This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Creating a Marketing Plan
While you haven’t started the actually creation of the site, it’s not too early to start your marketing plans. There are thousands of new Web sites going up on the Internet every week. How do you get known? Well, first off Web search engines will find you; they employ programs called Web robots that go to all the Web servers on the planet, and patiently index each site. That way they can offer their visitors the ability to access information from any site, anywhere on or off the planet. The more sites like yours they index, the more money they can charge their advertisers. That means they are aggressive and they will find you. That doesn’t mean that you sit by and wait, submission of your site to search engines is one of the first steps in getting your name out there to the world.
If you have the bucks, there are companies out there that will help you with the submission process. For example, the following sites will get you going, but for a price:
If you would rather take a crack at the process yourself, there are a lot of ways to shout “Here I Am” without spending any of your hard-earned cash.
Search engine submission, or registration refers to the act of getting your Web site listed with search engines. Unfortunately, getting listed does not mean that you will necessarily rank well for particular terms. It simply means that the search engine knows your pages exist, and if your visitors type in the right search words, they will find you.
For example, Yahoo has two submission options: “Standard,” which is free, and “Yahoo Express,” which involves a submission fee. Anyone can use Standard submission to submit for free to a non-commercial category.
How do you submit? Type the following URL into your browser:
http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html
That will bring up a list of submission options. Select you option, fill out the form, and you’re finished.
Most search engines give you the ability to submit your site for free, or for a price. In many cases the only difference is how long it takes for your site to appear.
You should always prepare before submitting. This preparation means that you have written a 25 word or less description of your entire Web site. That description should make use of the two or three key terms that you hope to be found for. In our fictitious site you would use words like Photography and Video.
You should consider researching what are the best terms for your site, rather than guessing at these. The site:
has a list of resources that will allow you to do such research. Avoid the use of marketing language in your description. You should use distinct keyworks instead. So, your description might go something like: video, technology, training, and social network, etc.