Now that you
have established a web presence, marketing your website is the next major
project. Marketing your website can be the most time consuming project associated
with your website, so we thought we would share some very inexpensive (FREE)
ways to do so.
Search Engines
– This is one of the most important ways of advertising your site. Although
many search engines require you to pay for submitting to their database,
there are still many that don’t. The number one search engine, Google, allows
you to do this for free. In an upcoming issue, we will discuss what is important
before submitting to search engines.
Put your web
address and e-mail address on your business cards
All of your
flyers and brochures should have the addresses as well
Create an
e-mail signature with your web and e-mail address. This way, every time
you send an e-mail out, it has your web address attached to it. Below is
a step-by-step method of adding a signature in Outlook Express.
a. Open
Outlook Express
b. Go
to Tools and select Options
c. Go
to the Signatures tab
d. Click
on the New button
e. Type
in your signature (name, web address and e-mail address)
f. Check
the “Add Signatures to all outgoing messages”
g. Press
Apply and then OK
Discussion
Groups – There are many discussion groups that are related to arts and crafts
in general, as well as specific to your specialty. There are a few dos and
don’ts about posting in forums.
a. Do
include a signature with your web and e-mail address in every post.
b. Do
establish credibility by helping others in the forum.
c. Don’t
just continually post your web address in a forum without having other
subject matter in the post.
d. Don’t
post in forums unrelated to your site. This can have a negative effect
on your strategy.
Craft Directories
– There are several craft directories out there that will allow you to post
your site in their directory for free. Again, make sure you are posting
it in an area that correlates to your subject matter.
Free Links
– Many other craft or art related websites will have a links page. Many
of them are free, while others just ask you provide a reciprocal link back
to their site on yours. If you decide to do a reciprocal link, make sure
you are continually checking the links on your site to make sure they are
valid links. It is very frustrating for users to click on a link only to
find a “Page Cannot Be Displayed”.
Top Sites
Lists – Try listing your website in a Top 100 Sites list. There are several
of these out there that are related to arts and crafts. In a top sites list,
you are ranked by how many people click from the list to your site, as well
as how many users click from your site to the top site list.
Free Classifieds
– Another great place for free advertising is in free classifieds. Do a
search in your favorite search engine for free classifieds. Go through the
list and begin adding your site and a possible product.