5 Vital Strategies for Promoting a New Website

Building a website “from scratch” is daunting work in itself – there are multiple designs, content, targeting and other choices to be made.

However, it’s after the website is built that the real work begins: promoting it and ensuring it gets the visits and attention it deserves.

Let’s look at some of the strategies you should be considering to promote your new website:

1. Register your business with online directories

Online directories are today what the Yellow Pages used to be – a place where you can find a company that does the kind of work you need to be done. And once you establish your website, getting yourself listed in these directories is one of the first steps you should take.

Bear in mind that not all directories are as useful or valuable as others. Places like Yelp, your local Chamber of Commerce, or large local directories are your best choice as you start out. You can find relevant directories by simply doing a Google search for “directory your line of business” or “directory your place of business” and start from there.

2. Use social media to your advantage

Social media is no longer only a space to stay in touch with your friends and family, and it has long ago become a business promotion vehicle. When you launch your website, make sure you also register on appropriate social networks using your brand name, and make your presence known.

Don’t make the mistake of trying to be active on every single social network: you only need to be using the ones that your target audience is frequenting. So, depending on your product or service and brand voice, you should choose only the most effective social avenues of promotion. Instagram is great if you can showcase your product with the use of images, while Facebook generally works well for all kinds of businesses since its ad system allows you to target very specific audiences. LinkedIn is great for B2B businesses and agencies.

3. Search engine optimization and why you need it

To the uninitiated, SEO can often sound like a lot of mumbo-jumbo. In reality, it is a fantastic way to increase your website’s traffic and its ranking in search engine results pages, thus making you more visible to your target audience.

The thing you need to know about SEO is that it does require the use of a variety of strategies, and you do need to educate yourself on a variety of topics. Things like keyword research, blogger outreach, and content optimization are just some of the tasks you will need to master if you want to succeed.

On the other hand, there is no shortage of advertising and marketing firms you can outsource your business’s SEO to. However, Travis Jamison, founder of Smash Digital, suggests that even if you plan on hiring a firm to manage some or all of your digital marketing, learning the basics will help you more properly vet agencies. Knowing the right questions to ask will allow you to find the firm that best aligns with your company’s needs and goals.

4. The power of paid ads

Turning to Pay Per Click advertising when your website is brand new can be a valuable source of traffic. The Google AdWords network lets you post your ads in search engine results pages or on the websites of online publishers that are a part of said network. This means you can target searchers who are looking for something specific online, or people who read certain kinds of blogs or news outlets, and point out your offer.

The one downside of this form of advertising is that it can be rather expensive, depending on the keywords you’re trying to target. The best way to determine whether such a campaign is worth it is to weigh the potential ROI – and see how it compares to the amount of money you would need to spend on ads.

5. Content marketing

Another rather advanced (but very profitable if executed correctly) way to promote your new business is to leverage the power of content. In essence, content marketing boils down to promoting a piece of content you’ve created for your website. This can be an ebook, a blog post, an image, a video – anything that can be consumed online.

Once you have your piece of content in place, you reach out to bloggers, online outlets, fellow companies, and all manner of different websites, asking them to mention it on their own platforms. It takes time, determination, and a lot of hard work to make this strategy pay off. But once it does, it will only keep giving, as you will always be able to build on a piece of content you have in your arsenal.

Promoting a new website might seem a daunting task: there are so many websites out there already, how can you hope to stand out? However, the online community always has room for more, especially if the new website brings something valuable to the table. Which is why you should always strive to share quality, rather than piling things on just for the sake of having a populated website.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.