Use offline resources to promote your site

by Guest Contributor | Oct 01, 2003 1:21:00 PM

Tags: Guest Contributor

Takeaway: You can promote your Web site through traditional media. Here's how.

Web promotion doesn't stop after you shut down your computer. Believe it or not, people still get information from the printed page, radio, and TV--and you can use these traditional media to tell those people to look at your Web site.

Put your URL everywhere

You've set up your service provider account, spent months developing your Web site, and maybe even registered a custom domain name. Now it's time to flaunt your online presence. Use the phone number rule: everywhere that your phone number is listed--on business cards, advertisements, brochures, letterhead, and flyers--you should make sure your URL is listed, too.

Customize your domain name

The value of a custom domain name (such as www.yourbusiness.com) is probably greatest offline. In the real world, people don't have the luxury of hyperlinks; they get to your site by writing down or memorizing the URL. The fewer slashes, tildes, and hyphens that your audience has to remember, the better.

Get some press

One look at the computer section of a magazine rack shows that plenty of ink is devoted to the online world. Even the mainstream press--the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time, and Newsweek--has regular sections covering the Web.

You can take advantage of the traditional media's interest in Web sites with a traditional media tool: the press release. Be sure to mention your Web site's title, URL, posting date, and contact information. Give enough details in the release for reporters to write up a couple of sentences for a roundup article on Web sites.

For a long list of links to the online counterparts of print newspapers throughout the world, try netMedia; most of the papers listed have contact info, including email addresses, at their sites. For links to radio and TV outlets, try Infosearch's Broadcasting Links.