Online Marketing Resources

You spent time and/or money building a Web site so you could promote your organization or business, now spread the word. Seems obvious, right? Too often (unfortunately) companies and organizations will launch sites and wait for people find them. Maybe they'll put the URL on their business card or stationery, but won't do any online marketing.

The Importance of Promoting Your Site

Here's an example I recently ran across...

I needed a new fence for my home. I went online and searched for "fence companies in Dallas." Only a handful of sites showed up in the results. My first thought was that these companies haven't discovered the Web yet or they don't think an online presence is important for their business. So next I hit the Yellow Pages. Once there, I found several ads, most with Web site URLs. Most did it right -- simple sites with contact information, photo galleries and information about the company. Nothing too complex. But they failed by not taking one simple online marketing step -- they did not submit the URL to search engines. This takes only minutes to do, and in most cases is free. Sure, I found their Web sites eventually, but why not make it easier? Stand out from your competition by promoting your site online!

If you're thinking about promoting your Web site, definitely add the URL to your print marketing collateral (business cards, stationery, brochures, folders, etc.), but don't forget the online promotion, which can include one or more of the following:

• Search engine registration and optimization
• Site linking (vertical directories, etc.)
• Content
• Viral Marketing
• Contests
• Affiliate Programs
• Newsletters

Also make sure you monitor your Web site statistics, which will give you insight into the behavior of your visitors. Using these statistics will allow you to modify your Web site in order to optimize the user experience.

Sites to bookmark:

• ClickZ.com
• Guerilla Marketing
• MarketingProfs
• MarketingSherpa.com
• SearchEngineWatch.com