Part 4: Promoting Your Site

by Karin Allen

Getting a Web Address
Designing Your Site
Adding Graphics to Your Site

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Offline

1. Brag about the site to all your friends, donors, clients, etc.
2. If you have a newsletter, announce the new website with a front page article. Then remind your readers about it every chance you get. Whenever you have a bit of space to fill in an issue, include a blurb: "Have you visited our website yet? We're located at...."
3. Most importantly, list the site address on all your literature: newsletters, business cards, etc. Everywhere your physical address appears, your website and e-mail addresses should also appear.

Online

1. Use your e-mail newsletter to link to various articles and sections within your website.
2. Your host server may publicize member sites through directories, chat rooms, bulletin boards, banner exchanges, etc. Check the server's home site for tips.
3. Update your registration in GuideStar and various donation portals to be sure they include your website address. Visit our Links page for a complete list of directories and portals.
4. Register with all the major search engines. Yahoo! is the most popular, but also one of the hardest to get into. Google is one of the biggest and best. Other major search engines, in no particular order, include Alta Vista, Northern Light, HotBot, Lycos, Web Crawler, Infoseek, and Excite. Some online services claim they can register your site with 10 to 50 to 100 of the most prominent search engines. You can try one of these, but be warned: you'll probably end up re-submitting the information a few times, no matter what you do.

   NOTE: Never assume your registration "took" until you see your site listed in the search engine's directory. In most cases, you have to go through the process two or three times, and you may end up writing a letter of inquiry about your registration. But don't give up, especially not with Yahoo! - you really need their publicity.

5. Seek out like-minded organizations with their own websites, and offer to exchange links with them. Be sure you have a "links" page on your own site for this very purpose.
6. Look for local directories which might list your website. A good place to start might be http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/U_S__States/Virginia/.

   

   More Hot Sheets....

   • Getting a Web Address
   • Designing Your Site
   • Adding Graphics to Your Site
   • Glossary of Terms

   • Hot Sheets Main Menu
   
   --Karin Allen is a web designer and a former member of Lee Switz and Associates.
   
   This article was last updated March 2001.
   
   
   

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