Note: Some Links may be out of date.

100 ways to promote – Part 2
Joining a Community
Finding Links

100 ways to promote – Number 1 – Join a Community


Why Join a Community –

Some good reasons. A source for networking Probably the best reason to join a community on the web is the fact that it will make most of your promotion activities much easier.

Need links for your site, just ask. Pondering about a joint venture idea that has been stirring around in your head ask… you get the idea. A place to get your questions answered Especially in small close knit communities it is really easy to get your questions answered from folks that have been there and done that. Your business can be a lonely place Not all communities are just for business. While most will want you to stay on track, it is also a place where you can make some great friends.

Got a new gig, or made a ton of new sales and don’t have anyone to tell it to, you can do that in a community as well. A place to offer your services Simply put, you scratch their back and they’ll scratch yours.

Finding a Community

There are millions of communities on the web. Each and everyone are different. Finding the right community that fits you (and you them) may take a bit of time. So take your time and explore, it will do you and your business a world of good.

Search Engines
Do a search for the community your looking for at any search engine.

News Groups
Doing a quick search at News Groups.com I found over 30 listings for the term business community. Being specific as to exactly the community your looking for will help.
http://www.newsfeeds.com/

Join a club
You can find a ton of communities to join in the clubs at Yahoo. http://clubs.yahoo.com/

Personal recommendations
We’ve been in the Creative Enterprises Network since 1997. It is a great place to learn, discuss, find friends, and network. http://www.creativethought.com/

100 ways to promote – Number 2– Getting Links

This section is a direct excerpt from our e-book The Web Page Planner http://www.webpageplanner.com

When building a links page it is important

• To know how links effect Search Engine Rankings
• To remember what the most effective links are.
• To learn how to find sites to link to.

One of the best ways to get trickles of traffic to your website and to improve your search engine position is by getting links.

Did you know that search engines can tell:

• How many sites link to you (and where they come from).
• How many sites you link to.
• If you use a link farm tool that finds links for you (if you use an automated tool that finds the site, writes them a letter, and adds them automatically, I would personally suggest that you not use it.
• It is the quality of the link that counts, more than the quantity.
• ONE important note - we've simplified getting links - find webmasters that are willing to exchange links, all in one easy to use directory - click on the link for details. http://www.ineedlinks.com

Step 1

Using the template that you created –start a new page. Use your keywords to come up with a good title. Just having it titled ‘Links Page” can get kind of boring but you can name it that if you wish.

Step 2

As you create and begin to get links for your site, try not to have more than ten links on a page. After you have two links pages begin to categorize your links. The more relevant they are to your website, the better these links will work for you.

Step 3

Provide instructions on how to contact you for a link. Decide early what types of links you are going to accept at your site. I suggest that you ask folks to link to you with text. If they insist on using a banner (for their link) then provide it, but a text link for your site will work best.

Step 4

Adjust the hidden tags of the page to make them unique (see Lesson 5).

Step 5

Looking for links. Did you Know – Google will not index your site unless you have at least one website linking back to your site. The hardest part of this process is the actual looking for links. DO NOT use an automated link farm generator. Search engines work hard to stop folks from taking advantage of them; I fear that folks that use this tool may find their rankings drop in the near future. The great thing about looking for links is that soon folks, will come looking for you and the process will pretty much take care of itself.

Just remember that when they ask you for a link, you don’t have to link with them. Remember that 10 good quality links can be better than 50 that aren’t. Believe it or not there is an easier way (than using the search engines) to find websites that are related to yours.

We use Search Rocket for many of our clients (to help them find links). http://www.searchrocket.com/

This tool searches many of the search engines at once to find sites containing your keywords or terms. There is a great guide on the site so I won’t repeat the information on how to use it here. When searching, use your keywords that you listed in the Meta tag lesson. Limit your search to 100 results or so.

Manually begin visiting the sites that are shown in the list. I have found sites near the top of the search results have the best positions within the engines.

Use the following list as a guide:

• Is it a quality site? You may be linking to them after all.
• Do they have a links page? (If they don’t have one, they probably won’t build one just for you).
• Be sure they aren’t in direct competition with you.

If they don’t meet the criteria, delete them from your list. After you have narrowed your list, it’s time to request the link exchange. Visit the website again. If their links page includes instructions, then follow them. That makes your job quite a bit easier since it saves you time. If their links page doesn’t include instructions on how to link, then find their name and email address. This information may be listed somewhere on their site, if not you can find it by looking for it in the betterwhois database www.betterwhois.com .

After you have their contact information, spend some time looking at their site.

Email them the following letter.

Dear (their name),

I recently visited your website at www.yourwebsite.com. [Include a personal paragraph here that will let them know that you actually visited their website… such as. I have never visited Hazard, KY but we have relatives that live in Western Ky. Last summer we visited them and had a great time. … or You are really talented with your portraits or paintings, or baskets or whatever. The more personal you can make this paragraph, the more likely you will be to get a link.]

I also have a website www.ourwebsite.com and invite you to visit. I believe my visitors will benefit from and enjoy your website. I would love to exchange links with you.

Details about linking with our site can be found here www.ourwebsite.com/links.htm. Please let me know if you have any questions and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Kindest regards,
Your Name
www.ourwebsite.com

Make a note on your Links worksheet – website, contact name, when contacted. Then go to the next website on your list. During the beginning stages of your website development, make an effort to write a couple of webmasters a day. After you finish the list, use searchhound to look for another keyword term that relates to your site.