nitpicking your own linkback requests will eventually hurt you by creating enemies, not partners. In other words, if you have a link request for a highly related article with good content and the site has a PR of 1, who cares. Don�t base all of your affiliate decisions on the numbers, think about what is going to be appealing from the perspective of your visitor and you will be investing in the future of your web site.
4. Create an opt-in newsletter, and send regular updates and links to new content to your subscribers.
5. Create a �Tell a friend� link on your content pages to encourage visitors to advertise your site for you.
6. Identify related link directories that follow good practices and submit your URL.
7. Apply for a link at DMOZ if applicable. Once. And never whine about not getting listed, just hope for the best.
8. Take advantage of any publicity, like press releases, to mention your site. But don�t abuse your boundaries.
9. Post a URL to your web site in the signature on any forums you are a member of.
10. Have some stickers made up with your domain name and give them out. Stick one on your car if you are truly serious about it!
11. Go into a crowded public place and scream your domain name at the top of your lungs. Now run. ;)
    
12. Pick up a fabric printing kit for under $10 and make some t-shirts with your URL on them.
    
13. If you haven�t already, create a logo and name that are catchy, easy to remember, and highly related to the type of site you are running.
    

This isn�t a complete list, and I encourage you to be creative and find positive ways to get your name out there. Just remember to play nice, nobody likes a SPAM artist and we both know that you are better than that. :)