10 EASY WAYS TO PROMOTE YOUR WEBSITE FOR CHEAP

10 EASY WAYS TO PROMOTE YOUR WEBSITE FOR CHEAP
OR FREE
by: jen merkel
please consider this article for your website or
NEWSLETTER - PRINTED OR VIRTUAL. PERMISSION TO
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title: 10 easy ways to promote your website for
cheap or free
AUTHOR: JEN MERKEL, FREELANCE WRITER
word count: 1,482
url: http://jenmerkel.bravehost.com
MAILTO: JEN.MERKEL@COX.NET

"10 easy ways to promote your website for cheap
OR FREE"
© 2004 jen merkel

YOU'VE BUILT YOUR WEBSITE AND YOU'RE QUITE PROUD
of it. the graphics look nice, it has a few
interesting pieces of information and it
SHOWCASES YOUR SUBJECT PERFECTLY. BUT HOW DO YOU
draw people to it and get that hit counter
climbing without breaking the bank? you've got
YOUR META TAGS IN PLACE BUT YOU JUST CAN'T
afford to pay the humungous fee to be a featured
advertiser on a mega-search engine. here are a
FEW EASY AND QUICK WAYS TO PUBLICIZE YOUR
website which are either cheap or free.

1. LINK EXCHANGES

one of the most effective ways to get traffic
MOVING INTO YOUR SITE IS TO LIST IT AS A LINK ON
other sites of interest to your target market.
if you don't already know of another site
SIMILAR TO YOURS, JUST DO A GOOGLE SEARCH USING
a few appropriate keywords. by using google to
do a search on the words "link exchange" you
WILL ALSO FIND ENTIRE SITES - SOME FREE, SOME
with a fee - with directories of sites willing
to exchange links. once you find a site, see if
THEY HAVE A LINKS PAGE AND SCAN IT TO MAKE SURE
yours would be a good fit. usually instructions
on exchanging links are somewhere on the
WEBSITE, BUT IF THEY'RE NOT SIMPLY E-MAIL THE
webmaster or site owner and ask if they have a
link exchange program. be sure your site does
NOT COMPETE WITH THEIRS. AFTER ALL, YOU WILL
have to reciprocate with a link to their site on
your own. corporate sites don't normally do link
EXCHANGES, YOU WILL HAVE MUCH BETTER LUCK WITH A
site owned by an individual or small business.
if you don't have a banner, you can create one
FOR FREE ONLINE. A VERY USER-FRIENDLY SITE FOR
this is www.addesigner.com, but there are
several others out there as well.

2. join a web-ring

WEB-RINGS ARE A WAY OF DRIVING TRAFFIC TO YOUR
site from others similar to yours. you simply
place a web-ring banner on your home page using
SPECIFIED HTML CODE AND YOU'RE AUTOMATICALLY
part of the network. when a visitor clicks on
the web-ring banner at one member's site, they
ARE DIRECTED TO THE NEXT SITE IN THE WEB-RING,
potentially yours. there are some things to
consider when joining a web-ring. for example,
WHEN ONE OF YOUR SITE'S VIEWERS CLICKS ON YOUR
web-ring banner, they are being directed off
your site onto someone else's. if you join a
WEB-RING, FIND ONE MATCHING THE INTERESTS OF
your target market that doesn't have a large
number of members competing with you. for
EXAMPLE, IF YOUR SITE SELLS AQUARIUMS, JOIN A
site for tropical fish enthusiasts rather than
one with for people who sell pet products.

3. host a contest

EVERYONE LOVES TO WIN A CONTEST, AND IF YOURS
offers something of value to your target market
you can spark a lot of interest. the prize
DOESN'T HAVE TO BE BIG - MAYBE A $10.00 GIFT
certificate, a set of books, a pretty piece of
jewelry you purchased on closeout, or of course
ONE OF YOUR PRODUCTS. YOU MAY BE ABLE TO GET
prize donations from your link partners or
others in your network simply by offering them
CREDIT AND A LINK ON YOUR SITE THROUGHOUT THE
contest. it's also smart to offer extra entries
to a contestant if they refer someone else -
WORD OF MOUTH (OR E-MAIL) IS EXTREMELY POWERFUL!

4. win an award

this may take some legwork on your part, but it
could be well worth it in the end. if your site
IS RICH IN CONTENT AND APPEALING TO THE EYE, YOU
have a good chance of winning some sort of web
award. simply do your google search on "website
AWARD" OR "SITE OF THE DAY" AND RESEARCH THE
links for application procedures. if you win,
the payoff will be the privilege of posting an
AWARD BANNER ON YOUR HOME PAGE FOR ALL TO SEE.
the site hosting the award will literally be
sending visitors to you by way of a link.

5. put a link in your signature line

THE EASIEST AND QUICKEST WAY TO GET PUBLICITY
for your site is to put a link in your signature
line. every e-mail you send will announce your
SITE, AND INCLUDING AN ENTICING ONE-LINE AD SUCH
as "enter our contest to win a $10.00 gift
certificate" will likely increase your traffic.

6. join an e-mail group

IN CASE YOU AREN'T FAMILIAR WITH E-MAIL GROUPS,
they are basically networks of people with a
common interest or purpose, using e-mail to
COMMUNICATE TO EACH OTHER. USING A SINGLE E-MAIL
address, you can send a message to a whole group
of people with interests similar to yours. rest
ASSURED, NO MATTER WHAT YOUR TARGET MARKET IS,
there is an e-mail group for it. it is important
to keep in mind that most frown upon advertising
AND ALL BAN SPAMMING, HOWEVER YOU ARE USUALLY
allowed to put a link in your signature line and
make special announcements. just be sure you
ACTUALLY CONTRIBUTE TO THE DISCUSSION - DON'T
just assume you can use the list for free
advertising or you will be shunned very quickly.
TWO OF THE MOST POPULAR WEBSITES FOR E-MAIL
groups are yahoo groups
(http://groups.yahoo.com) and topica
(HTTP://WWW.TOPICA.COM), BOTH OF WHICH OFFER
free memberships.

7. PUBLISH A NEWSLETTER

it can be sent daily, weekly, bi-weekly or
MONTHLY, BUT BE SURE YOU SEND IT OUT ON A
regular basis. mine is published weekly on
fridays without fail. my readers have learned to
LOOK FOR IT AND I'D NEVER CONSIDER LETTING THEM
down by missing a deadline. aside from being
consistent, it is a cardinal rule to offer
SOMETHING OF VALUE TO YOUR READERSHIP. DON'T USE
it solely as a venue for advertising - there are
plenty of places to put text links and banner
ADS WITHIN IT. TO MAINTAIN READERS, YOU WILL
need to include some helpful information as
well. if you aren't much of a writer, there are
ARTICLES AVAILABLE ON THE WEB THAT ARE FREE FOR
publication, providing you include a link to the
writer's website and a promotional paragraph. if
YOU HAVE A HARD TIME FINDING THESE, CONSIDER
posting a call for submissions on writers'
websites offering $5.00 and free promotion via a
BYLINE. YOU WILL BE PLEASANTLY SURPRISED HOW
many people respond with fresh and well-written
ideas.

8. purchase advertising

THINK ADVERTISING IS EXPENSIVE? THINK AGAIN.
there are countless inexpensive opportunities
for advertising on the internet. start by
LOOKING FOR SITES WHICH TARGET THE SAME MARKET
you do, providing they don't directly compete
with yours. chances are they have a link for
PEOPLE INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING ON THEIR SITE.
if you can't find it, simply e-mail the
webmaster or site owner and inquire. another
OPTION IS TO DO A SEARCH ON EBAY. MANY SITES PUT
banner ad placement on auction. you can find ad
spots on ebay for as little as $5.99, but
REMEMBER, IT IS AN AUCTION, AND SOMEONE COULD
easily beat you out. i recently saw a banner ad
auction get up to $269.00. don't forget however,
BECAUSE IT'S AN AUCTION, YOU HAVE THE POWER TO
limit the amount you will pay a your maximum
bid. it is important to have a banner ready to
GO, SINCE YOU WILL USUALLY NEED TO OBTAIN
permission from the website's owner before
bidding on the auction. always read the terms of
THE AUCTION CAREFULLY, TO MAKE SURE YOU
understand the dates your banner will be up and
exactly where it will be placed.

9. promoting your business using an online
network

just starting to