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The Simple 3-Step Promotion Program
One of the biggest problems faced by website owners today is promoting their sites. More and more people can build them (and build them well) but most people (web designers included) get stumped when it comes to promoting.
What should you do? What shouldn't you do?
I am always trying to put promotion into the simplest terms possible and I think this 3-step program is about as simple as it gets:
(At the end of each step you will notice a "Resources" section. These resources will help you accomplish each task and are given a rating out of 10 based on our knowledge and experience.)
Step 1: Targeting Keyphrases
In order to start and run a successful website promotion campaign, you need to have objectives. Figuring out which keyphrases you'd like to rank well for is the first step. Ideally you want terms that are closely related to your business (obviously), searched for frequently, and don't have a lot of competition.
The ratio of how popular a term is to its competition is referred to as KEI: Keyword Efficiency Index. Try to maximize this ratio when selecting your terms.
If you have a web design business, pursuing a term like "web design" is just not realistic. Sure, there are a ton of searches for it every day but the competition is very steep. The likelihood that you will ever break the top ten is extremely unlikely. A term like "calgary web design shop", however, may still be fairly popular but it will have far less competition. It will also be much more targeted to your specific business so it should result in a higher conversion rate of browsers to customers.
Resources:
Step 2: Modifying your Web Pages
Now that you have identified the terms you want to pursue you'll need to modify your web pages to ensure that these terms are targeted. This is referred to as web page optimization. Don't be intimidated, though. A decent piece of software and a basic knowledge of HTML can get you through this task.
This step is done so that when the search engines arrive, they gobble up your web pages and index them favourably for the keyphrases that you identified in Step 1.
For every internet marketer out there, there is a different opinion on what is important and what isn't when optimizing pages. I recommend that if you're not using one of the recommended pieces of software that you leave this step up to a professional - it can take practice, experience, creativity and finesse to master this skill.
Resources:
Step 3: Inbound Links
Now that you've identified your keyphrases and optimized your web pages for them, you need to make sure that your website is viewed as "popular" or "important" in the eyes of the search engines.
Just as with any other popularity contest you need people to stand up and say they like you. This is done through inbound hyperlinks to your website. These are essentially considered "votes" for your website.
Not all inbound links are created equal, of course. Here's a crash course:
If a website links to you and you don't link back, that's ideal. If you do link back to them, search engines may simply discount both links.
A text link is more valuable than an image, or banner link. And a text link that uses your keyphrases (from Step 1) as the link text is ideal.
Your web design company needs links from websites that have to do with web design. A link from a knitting website won't be as valuable as one from a hosting company.
A link from an important site is exponentially more valuable than a link from a site that gets no traffic. These types of links are difficult to get unless you pay for them - which you should do.
A link from a news-related or media website is very valuable because it is seen as an "un-manipulatable" site and an impartial resource. Search engines assume that links from these types of sites are more valuable as they typically can't be coerced or purchased.
We've listed a resource for you below, but it is typically only good for link exchanging. Ideally this step should be done through a professional who can help purchase proper links for your website.
Resources:
Questions?
If you have any further questions you'd like to ask about website promotion please contact us.
About the Author
Robin Eldred is the president of Apis Design, an Internet Marketing company located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Apis specializes in building and promoting eye-catching, user-focused websites that work.