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Online Promotion
Reciprocal Link Swaps
I believe that link swapping is the single best web promotion strategy and is an art in itself. Where as your search engine position may fluctuate and the corresponding traffic with it, the traffic you recieve from a large number of reciprocal links is much more stable. Getting your site linked to a lot of sites will improve your search engine position anyway. I advise setting up a page dedicated to making linking to your site/ swapping links with you easy. Whilst you are there I invite you to swap links with VirtueScience.com. I will give any reciprocal link suggestion my prompt attention.
Web Rings
Joining webrings, similar in catagory to your site, is a fair way to get targeted traffic to your site. It is not guranteed that you will be accepted into a given webring but the more relevant and better developed your site is the greater your chances. I advise setting up a seperate webring page rather than placing them on your main page. This strategy will preserve the look of your main page and keep it's load time down. Link to the page from your main index page to give other webring members a fair crack at any stray traffic. Usually webmasters only join 3 or 4 webrings but I see no reason to limit yourselves to that number-just dont cram to many onto one page or it will take forever to load. If you do choose to join a lot of webrings catagorise and/or review them to make them more managable. Remember you can always set up your own webring as well.
Guest Books
Most Guest books allow you to directly link back to your website so sign as many as you can especially sites related in subject to yours. Leave an interesting comment and visitors to the guest book may click through to your site. Sometimes the webmaster might email you to thank you for signing and this is a good opportunity to suggest a link swap.
Seasons Greetings Cards
Send "Seasons Greetings" Cards with your website Url Displayed.
Expired Domain Names
Domain names expire every day for various reasons such as their owners forgetting or unwilling to renew their domain fee. Some have extensive links pointing to them from all over the web. In which case they will be getting a lot of traffic which is wasted. Consider buying up a few expired domains relevant to your site and use them to redirect traffic to your primary site or develop them as websites in their own right.
Domain Mage is a useful Domain Name Acquisition Tool. Instant download for about $20 or try Expired Domain Express Software.
Utilizing Your Email Correspondence
Spamming ie sending unsolicited email is counter productive and annoying. You should however include an active link to your site in the signature at the bottom of every legitimate email you send ie replying to friends and family etc. Many webmasters request feed back or link swaps from their sites. If you spot a broken link or have a question or comment about their site then don't hesitate to send an email-including that "signature". Any webmaster who expresses on their site a desire to link swap should certainly contacted for that reason. Even if they choose not to link swap in the end they will usually have a nose round your site anyway.
Sponsor an Online Scavenger Hunt
"If you could coordinate with 20-50 other webmasters, you could
have each site contribute to a grand prize for the winner. Then,
each site would post a link about the Scavenger Hunt where
they could get more information.
From this jumping off point, the online participants would click
around on various member sites, looking for whatever clue
they're supposed to find. Once they find a clue, they would also
be given information about where to go and what to look for next.
In reality, it would work very similar to a webring, except that
the visitors have an incentive to view all the sites in the ring."
Submitting reviews of high-traffic sites
Submit a good review to a popular site with your url at the end of it. They may put it up on their site-and you get free exposure.
Use FFA Submission Traffic For Banner Displays
Set up a Free for all links page on your site.
Search for as many FFA directories/search engines and submit your link to them.
Join a few banner exchange programs and place these
banners on your FFA links page. You will receive credit for
a banner impression each time someone posts to
your FFA page. Therefore your banner will be displayed on many banner exchange site members.
Join Forces with other Ezine Owners
If you have an ezine set up you will probably have a form or pop up prompting visitors to subscribe to your ezine. Set up a multi subscription box shared between you and a few other ezine masters. Each owner inserts the section of code into their site. Your ezine will receive far more exposure. Check out http://216.147.23.70/optinbuilder.html
How are Other Sites Getting Visitors?
Choose a similar site to yours which is getting plenty of traffic and analyze their set up.
If they have a viewable stats program check it out and see where their traffic is coming from.
Type their Url into a Link Popularity program and see what comes up.
Type their Url into the major search engines and have a look at how many entries come up.
When visiting their site go to View on your Browser and select "View Source". Have a look at the Meta Tags in the Head section of their code.
Look at their general layout. Maybe they have a feature which your site lacks. I am not saying rip off their site but perhaps your site is missing something obvious. You may be inspired to come up with your own ideas.
You could even email them complimenting them on their success and asking for a couple of tips. They will probably flattered and be more than happy to point you in the right direction. However don't be offended if you get no reply-especially if they are competitors!
Pseudo-Sell Your Domain Name
List your website's
domain name free at one of the domain auction or sale sites.
A number of people will visit your site to check it out perhaps considering to buy it but may find something else you have to offer.
Even if you don't really want to sell it some one may make you an offer which you can't refuse!
Promote a Survey on Your Site
Familiarize yourself with a number of relevant forums and news groups then post a web pole on your site concerning the most current and controversial debates.
Then mention the survey on the newsgroups and forums. Visitors will come to your site to vote and view the results. You will also get some great content for your site.
Repeat Voting with IP Masks
There are lots of sites, directories, search engines, etc.
where your website's ranking is based on how many "votes" you've received.
You can vote on most of them once every 24 hours per IP address.
By masking your IP using
a few "anonymous surfer" sites, such eg:
http://www.the-cloak.com
http://www.nethush.com
http://anonysurf.cjb.net
http://www.a4u.at
you can vote multiple times every day. If you have access to more than one computer you can use them to boost your rankings.
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