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Marketing & Promotion
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Up and Running
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Web Promotion Steps
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Meta & Title Tags
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Search Engine Submission
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K.I.S.S.
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More Marketing Tips
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Up and Running!
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Make sure your site is fully operational and completely filled out.
If you need a review of your site, please visit
Move-In Support.
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Web Promotion Steps
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Once you've got your Web site up and running, you want people to visit it on a regular basis. Here are just a few examples of the ways in which you can get visitors to frequent your Web site.
- Notify your current customers—send out a mass email or direct mail piece notifiying your customers that you are live on the Internet. Encourage them to visit your Web site and provide valuable feedback.
- Distribute your URL—place your Web address (URL) on printed pieces such as spec sheets, flyers, etc. as well as on advertisements and your business card.
- Network online—go to other Web pages similar to your business type, and find the webmaster/owner's email address. Tell them you like their site and describe your Web site. Agree to exchange links on your pages.
- Join WebRing—this completely free service offers easy access to hundreds of thousands of member Web sites organized by related interests into easy-to-travel rings. For more information, go to WebRing.
- Include your email address—place your email address on your Web pages and ask for feedback regarding your site. This is a great way to get suggestions on how to improve your site as well as give visitors an opportunity to contact you regarding networking opportunities.
- Respond quickly to inquiries—impress your visitors and turn them into customers by responding to their emails or messages immediately. They are the most important part of your Web site, and the key to making it successful.
- Use Meta Tags correctly—see below for more information on using your Meta Tags to get listed on the leading search engines.
- Build a "People are Saying..." page—have a page on your Web site showcasing the great things visitors are saying about your Web site and/or company. Be sure to include any awards or recognition your Web site has received.
- Take part in newsgroups—visit newsgroups pertaining to your business type. Post short lists and articles on these sites to get your company name out there. Here is a site to help you find current newsgroups: Liszt's Usenet Newsgroups Directory
- Change & update your site often—include an "updated on..." date to indicate when your site was lasted updated. Update any "What's New" lists on your site regularly.
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Meta Tags & Title Tags
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Your Web site includes META tags that allow you to include keywords and a description for
your Web site. These tags are stored within the internal source code of your site and are
recognized by search engines when people conduct a search. You will need to have your META
tag keywords and descriptions prepared before submitting your site to the search engines.
META Keywords should be matched to the keywords or phrases that you think a person would use
to conduct a search. For example, if you were a tax consultant, you could use a keyword of
"tax" in your META tags. When someone goes to a search engine and types in the word "tax"
your Web site should appear in the list of sites found. META tags can be created in the
setup area of your site under Web site Promotion. For most search engines you can list up to
150 words in your Keywords area. Each keyword or phrase should be separated by a comma, and
should be listed in order of importance.
META Description is the area of your META tags that describes your site. When someone
conducts a search in a search engine, they are brought to another page which has a listing of
search results that match the keywords they typed in. The search results display the title
of the site, a link to the site, and a description of the site. This description of the
site will be the same as the content that is typed into the META Description area. When
creating your META Description it is important to keep it at 25 words or less because most
search engines will cut it off to 25 words.
To create your META Keywords and META Description:
- Sign into your site by clicking the "Sign In" button at the bottom of your page
- Click "Set Your Meta Tags" this link is under the Administration area in
the right hand side of your Owner's Page
- Type your Keywords and Site Description into the appropriate text boxes
- Save your changes, remember the META Keywords and META Description will not be
displayed on your site, they will only be seen in your source code
It is important to add your company name or other desired name in the Title Page of your Web
site Home Page. Search engines and directories will also look at the Title tag of Web sites,
along with the META tags.
- Click the "Sign In" link located on your Home page
- Click Site Manager
- Click Home Page
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page until you find "Page Title"
- Type in the title you want to appear
Note: This title will also
appear in the upper left corner of browser windows
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Search Engine Submission
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Once you have entered Meta Tags and Title Tags into your site, you are ready to submit your url to the search engines. Please visit our Search Engine Submission page by clicking here.
- You can also pay for a service that will register your site for you. For more information, please visit:
Note: With some of the larger search engines, there may be a longer period of time until the site is registered.
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K.I.S.S. (Keep It a Simple Site)
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It is very important to make sure your site is interesting and fun,
yet simple. Part of K.I.S.S. is to provide quick simple navigation
for visitors. Keep the number of images on your site to a reasonable
number and check to make sure the image sizes are correct. Analyze
how easy, or difficult, it is for a visitor to navigate to different
areas of your site.
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More Marketing Tips
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Some great tips can be found on Wired's Webmonkey site, including this article:
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If you need some examples or additional assistance with your Web site,
please
visit our Move-In Specialist's site.
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