Seven Ways to Promote Your Small Business Web Site

The success of your business Web site ultimately depends on its quality and value, not just on your marketing skills. But if no one knows about your site, they´ll never get the chance to judge it. And with hundreds of thousands of sites clamoring for attention, it´s all too easy for your emerging

Short of spending millions of dollars to broadcast commercials during the Super Bowl, there´s no surefire way to rise above the crowd. But there are plenty of things you can do to make your Web site more visible.

1. Register with the search engines. Search engines and directories such as Yahoo and Google constantly look for new sites, but you can speed the process by submitting your own site. You can notify each search site individually, or you can use one of several free services that submit your site to multiple search engines. For maximum exposure, some paid services charge anywhere from $30 to more than $100 to submit your site to hundreds of search engines covering every conceivable topic.

2. Optimize for the search engines. At its most basic, this involves giving your Web pages accurate titles, using meta tags that describe what´s on your pages, and placing key information at the top of each page. These techniques have spawned a cottage industry of companies -- some more scrupulous than others -- that claim to help your site show up higher in search engine results. Some of these services go too far, trying to trick search engines into ranking sites higher than their content would justify. It may sound tempting to "fix" search results in your favor, but the search engines constantly tweak their ranking formulas to frustrate these manipulators.

3. Buy and trade ad banners. The one thing you know about your audience is that they´re online, so it makes sense to advertise to them online. If you have the budget, you can buy banner advertising campaigns on other sites for prices ranging from $.01 to $.10 or more per ad impression. If you can´t muster the funds for a big-time online ad campaign, consider trading banners with other sites. You can do this directly, or you can use a banner exchange service that arranges the trades for you.

4. Newsgroups and mailing lists. Usenet newsgroups are a great way to spread the word about your site for free. Just be sure to do so responsibly and avoid spamming, or you´ll make more enemies than friends. With thousands of newsgroups to choose from, it´s important to find the ones that match the interests of your audience. Don´t violate a newsgroup´s customs; while some groups welcome commercial messages, others strongly discourage them.

5. Email lists. These are another great way to publicize your site. Again, avoid spamming by sending email only to people who request information. Try to build a list of loyal readers by including useful content in your messages, not just promotional fluff.

6. Go offline. The Web is big, but its audience remains small compared to traditional media. Don´t get so enamored of cyberspace that you ignore the real world -- make them work together. Be sure you have a good, easy-to-remember URL and plaster it everywhere you can. It should appear on every bit of marketing material that your company produces, from business cards to brochures.

7. Cultivate the media. Finally, remember that the best promotion is something you can´t buy -- but if you´re clever you can get the media to give it to you. Make sure that you alert the trade, business and general media to new developments or innovations on your site -- or to anything else you do that might be newsworthy. A good PR campaign can help build momentum and jumpstart critical word-of-mouth popularity for your site.

Here's a bonus tip if you're selling through your Web site: Buy search-engine keywords. Search-engine marketing (SEM), as this is known, can dramatically drive up your sales -- and it's surprisingly easy to get started and surprisingly cheap, too. Read our AllBusiness.com step-by-step buyer's guide The Scoop on Search Engine Marketing to get started.