This post is part of a 7 part series. To view the first post in this series, click here.

Once your website is designed and has some content, it’s time to let everyone know about your website and how to find it. This is the most challenging tasks of running a website on the Internet, but thankfully there is a ton of information available to help you. In this post, I will explain the basic behind promoting your website, and then provide some links to external resources to help you learn more.

Search Engine Optimization

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the best way of promoting your website, especially since the traffic doesn’t cost you anything. SEO includes on-page and off-page optimization tactics. Some examples of on-page optimization are a descriptive page title, meta descriptions, clean html code, and keyword rich copy. Off-page optimization tactics include article submission, directory submission, link building, and press releases.

Paid Search Advertising

Paid search is the easiest way to quickly generate a good amount of traffic to your website. If done properly, this can be a very effective technique. You can see paid search ads most often in the right column of a search results page. The objective of a paid search campaign is to drive the most traffic to your website, for the lowest cost and best possible traffic quality. By traffic quality I’m talking about visitors who will be interested in your site topic and what you have to offer.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is the practice of sending traffic to a website in return for compensation, most often in the form of cost per action. Cost per action occurs when the visitor takes a certain action, such as purchasing an item, filling out a form, or joining a website. Affiliate marketing has become very popular in recent years and there are a large number of affiliate networks bringing advertisers and publishers together for mutual benefit.

Social Networking

Social Networking is a new form of networking and marketing that has emerged in recent years. Some social networking websites include Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg, and Plaxo. Through these social networks, you can network with people around the globe, share your interests with them, and even promote your website. Many of these social network websites are considered part of the Web 2.0 phenomenon.

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