You took the giant leap, now you have your web site up and running.

"What next?" you ask.

Answer: Get it known.

How? There are plenty of ways to get your web site known. Many would suggest spending some money to get it listed in Yahoo!, Google, MSN or the sort; obviously, it is the easiest way. With money, you can get much things done.

But we are talking about promoting your web site on shoe string budget here (come to think of it, it can even be cost free — if you play it well).

So here go my website promotion tips:

Tell people about it!

Top listing in search engines may get some attentions, but direct promotion through word of mouth gives you a "sure-hit". Whenever you meet someone at the street, in the shop, at the mall, whether you know them or not, tell them about your web site. Talk is cheap. And it often gets better attentions. People are generally curious; especially when they hear that you have a web site

Use your new email address

Start using your new email address (you@yourdomain.com) in every communication you send out. When people notice your email address, they will wonder if there is a web site behind the domain name. Voila!

If you prefer to stick with your existing email address, e.g. the email account provided by your internet service provider, or the free email account you had been using since college days, utilize the Email Forwarding features that comes with your hosting service. What it does basically, is to forward all emails sent to your domain address to any other email addresses you designate.

Include your web site URL in your email signatures

Make sure to include a signature line in every email your send out, be it to your friends, or to the customer service department of your telephone service provider. As long as there is a human on the receiving end who will read your email, there is a chance the person will see your web site URL and hopefully, click on it.

Some suggested examples of email signatures:

-- Example 1 --

"Affordable Web Hosting"

http://yourdomain.com

-- Example 2 --

"Affordable e-commerce set up"

http://yourdomain.com

Print your URL in your name cards or flyers

Carry some cards or flyers that have your web site URL printed on them, be generous to hand it out to people. People are likely to "check out" your web site, if they see the URL in your name card or flyer. To get better results, include catchy lines in your name cards or flyers that encourage people to visit your web site.

Some examples:

-- Example 1 --

"Find out how I can make donuts that taste like butter cakes at yourdomain.com"

-- Example 2 --

"Get your hair done up in 10 minutes or FREE. More details at yourdomain.com"

If you run out of name card or flyer, ask people for their email address, email your web site URL to them when you get home or office later.

Email your web pages to friends

Browse your own web site on behalf of your prospects. What I mean is, people don't usually scan through your entire web site, they might miss out some important pages at times, e.g. your promotion page. Be proactive to email the URL of some of your pages to them. Some examples:

-- Example 1 --

"... I thought you said that you were looking for a web hosting package? You might want to check out this one: http://yourdomain.com/packages.html"

-- Example 2 -- ...

"Hey can you help me forward this page to someone whom might find it useful? http://yourdomain.com".

Participate in online forums

Be an active user in some popular forums on the web. They may not necessary be forums with topics that are related to your business, but they must be active users in the forums. Look at how frequent users post messages to the forum, find out when was the last message posted to the forum.

However, do not promote your business in your messages in a direct manner.

An example of a bad strategy: "If you are looking for some affordable hosting, cheap domains, good web site design services, please visit my web site…"

What is a good strategy? Pick the forums best interest you, something you are familiar with. Show your genuine interests in the forums and post messages that are useful to other users. Shoppers generally prefer doing business with people whom they can trust. When you show interests in others, others will reciprocate with interests in you.

Always sign off your messages with a catchy signature line (refer point no. 3 above - Include your web site URL in your email signatures)

Fill up your online profiles

If you have online service accounts, such as ICQ, MSN, Yahoo!, or user account at some online forums, chat rooms, etc, make sure to complete your user profile, at the least — fill in your web site URL.

People who stumble on your profile, are likelier to find out more about you, if they see that you have a web site

Send out greeting cards

If you are living in a multi-racial society, that probably means you have more holidays in a year! Whenever there is a holiday around the corner, start sending out greeting cards. And remember to always include the web site URL after your signature.

Sometimes, the recipients may be slow enough to get the message, so hint them by adding a line that says:

"by the way, I've just put up a new web site at yourdomain.com, go have a look and tell me what you think *Smile*"

There are thousands other ways to promote your web site, but none will work without some constant and persistent actions. So start to take some actions today and get your web site noticed.