7 Ideas for Promoting Your New Website
7 Ideas for Promoting Your New Website
Launching a new website is an exciting event. Whether it’s for a business that’s putting one together for commercial purposes, an individual who wants to talk about a personal passion, creating your own piece of online real estate is always a fun project to focus on, and the end result – seeing your content out there for any surfer to find – is its own special thrill.
But it also comes with its own challenges: namely, how do you ensure those surfers stumble across your site? What do you do to ensure it’s found? More importantly, what do you do to ensure it’s found by a relevant audience?
There’s no singular answer to the question of how to spread the word of your virtual property.
Rather, there are several methods for promoting your new site, and luckily – as you may have guessed – we’ve got ten of them right here. Let’s take a look.
1. Be Social:
“Social media” still seems like a simple buzz phrase to a lot of people. To those individuals, the message must be made clear: it’s buzzin’ for a reason. With a little research, you can find out where your audience hangs on the web – be it Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or an equal combination of different social networks – and start building a crowd to which you can cater. It’ll take a little work cutting through the noise, but once they see you’ve got something of value to show them – something that pertains to their interests – they’ll start to bite, and you’ll start to see some traffic.
2. Get Listed:
Although there are thousands and thousands of different directories (website listings) on the web, many of which are “low quality” (rarely found and filled with way too many websites to count), there are several that offer listings for niche businesses or websites. It’s a bit tedious combing through these and finding ones you think will attract your audience, but it’s worth dedicating some time to directory building – as long as you focus on the ones that look like they’ll bring valuable traffic.
3. Participate:
Just about every website comes with a blog, and just about every blog comes with a comments section. When you’re doing your own daily browsing, keep an eye out for discussions in which you can participate with meaningful contributions from your site’s content and look for opportunities that will allow you to link back to it. This also works for discussion boards such as forums. It’s important to note that quality over quantity counts here – you should only include a link to your site if it’s relevant to the topic. Otherwise you’ll seem like just another spammer.
4. Get Creative:
You made your website because you’ve got something to say about a specific topic, right? Well, say it – and say it creatively by making unique, compelling content that offers value to your audience. Articles, white papers, e-Books, videos – there’s tons of different ways you can get your message out there, and people love to share – it’s the backbone of the web, after all. You can make it entertaining, educational, funny, thought-provoking – whatever you want! As long as people think it’s worth sharing, they’ll share it.
5. Go Traditional:
The doom-and-gloomers like to say that “print is dead”, but it’s far from it. You still see flyers, pamphlets, mailers, business cards, etc., every day, don’t you? So why not make your own literature and slap your website address on it? What you create and how you distribute it will depend on your audience, your industry, and several other factors, but this is still an effective method of piquing people’s interest.
6. Hit the Presses:
This one may apply more to businesses than individuals, but press releases are perfect for anything new. Like, say, a new website. If you’ve just launched and want to get the word out, writing a press release is a great way to summarize the fact that you’ve got a new website and it’s got something to say that your audience will find valuable.
7. Collaborate:
It’s likely that you have friends, business partners, clients, etc., with their own websites, which they hopefully update regularly. Come up with some ideas for content you can collaborate with them on and, if your idea is accepted, chances are good you’ll get a shoutout when it’s published on their site. This is a very good way of both getting the word out and obtaining a link back to your site.
Whether you’re a single individual, a small business or a massive corporation, promoting your website always seems like an endlessly uphill battle. In many ways, it is – it’s something you can’t stop doing, no matter how long you’re online, and it’s always hardest at the start. But by looking at ideas such as these, figuring out which ones suit your industry and target audience, and working to ensure you bring value to every visitor, you’ll start to see that traffic trickle in.
Like this blog? Join our mailing list. We promise not to spam, one click unsubscribe > www.customerattraction.com/join
What do you think?
Any ideas of your own for promoting your website? Your thoughts are welcome, so feel free to share!