Putting up a web site alone will not ensure that the web site will be viewed by people. People need not only to be told that the web site exists, but they also have to be enticed into visiting the web site. Here are some tips for doing this.

1. Launch your web site

Organize a small function to launch the web site. Invite important officials, politicians, media person, and local dignitaries to the function. Do not forget to issue a detailed press release about the function to all the leading newspapers beforehand. In the press release the web address should be prominently displayed. The venue of the function should have a banner showing the address of the web site in large type. All the stationary items distributed in the function such as files, writing pads, identity cards, etc., should have the web address printed. The speeches given at the function should be carefully worded to repeatedly refer to the content of the web site. If possible use an LCD system to project the web site pages live during the talk.

2. Issue press releases

Issue brief press releases to all the local newspapers about the web site (this is different from the press release about the launch function mentioned in point 1 above). Mention the full address of the web site and discuss briefly about the major sections of the web site. Ensure that the press release reaches the correct person in the offices of the newspapers. Follow up with phone calls to the editors of the newspapers to ensure that the press release is prominently published.

3. Get the web site reviewed

Arrange with magazines that publish articles on topics related to your website and leading newspapers to print a small review of the web site in their pages.

4. Include web address in email signatures

Include the complete web address in your email signature. This will ensure that all your outgoing emails mention the complete web address at the bottom.

5. Send intimation emails

Send personal emails to all your acquaintances about the launch of the web site and invite them to visit the web site and send you feedback. Don’t forget to mention the complete web address in the email!

6. Submit the web site to major search engines

Many search engines like yahoo, google, msn, etc., accept web sites for inclusion into their database free of charge. This ensures that people can search for the web site by merely typing keywords related to the subject of the website. Submitting the web site is a simple process and requires just about 5 to 10 minutes. But it requires careful planning. First prepare a list of all keywords that can be related to the content of your web site.

Next prepare a one line statement that describes the web site. This line should be carefully worded to depict the exact content of the web site. Avoid words that are meaningless, long and difficult to understand. This descriptive line will be brought up by the search engine whenever anyone makes a web search for a site related to the content of your web site. It is on the basis of your descriptive line that the searcher will decide whether to visit your site or some other similar site shown by the search engine.

With this information ready, visit each search engine site and look for a button “Submit site” on their web page. Click the button and fill up the form that is displayed.

After finishing with the major search engines like yahoo, google, msn, altavista, etc., do a general search with the keywords “submit site” on google, yahoo, msn, etc. This will yield many more sites where the web site can be submitted.

Remember that you can submit different pages of your web site separately. For example, you can submit the first page of all important sections of your web site. Remember however to prepare separate set of keywords and descriptive line for each page and enter the correct page address while submitting the page.

After every major revision of the web site, resubmit the web site to the search engines.

After submission, the search engine will visit your site and examine it before including it in its database. This is done automatically. It will take about a month before your site actually becomes visible in a general search on the search engine.

7. Arrange to have links to your site from other related web sites

Arrange with the web masters of related web sites to place a link on their web sites that leads to your web site. In exchange, you can offer a similar link to their web sites from your site.

8. Advertise in newspapers and magazines

Insert small ads in leading newspapers and magazines about the web site. Don’t forget to include the web address in the insertion! As this can be a costly venture, judiciously select the newspaper/magazine in which to place the ads. Go for publications that deal in content that is related to the subject of your website.

9. Word of mouth publicity

Draw the attention of friends, relatives, neighbours and other acquaintances to the existence of the web site and request them to inform their acquaintances about the web site. In this way you can reach many people by word of mouth without spending any money.

10. Use the internet itself effectively

The internet is full of discussion forums, talk groups and clubs on almost anything under the sun. There are sure to be many forums related to the subject of your web site. Enroll yourself as a member of these forums and use them to publicize your web site. You need only to mention in the forum that the web site is now alive and request members to visit it and to tell others. Provide the complete web address.

11. Ensure that the web site is never down

And most important of all, host the web site in a robust server. The web site should never be down for more than a couple of hours at a time. Get the site repaired immediately if something goes wrong.