Classic Mistakes of Web Site Promotion

Volume I - Issue VII - July 2001

Marketing

Classic Mistakes of Web Site Promotion

David Mortenson
Editor, EZ-NetAdvantage

Web site promotion is one of the most important factors in the success or failure of an e-commerce web site. The best design, the greatest product, the lowest prices - these mean nothing if nobody sees your site. This article is the first in a series on developing and implementing a successful web site promotion strategy. First, we'll learn what NOT to do.

Failure to Plan
We have all heard the cliche, "Failing to plan is planning to fail." Nowhere is that more true than in web site promotion. There is significantly more to developing a successful web site promotion strategy than merely submitting your site to the major search engines. The best promotion strategies are developed even before the site is created. That way the site can be developed to best follow the strategy and improve its chances of success. Successful promotion strategies will include: strategic link exchanges, front door pages, appropriate email marketing (not spam), search engine optimization, as well as traditional marketing techniques such as magazine/newspaper ads, etc. Creating a site without first developing a solid promotion strategy is a sure way to have an unsuccessful site.

Editor's Note: The next article in this series will be devoted to planning a successful promotion strategy.

Failure to Finish First
Too many over-anxious web masters begin submitting to search engines and inviting potential customers to visit their site before it's completed. That is a serious mistake. Many search engines only allow you one shot to be reviewed. Make sure that you take full advantage of your "one shot" by presenting a completed site. It is ok to ask for feedback from friends and others before your site is done, but don't rush to put out flyers, posters and other advertisements until your site is complete. Customers that see a poorly executed site with limited products and broken links are unlikely to return when your site is done.

Cheating the Search Engines
We will attempt to give you some ideas and strategies that can improve your chances of getting a good ranking on the major search engines. However, avoid techniques that attempt to "trick" or "cheat" the search engines. Every imaginable scheme has been attempted from repeating key words on the screen in the same color as the background to stuffing alt text tags and others with keywords to try to receive a higher ranking. Another scam to avoid is listing key words that don't have anything to do with your site. The search engines are aware of these schemes and they don't like them. Web masters found to be using such underhanded schemes are considered spammers and will be blacklisted by the search engines. Once Yahoo, MSN, AOL or any of the others have blacklisted your site, it is almost impossible to get ranked at all. For more information and ideas on submitting to the major search engines, listen to the tapeset, "Web Site Promotion Keys to Success." See your reseller for details.

Neglecting to Research
Many times I have heard complaints from people who have good sites but "can't get listed" with Yahoo and the other big search engines. Often I find that these people have failed to do their homework. Good ranking in the top search engines is so important that it is worth doing some research. Go out to the search engine's web site and look at their instructions. Read them carefully! Each has their own list of qualifications and limitations. Follow their directions to the letter and you may be surprised at how much better your results are.

Using Bulk Submission Companies
"Submit your site to 5 gazillion search engines for $5!" Unfortunately, this isn't much of an exaggeration from the ads that I receive everyday in my inbox (unsolicited I might add). Bear in mind that there aren't that many search engines in existence, and someone looking for your product is not likely to go looking for it on some obscure list of links somewhere. Your best bet is to determine the top 10 or so search engines and carefully submit your site to each of them. That is the approach taken by EZ-NetTools in its promotion tools and is still the best method available.

Breaking the #1 Internet Marketing Rule -Thou Shalt Not SPAM!
Spamming is sending unsolicited email or inappropriately marketing your web site. Besides being illegal, spamming is hated by most Internet users. It is ineffective as a marketing strategy and an effective means of getting your site shut down and blacklisted on the search engines. You may see ads for legitimate-looking businesses that claim to be able to "bulk promote" your site to thousands of users for little money. Be careful! Whether the spam comes from you or someone else, if it is in reference to your site it will have the same result. Legitimate businesses do not market this way.

Another, less direct form of spamming occurs on forums and newsgroups. Participating in an Internet community related to your product or service is a great idea, but don't abuse it by posting blatant advertisements for your site. Instead, become a part of the community by responding to questions when possible and following the threads that you read. When you casually mention your site or when the other readers see it in your signature line, you will be more likely to win customers.

Conclusion
Web site promotion is not that complicated. Hopefully, the ideas in this article have challenged you to think about your promotion strategy. With some forethought and planning, anyone can get their site's name out there and achieve the results they are looking for.

Next Month: Search Engine Optimization