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Hello my friends,
Common Sense While Promoting Your Website
by: Robert Nixon
In previous articles, I have discussed various places you can submit your website such as Search Engines, FFA pages, Classifieds, and Safe list, and what to expect in return.
Never forget to always use your common sense when doing any submissions. Do not put your posting across multiple categories, but stay to the category that matches your theme as close as possible and only post there.
IF you do not follow this advice, you will be banned from future postings at many places you have spent some time getting listed with. Why? If you do not follow the rules, then you make others think you are only just another spammer, and that is what you have become by letting your desires outweigh your common sense. You will end up losing more than you will ever gain by doing so. You have to always think of quality first and coverage second while on the internet.
Directories:
In my opinion, these are actually search engines aimed at targeted niche's. You will find some that you can only submit to if you pay a fee, some that require a 'link back', some that you have to register with, and some that will let you submit without any requirements. Most, if not of the pure paid inclusion type will give you the option of a faster listing with a 'link back' or a slower one without.
This is where having a 'links' page maybe of some value to your site, although I am not sure if such a page will actually pay off for anything else but to keep your link on a specific Directory. The thought is that with a link to your site on the Directory, the major search engines may pick these up a additional links to your site.
Here you should pay close attention to the Directories you are listing with, making sure they are themed close to your website's theme. Many Directories are human edited and they will go to your site and check it out to see if your site meets their quality standards. Just as you have a list of search engines, you will want a good list of Directories and the requirements of them, if possible. Others will send a robot to check out your site during the process of submission and will insert the information it needs on your submission form and still others will send their robot to your links page url to confirm their link before allowing your posting.
By doing a search on Google, I ran across a really good site that takes a lot of the effort out of manual submission by listing what each of the listed Directories require or take to submit. You may want to save the following link as I have and start going thru the listed Directories. http://www.4th-media.com/directories/
Some of the directories on the list have changed their requirements since the list was put together, but the number of them is very small so I think the list is still quite good.
I am sure there are some great directory auto-submitters out there that will also save you some time with this effort, but I have noticed that many of the Directories on this list require you to fill in a 'code' before you can do the final submit, keeping auto- submitters out ( a form of spam to the directory owner's that want to keep their directory clean and with only sites that pertain to their correct categories ).
Some places in my opinion to avoid are sites that require you to visit or rate other sites in order for yours to continue or to get listed. My thinking is that they are just creating hits to and from sites in order to show traffic volume on theirs. Think about it, just where are you when you are doing this? The hits you get maybe heavy but you may also notice the 'click thrus', that is the page views just are way out of whack in the ratios. For one thing, I think it is a true waste of my time to sit at my PC and to do so for very little in return. I have better things to do with my time spent with promoting my website and it's various themed pages.
You must realize that as more time passes more and more new sites, and people, are accessing the internet. The days of various engines of any sort taking anything and everything are long gone. The main reason for this is abuse and sheer volume. On the other hand, this volume also means more and more people are looking for what you maybe offering. Your chances of making sales or getting sign ups for your programs are good, if they see your site on their PC. Keeping an eye on the current trends of the internet and what will produce for you and looking at where the trends are leading are very difficult for those that have not been on the internet for any long period of time. They just don't understand what is happening and the effect the trends have on their efforts.
The benefits your product or program offers are what will get you what you desire. It is all in how you present it on your website. I often think of various ways to change my presentations ( ad copy to many of you ) in order to see what the results will become. If I am getting a lot of views but no takers when visitors go to one of my associate pages, then the fault lays with my associate program owner, I have done my part by getting them there. I have noticed this with a couple of my associate programs and am considering other options. Still there are others that have advantages or provide tools that I really like and use often. By my explaining why I do so in my ad copy, then others will see the benefit of the tool or product also.
Recently we have all heard the hype about VOIP ( Voice Over Internet Protocol ). This is an extension of 'digital' phone service using your PC and the internet for access.
The benefits of any sort of VOIP is that you will save on toll and long distance calls, if you are charged at all for anything other than the access fee. With potential clients coming from all over the country this means giving them the personal touch that will make many more sales for you is well worth the money saved. For a certain fee ( normally the same as you 'basic' phone charges from you local phone provider ), you can either not be charged or get huge discounts on your toll and long distance bills.
This has been around for quite awhile and many companies have been using this for years by purchasing their own T-1 lines to handle the bandwidth needed for the thousands of calls their employees have to make every day. For larger companies this is still be more cost effective method ( but it also includes special hardware and software to run ). The service providers have made great gains in the past few years with providing more and more 'home' and 'small business' users with more bandwidth by the means of DSL's and fiber optics ( many of your ISP's use fiber ) to the home users. At first there were several 'dialers' on the internet that were free to use but were quickly shut down by the major providers. When you pay a fee, some of that fee goes to them for the use of their lines. You will still have to pay for your internet access plus for the VOIP service.
There are always exceptions:
This one is free to the user as the time and bandwidth used are paid by the advertisers. Of course one requirement is that you at least 'click' on one of the advertisers ad during your usage time. This seems to me to be a fair trade off considering the cost. You will also have to have a 'headphone/microphone' set up correctly for usage and you will have to log in to the service ( done automatically once you join and attempt access). http://www.adcallads.com/
Are there others? I am sure there are but this is the one I like. Once again it is from one of my associate programs that also offers other items and products of which you are under no obligation what so ever to use, just pick and choose what you need, if any.
Chat rooms:
In my opinion a chat room is still the best way to communicate with your clients or associate members. Just another form of VOIP but with the ability to be specific to your website, associate programs or whatever. Ones with sound will cost or be a little more difficult to set up but are well worth the effort.
Conference calls:
The use of conference calls has seen a recent up-swing in usage by many on the internet. Here you may have to pay and you will have to enter a 'pin' number for access.
If the call is worth it to you, then the cost won't matter and the benefits of the conference maybe of great value to your on-line success.
Want to test your internet access speed?
http://internetspeed.blogspot.com/
Look in the middle of the page where it says 'Test internet speed'.
Have you been thinking about changing colors of various things on your website using html?
If you are like me, then you need a reference to the codes.
http://html-color-codes.com/
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