  & THE INTERNET SURVIVAL GUIDE |
& THE INTERNET SURVIVAL GUIDE |
| Starting
Out:
So you've finally got your Web site up, and it is a beautiful thing to behold. But alas! No one seems to be visiting! What you need is a promotion strategy, and while this Web page doesn't have all the answers, it will get you started in the never ending process of bringing the world to your Web site. The first thing you have to realize and act upon is the fact that almost all the search-based traffic on the Net flows through the top 8 or 9 search engines and directories. Adding your URL to these sites should be your first priority. We have provided links (right) to the top search engines and directories here, just use the back button on your browser to return to this page when you finish with each link. A Few Things To Remember: Possibly the most important text on your page, when it comes to your listing on search engines, is what you put between the <TITLE> tags. While turning your title into a keywords list is very annoying, and looks very unprofessional, do try to make the text relevant, and perhaps add a few of the most important keywords. While some engines let you manually add a text description to your listing, many (including Altavista and Infoseek) make use of the <META> tags in your document for that purpose, so make sure you utilize those codes in your page to ensure your listing looks exactly the way you want it to. Your <META> text should appear like this: <HEAD>
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Other Search Engines and Directories:
Once you've registered with the major search engines, you can move on to submitting your site to some of the other directories and engines available. Focus on industry specific directories first, as they are most likely to bring traffic to your site. While these additional search sites may only account for a very small percentage of the traffic that is brought to your site, it certainly doesn't hurt to be listed in as many of them as you have time to tackle. We've provided a large listing of search engines and directories for your use. Reciprocal Links Programs:
The Internet Link Exchange is the largest banner exchange program on the net, and so it is the best banner exchange to use best if you want wide exposure. ILE will display your banner once for every two viewings of the the banner on your site. As a Link Exchange member you can access your statistics and find out how many visitors your site has had, how many times your banner has been on other sites, and the click-through rate of your banner. The biggest setback of ILE is that you cannot target your advertising to any specific site topics. Bannerad is smaller than ILE, but has the advantage of being able to select more specifically which ads you do not want shown on your site, that is, if the system were perfect. It is clear that webmasters can easily circumvent the system, but the illusion of control is better than no control at all.
NarrowCast Media also offers a 1:2 display ratio for your banner. Their banners are larger than either Bannerad or Link Exchange, and they also buy ad space if you already have all the traffic you need, and just want cash.
BannerSwap has a 1:2 banner display ratio, with an extra 1/2 point given for each click through. This program utilized a Site Effectiveness Ratio in determining ad placement in order to penalize member sites that have their ads placed on the bottom of the page, and assist sites with top of page placement.
SmartClicks offers a lot of perks. They have the usual 1:2 banner ratio, but their method of ad placement is not as random as most banner exchange programs. The sites from which your advertising generates the most click-thrus will become the sites where your banner is displayed most often. SmartClicks also offers free reports on the markets that are responding best to your ads, and free historical data on your banner ads so you can develop your marketing strategies around that information.
123Banners
uses 400X40 pixel (7k max) banners, the same size banners as LinkExchange, so you can get twice the use of the same banner design, if you want. They offer 2:1 display ratio, and statistics perks like most other banner exchanges. The only downfall is that you don't get to filter out banners you may not appreciate.
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