Once a new web site has been completed and uploaded, the project does not end there. Having a well-designed web site to promote your company, product, or service has no significance unless there are viewers hitting your site. Your target audience needs to not only know that your company has a web site, but how to get there as well. Post Launch Marketing is as equally important as the content and design of the site.

1. Announcing Your Web Site With Internet Search Engines And Directories
2. Issuing A Press Release
3. Announcing In News Groups
4. Participating In E-mail Lists
5. Obtaining Links From Other Web Sites
6. Purchasing Ad Banners On Other Web Sites
7. Running On-Site Events
8. Issuing an E-Newsletter
9. Conducting a Direct E-Marketing Campaign
10. Integrating your Traditional Marketing and Sales Programs
11. Measuring your results

The bonus of running a Web site marketing campaign is that it introduces you to the advantages of using the Internet as a marketing medium for all your products. For example, you can send press releases to editors by email, or conduct direct e-marketing campaigns that invite prospects to in-store specials.

1. Search engines
2. Announcement sites
3. General directories
4. Geographic sites
5. Specific-interest sites
6. Selective sites

Always announce your site the day it’s published as it will take from a day to several weeks for the search engines to include it in their databases. It’s best to not announce before your site is published, however, as prospects who click to a site still under construction are unlikely to return. As your Web site changes and grows you may want to announce additional Web pages to the search engines. For example, if you create a new section of your site for a new product, you may want to announce it in the main page of that section. Return to the top of page.

A press release allows you to reach prospects through publications that cover your topic of interest. A release needs to be coordinated with the launch of your site (or it’s not news) and may be distributed by email, news wire, fax or mail. The four keys to a successful press release are:

1. Having newsworthy content
2. Targeting interested editors
3. Matching distribution method with editor preference
4. Properly formatting the release for each method of distribution

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If you want to post, target only those news groups that cover topics associated with your product. First determine if the news group accepts postings. If it does, monitor the postings and participant response. When you post, provide useful advice or information, not an advertisement for your product. Be specific and keep it short. You can end with a mention that your site has useful information on the topic you are posting. If possible, become a known participant by posting frequently with both advice and questions. And don’t forget to include your signature on every email or posting. If you have an announcement be sure to post it to the “announcement news groups” which are designed for announcements. Finally, if there’s sufficient interest, you may even want to create your own news group. Return to the top of page.

An email list is much like a news group. The key difference is that messages go directly to a participant’s email box rather than the participant going to the news group to read the postings. For that reason, posting to an email list requires even more caution than a news group. Otherwise, news groups rules apply. Return to the top of page.

There are two types of links:

1. One-way links to your Web site.
2. Two-way links where you provide a return link to the other Web site.

Getting a link simply requires finding sites that have a reason for pointing to you, then asking for the link. If a site acts as a resource for information that resides on your site, the owners of the site will probably want to point to you. If you can’t get them to point to your main page, then ask for a link to your page that contains the specific information. Seek out partners for trading links including vendors, suppliers and providers of complimentary products. Return to the top of page.

As more links appear on any given page, advertising increasingly becomes a way to stand out from your competition. You can sponsor another site through barter or direct payment. In either case, you can find appropriate sites to sponsor yourself or have another company find them for you. Return to the top of page.

Running events on your site is an excellent way to encourage repeat traffic. You’ll want to begin running events once traffic from your site launch begins to fade. Examples include contests, games, on-line interviews, chat sessions and audio broadcasts. Return to the top of page.

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The trend in direct e-marketing is in “push” technologies and services. These allow you to send regularly scheduled messages and other content to individuals who have signed up to receive it. The business models for these technologies are still in definition, but they deserve attention and testing. Return to the top of page.

Start by including your Web site address on your flyers, letterheads and brochures. If there are advantages to delivering services, programs or information through your Web site, then provide an incentive in your traditional materials to get customers to go to your site for fulfillment. Return to the top of page.