Bruce's Web Lab

How to make Sure Your Site Gets Found

How Will Your Site Attract Visitors?

Once your web site is completed and uploaded to the host server, you are ready for the world to beat a path to your door! The question is, how will anyone know that your site is there?

There aren't really very many ways that people find web sites:

1. They read or hear about your site, make note of its address (URL), and type its address into their browser's Location box;
2. They get to your site by following a link from some other site;
3. They encounter your site when searching the Internet.

To successfully promote your site, you'll want to pay attention to all of these ways of attracting visitors.

Advertise Your URL

Consider how publicizing your site fits within your overall promotion plan, and make sure that you include your URL appropriately in your other promotional materials.

Links to Your Site

Find ways to exchange links with other web sites that might share a common topic or visitor base; many sites will happily add a link to your site if you reciprocate with a link to theirs. Try posting messages to Usenet newsgroups devoted to topics connected with your site -- just be sure that you are following the etiquette for each newsgroup you post to. These days, many newsreaders render URLs as live links, so if you include your URL in a message, your site is just a click away...

Search and Your Site Will be Found

There are two parts to a strategy to get found by people seaching online: the features you add to your site that enhance its chances of being listed in response to someone's search, and the steps you take to introduce your site to the various Internet search tools.

There is an Internet site designed to help with the latter -- initiating contact with the search tools -- that also now has a good summary of things to do to achieve the former -- equipping your site with the ingredients that improve its chances of being found. Check out Submit-it as a way to start getting listed, and read their Market Strategy section and their Tips section for ideas for what to include in your site.