30 Different Ways To Promote And Advertise Your Web Site

By: Andrew Wroblewski


There are literally thousands of things you can do to promote and
advertise your website, here are just a few I have found to work
for me.

1- Tell your audience what kind of support they'll get after they
buy. It could be free consulting, tech support, free servicing,
etc. This may also answer some of their buying questions ahead of
time. People don't want to buy products without knowing you will
be there to help if they have problems.

2- Ask people at the end of your copy why they decided not to
buy. This will give you new ideas on how to produce ad copy
that’s more profitable. Have a web form or e-mail link in place
so they can answer you. You may find out they don't like your
guarantee or graphics. It could be anything.

3- Think of ways to get your site or business in the the news.
You could sponsor a fundraiser, break a world record, hold a
major event, etc. Simply write a press release about what you’ve
accomplished, then send it to media outlets that cater to your
target audience.

4- Hold a contest on your web site. Give other web sites the
option of offering it to their visitors. This'll multiply your
advertising all over the Internet. It would become a viral
contest. Of course the contest must either be ongoing or held
regularly so you could allow other online publishers to offer it
to their visitors or subscribers.

5- Tell your potential customers that your ordering system is
highly secure. Also reassure them that you take every effort to
protect them. People want to feel they are safe online. They want
to know that you care about their well-being. Tell them all about
what you currently do for them to make them feel more secure.

6- Carry business cards with you wherever you go. Have your web
address printed on them. You can hand them out to anyone you
meet. Just think of all the people you meet on a regular basis:
grocery clerks, post office workers, bag boys, family members,
friends, salesmen/women, etc.

7- Contact national radio stations to ask them if they are
looking for guest speakers. Tell them your area of expertise;
maybe they'll book you for a show. Of course you would want to
contact targeted stations and shows which would want to know more
about you and your area of expertise.

8- Join clubs related to your area of business. You could trade
leads with other businesses. Learn new ways to run your business
and sell your products. You could also create your own online
business club. You could provide private chat rooms, message
boards, articles, etc.

9- Think of a domain name for your web site that's easy to
remember. It should be related to what your business does, sells
or provides. If there aren’t any business names available, use
your actual birth name. You could at least brand yourself. Your
own name will give you credibility.

10- Position your web site at the top of pay-per-click search
engines. You will only pay your set amount for each click-through
you get to your web site. Just make sure your profits will pay
for your advertising cost. If they won't, maybe you could share a
web site with another related business and split the costs.

11- Allow your visitors or customers to increase your traffic or
sales. Ask them how you can improve your business, web site or
product. You can ask them at your web site, in your e-zine, on
your message board, in your chat room, in your guest book, in
your product packages, etc.

12- Team up with other e-zines that have the same target
audience. Combine subscriber bases and then publish one e-zine
together to increase subscribers. You could all include your ads
and announcements in the e-zine. You could also take turns for
the top advertising space.

13- Swap endorsement advertisements with other web sites.
Endorsement ads usually pull more sales and traffic than regular
advertisements. People have taught themselves to ignore
advertisements because they see hundreds of them every day.
Endorsements usually don't look or sound like normal ads.

14- Outsource part of your workload to save time and money. You
can spend more of your time and money promoting your business.
You'll save money on employee costs, space costs, training costs,
etc. Keep the work you enjoy doing to keep you motivated and ship
out the work you don't like.

15- Include a signature file on all the e-mails you send out.
Provide your business name, phone number, e-mail and web address,
etc. Also include a brief blurb for your business or the product
you're selling. For example, you could say, "How To Wash Your Car
In Two Minutes or Less!"

16- Use pictures or graphics on your web site that support the
product you're selling. They could give your visitors a clearer
vision of your product, the benefits of the product, people's
emotion when they own the product, etc. You could also use
‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures.

17- Create a friendly, long-term relationship with all your
customers. Practice good customer service and follow-up with them
on a regular basis. You could follow-up with gifts, greeting
cards, free things, coupons, special offers, reminders, your e-
zine, helpful advice, etc.

18- Create strategic alliances with other web sites. You could
exchange banner ads, sell each other's products as back-end
products, cross-promote, etc. You could also create a web site
together and promote it on your separate web sites. You would
both just split the costs and profits.

19- Increase the perceived value of your product to skyrocket
your sales. Add on free bonuses, after- sale services or an
affiliate program. Other factors that would help are: your own
domain name, a professional web design, a good-looking product
graphic and persuasive ad copy.

20- Give customers a discount on their total order to increase
sales. You could give them a discount for ordering over a set
dollar or product amount. For example, you could say, "Buy over
$39 worth of products and get a 20% discount on your order!"
Another example, "Get a 15% discount if you order 3 or more
products!"

21- Allow your visitors to reprint the content on your web site.
Just ask them to include your resource box and a link to your
site in exchange. This will turn your content into a traffic
machine and the external links will help increase your ranking in
some search engines.

22- Provide a free contest or sweepstake at your web site. It's a
fact, people like to win things. If you can fulfill that need,
people will visit. You can also attract them to revisit by
holding one every week or month. You could also start an opt-in
list for people who enter your contest or sweepstake so you can
follow-up with them regularly.

23- Save time and money by using ad submitters. You will reach a
larger part of your target audience far more quickly than by
manually submitting your ad. You should manually submit your ad
to the most popular web sites so you have a better chance of
being listed or placed in a good position.

24- Create a good first impression. You will not be able to sell
very many products if your visitors think your web site looks
unprofessional. Use crisp graphics, attractive color
combinations, a readable text size, even spacing, even margins,
bold headlines, indent benefits, etc.

25- Stop procrastinating and start finishing all your business
tasks. Do one at a time. Don’t get caught up thinking that you
can never get them all done. Make a list. Do the easiest or most
crucial one first and move down the list. Cross off each task as
you complete it.

26- Develop a relationship with all your visitors and customers.
Tell them how much you appreciate them visiting your web site or
buying your product. Invite them to online and offline events
like free chat room classes, parties, dinner gatherings, business
events, etc.

27- Hire a business coach to help improve you and your business.
That could help increase your sales, motivate you, balance your
workload, etc. It would be like renting an extra brain. You would
have double the thinking power.

28- Stay away from being too comfortable with your income or
life. You should always be making new goals for yourself and
developing new sales ideas. The world keeps changing and if you
pause too long, you might miss out. You only live once.

29- Make sure you don’t become a workaholic. Your mind needs time
away from your business life. This will help your brain think
clearly while working. The best time to get profitable ideas is
when you’re not thinking about them. They just pop into your
brain.

30- Create and follow short/long-term goals for your business.
The short-term goals can create early success and the long-term
goals can create future success. Design each goal so they all add
up to your ultimate goal. Don't make your goals too unrealistic
otherwise depression and frustration could move you farther away
from them.

Good Luck and get busy promoting!

When not on his soapbox, Andrew Wroblewski is doing battle with
the thousands of spyware programs that can affect you via his
ant-spyware and spyware removal website:
http://spyware.pcwash.com where you can get a free spyware scan
of your computer system.