Congratulations, your web site is finished and it looks good. What now? Chances are nobody or close to nobody knows your site is out there. With more than a million (and counting) web sites on the Net, you need to figure out how much and what kind of promotion is needed. The good news is that only a small percentage of the web sites on the Net are properly promoted. Let’s cover the basics.

S e a r c h e n g i n e s & D i r e c t o r i e s

A search engine allows a visitor to type in a keyword, company name or concept and automatically comes back with all the corresponding matches in its database (usually more than 10,000 results!). In the United States, some of the the main search engines are Google, Msn, Excite, AltaVista, Infoseek and Lycos.

A directory lists web sites by categories and relies on the visitor to select among them. The main directories are Yahoo and Magellan.

Aside from the search engines and directories mentioned above there are literally hundreds more and new ones emerging every month. If you plan to promote your web site on a worldwide level, you will have to include foreign search engines and directories as well.

R e l a t e d s i t e s

Regardless of your industry or particular trade, there is a wealth of web sites related to your line of business such as industry related directories, suppliers, magazines, trade associations, trade shows, Chamber of Commerce, etc. To attract the maximum amount of qualified visitors on your web site, you must establish links with these sites. Some of these links might require a nominal fee, some of them will require a reciprocal link and some of them will be free. ComWorks can save you time and money in this arduous search and lengthy procedure.

B a c k g r o u n d c o d i n g

The drawback with search engines is the amount of results they produce on any given keyword. If you want your web site to be ranked in the top results, keywords must be inserted and coded inside the HTML of the page but yet invisible to the visitors. After or during the production of your web site, ComWorks can easily incorporate the proper coding into the pages.

B a n n e r a d v e r t i s i n g

In addition to the submission of a web site, you might consider banner advertising on search engines, directories or other related web sites. Their cost varies depending on where these banners are located, and the type of site. When clicked on, the banner will lead the visitor directly to your web site.

E - M a i l M a r k e t i n g

Staying in touch with your clients and reaching out to new customers is a necessity on the web. You must establish a regular contact with your clients by sending a newsletter or specials on your products or services. E-mail marketing is a very effective tool to target potential customers and quite less expensive than direct mail promotion. If you already have an E-mail database of potential and existing customers, ComWorks can handle regular e-mail broadcast in Text or HTML formats for your customer at a very reasonable cost or if necessary can train your staff to set up regular E-mail broadcasts yourself. ComWorks can also obtain e-mail listings of customers that might be interested in your products or services.

C o n c l u s i o n

The promotion of a web site can be quite involving and requires time, experience and a good knowledge of the Internet. Let your web site work for you, get yourself a promotion package from ComWorks and get ready for heavy duty traffic. Regardless of how many search engines, directories, countries or industry related web sites you want to target, ComWorks will come up with a cost-efficient solution that will save you time, frustration and money... with guaranteed results.