Someone recently asked me why you would ever want to promote a site before finishing it? If you happened to read my article Get Listed in the Search Engines Early you would have some of that answer. However, would I promote a site before it is started? No, I wouldn't - but I would as soon as I had the very basic structure and content ready.
One thing to remember is that promotion does not have to be a direct link - it can be indirect such as an author account, profile or configuration setting that points back to your site. This has become even more important with Web 2.0 sites because of their high popularity and page rank.
So, where would you begin with something like this? First and foremost you must have a Yahoo ID. Yahoo is important because there are some very highly ranked tools within Yahoo you can use as indirect ( and some direct ) promotion. Other than that you'll need to use individual IDs for the other sites (be sure to read my previous entry on the proper use of IDs before you begin).
Here we go - the ten power methods:
1. Twitter - I hope everyone has figured out the power of Twitter. But, if you haven't be sure to sign up and start tweeting! You can set a backlink in your profile as well as talk about what you're doing on your site. Start very early with this - you can tweet about your site, news, ideas, etc! Don't worry, someone will start following you.
2. StumbleUpon - This is a powerful way to track interesting websites either randomly or related to your marketing topic. Better yet, you can follow others picks, start groups and link back with your profile. Again, this is one you can start very early with a profile and links similar to your site - just be sure not to add your own site for stumbling too soon.
3. YouTube - If you're adept at creating videos this is an extremely powerful way to get backlinks to your site. However, you don't even have to do that - just create your own YouTube group with a backlink to your site. Then, add videos to that group of quality, related content. Over time people will join your group if you pick your videos well!
4. Zoho and Zoho Planner - Zoho is a provided of online productivity software - spreadsheet, word processor, database, etc. One very easy idea is to use Zoho Planning while your building your project. Why? Planner allows you to publish your plan publicly as you go - which you can use to track your own progress, create backlinks, and even stir up some ideas going forward. I use it just as a simple tracking mechanism.
5. Digg - Most of you are probably pretty familiar with this. Much like StumbleUpon you can track and vote for you favorite articles that tie to your site concept. You can enter your site in the profile.
6. Propeller - very much the same as StumbleUpon or Digg you can use Propeller to find and rate similar articles to your own.
7. MyBlogLog - this is a blog tracking and rating site (uses a Yahoo ID). Many blogs place a MyBlogLog widget on their site showing who has visited. This will show what users have stopped by - which you can map back to your Yahoo ID.
8. Flickr - most of you already know what this is (uses a Yahoo ID). However, you should seriously consider using it to indirectly or directly promote your site depending on the topic. For example, in my last article I mentioned the sample Travel Photo Tips site. Well, of course you would want to have photos on Flickr. But, if your site is informational only - you can get creative and find themes that fit your market!
9. Yahoo Answers - since you are promoting something that you love you should be able to answer questions about it. At some point your own site can become a reference to those answers - just be careful not to spam your site, that is, use answers to only try to get a link back. Be honest to those looking for answers and include many different references
10. Spicypage - finally, use this community site ranking tool to add your own site, rate others and collaborate with other, similar users.
There you have it! Ten simple power methods to boost your own site early. Just be consistent to work with two or three of each every day so you can build your successful ranking early to make money online.
One thing to remember is that promotion does not have to be a direct link - it can be indirect such as an author account, profile or configuration setting that points back to your site. This has become even more important with Web 2.0 sites because of their high popularity and page rank.
So, where would you begin with something like this? First and foremost you must have a Yahoo ID. Yahoo is important because there are some very highly ranked tools within Yahoo you can use as indirect ( and some direct ) promotion. Other than that you'll need to use individual IDs for the other sites (be sure to read my previous entry on the proper use of IDs before you begin).Here we go - the ten power methods:
1. Twitter - I hope everyone has figured out the power of Twitter. But, if you haven't be sure to sign up and start tweeting! You can set a backlink in your profile as well as talk about what you're doing on your site. Start very early with this - you can tweet about your site, news, ideas, etc! Don't worry, someone will start following you.
2. StumbleUpon - This is a powerful way to track interesting websites either randomly or related to your marketing topic. Better yet, you can follow others picks, start groups and link back with your profile. Again, this is one you can start very early with a profile and links similar to your site - just be sure not to add your own site for stumbling too soon.
3. YouTube - If you're adept at creating videos this is an extremely powerful way to get backlinks to your site. However, you don't even have to do that - just create your own YouTube group with a backlink to your site. Then, add videos to that group of quality, related content. Over time people will join your group if you pick your videos well!
4. Zoho and Zoho Planner - Zoho is a provided of online productivity software - spreadsheet, word processor, database, etc. One very easy idea is to use Zoho Planning while your building your project. Why? Planner allows you to publish your plan publicly as you go - which you can use to track your own progress, create backlinks, and even stir up some ideas going forward. I use it just as a simple tracking mechanism.
5. Digg - Most of you are probably pretty familiar with this. Much like StumbleUpon you can track and vote for you favorite articles that tie to your site concept. You can enter your site in the profile.
6. Propeller - very much the same as StumbleUpon or Digg you can use Propeller to find and rate similar articles to your own.
7. MyBlogLog - this is a blog tracking and rating site (uses a Yahoo ID). Many blogs place a MyBlogLog widget on their site showing who has visited. This will show what users have stopped by - which you can map back to your Yahoo ID.
8. Flickr - most of you already know what this is (uses a Yahoo ID). However, you should seriously consider using it to indirectly or directly promote your site depending on the topic. For example, in my last article I mentioned the sample Travel Photo Tips site. Well, of course you would want to have photos on Flickr. But, if your site is informational only - you can get creative and find themes that fit your market!
9. Yahoo Answers - since you are promoting something that you love you should be able to answer questions about it. At some point your own site can become a reference to those answers - just be careful not to spam your site, that is, use answers to only try to get a link back. Be honest to those looking for answers and include many different references
10. Spicypage - finally, use this community site ranking tool to add your own site, rate others and collaborate with other, similar users.
There you have it! Ten simple power methods to boost your own site early. Just be consistent to work with two or three of each every day so you can build your successful ranking early to make money online.
