From postmaster@NetCreations.com Tue Feb 25 20:55 MET 1997
Subject: Five Ways to Boost Traffic to Your Web Site Today!
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 1997 14:42:55 -0500
Five Ways to Boost Traffic to Your Web Site Today!
Brought to you by NetCreations' PostMaster URL Announcement Service!
1. Spread the word.
Unless your company's name is Ford or Pepsi, you can't rely on word
of mouth alone to attract the thousands of visitors to your site. "If
you build it, they will come" may work in the movie, Field of Dreams,
but it just won't cut it on the Web. Go out and plaster your URL
everywhere -- in print, on television, even on the side of a bus. A
more cost-effective way to promote your site is to register it with
the hundreds of search engines, directories, what's new lists, what's
cool lists, and publications that actively solicit new site
announcements.
2. Choose a Web site promotion service that fits your needs.
Manual promotion services rely on people who surf from site from
site, typing information into the data-entry forms on each directory
or search engine. Automated services use computer programs to
accomplish the same goal. Since the Internet is essentially one big
computer, automated services like NetCreations' PostMaster let
marketers come to their site, fill out a series of forms, and click
on buttons to post site information to Yahoo, InfoSeek, Lycos,
Linkstar, Excite and other search engines and directories.
Automated services generally require about an hour to fill
out a series of forms; by the time you've filled them all out, the
posting process is almost complete. Manual services, by contrast, can
take anywhere from 24 hours to about a week depending on how many
sites the service posts to and how many other jobs the service booked
ahead of yours. It's your choice, but remember -- time is money!
3. Get the search engines to pay attention.
Just like there's no magic potion that can make you thinner, taller
or smarter, there's nothing you can do to guarantee that your site
will pop up first in a search engine or directory. That said, there
are some techniques and strategies that can help better your odds.
One technique is called "front-loading your HTML." Since
tags pop up immediately on the search engines' radar screens,
embedding a sequence such as <title>baked goods gifts gift cookies
muffins cakes makes it more likely you'll pop up near the top
for these particular categories. You may also want to add what are
known as META tags, HTML codes that apply to an entire document.
Because newer search engines such as AltaVista and Infoseek read and
process META tags, you can use them to specify keywords and even tell
the search engines how to describe your site. For example,
4. Pick the right keywords.
Many people who surf the Net consult yellow-pages style directories
that let them browse topical categories or search for products and
services by keyword. The Web address for Bob's Bakery may be
http://www.netcreations.com/bob/, but few customers are going to find
it by simply guessing the URL or randomly following links. Bob's
chances of attracting attention are much greater if his site pops for
keywords such as gifts, cookies and bakery.
5. Keep customers coming back for more.
The single most powerful way to keep people coming back to your site
is to offer a mailing list that they can join. This way, you've got a
quick and easy way to contact potential customers every time you run
a special or bring out a new product. Few people will take the time
to root through a long list of bookmark files. Two of the most
popular mailing list programs are listserv and majordomo. However,
these programs can be difficult to configure by all but the most
experienced UNIX pros and are prone to crashing and sending out
duplicate messages. NetCreations' mailing list software, WebList,
(http://www.netcreations.com/weblist/) is a Web-based mailing list
program that works exactly like fax broadcasting and offers easy
administration from the Web.