Marketing your website

Once your website is finished, you absolutely must market it. Just because it is on the internet doesn't mean it will work for you. If you don't promote your website, you will see very minimal results.

Kentucky Lake Productions will register your website with the Google, Bing, and Yahoo! search engines. It can take some time before these search engines index your site. We will make sure your website is optimized for these search engines.

However, you cannot simply rely on the search engines for all your marketing. Tell your friends, co-workers, family, and whomever about your new site. Get on some news groups, message boards, and list-servs and promote your site.

E-mail everyone in your address book and tell them the news. Do a mailer or two. Also, scan the internet for web directories that pertain to your website. There is a web directory for just about everything... sometimes many. Find them and get your website listed and linked. The more, the better. Even if you have to pay a small fee, you should consider it.

Anywhere you have your business name, list your website address underneath it. On your business sign, your stationery, your marketing materials, business cards... everywhere. When they see your name, they should also see your website address.

Use social networking such as Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace.

 Few people see immediate results with their website. Keep in mind your website is an investment and it takes time to see a good return.

A great example is our flagship Kentucky Lake tourism site, www.ExploreKentuckyLake.com. It has been on the web for over eight years and has yet to see its full potential. Even though it has received 4.7 million unique visitors (and 67 million hits), it is constantly growing in traffic and revenue.

Don't be disappointed if you have your site up for a month and you get no response. It takes a lot of time and patience, just like starting your own business.