Search Engine Submission
Search engine submission is very basic and everybody should do this on their sites. Search engine submission is very easy to do and it’s free. Just go to major search engines and click on, usually, their help links to find out how to submit your site to their database.
You do not need to submit to ALL search engine available on the Internet. You only need to submit to major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN. Basically, All search engines share the same result and smaller search engines take their result from major search engines as well.
One site that you CAN’T forget to submit is dmoz.org. Dmoz.org is a free, and biggest, human indexed directory. It’s not automated, or robot, indexed directory, it’s human edited. It will take a while to get your site listed here, but once you are listed, your site will be visible to almost every search engine.
Podcast
Podcasting is another creative way to promote your site. For those don’t familiar with podcast, podcasting is like having your own radio show. You record your own show about whatever the topic you are interested in, convert it to MP3 or suitable format, then post it on your site and make it available for download. Well, of course you will have to buy all necessary equipments for podcasting, such as voice recorder.
While podcast is a good way to promote your site, bad podcast can ruin you forever. Good and fun podcast will have your listeners to tell everybody about you. How successful your podcast is depend on the topic that you provided and what are the interested parties. Deep information and knowledge about the topic can help your podcasting skill. Again, the creativity is the limit here.
One thing I found out about podcasting is people like new things, such as new development, new technologies, new gossip, new discoveries, new research, latest news, etc. To provide latest update in your industry / topic is one of the fundamental keys to the success of the podcast.
Video Cast
It’s pretty much the same with podcasting. The only difference is: it’s video! So, instead of having your own radio show, this is like having your own tv show. This is what you’ve always senn on YouTube.com or MetaCafe.com. Same thing with podcasting, video casting requires equipments too.
Fresh and new idea, deep information and knowledge, and high video quality are the keys to successful video casting. With video, you can actually do much more than just sounds. You do not have to do video of yourself, you can also do characters animation if you have the sills. Once again, the limit is your creativity.
Blog / Blogging
Blog, or blogging, is to write journals, whether it is about yourself, your job, or anything, and post it in your blog. This about this when you do blog: what people really interested to read? For example, blogging in latest news will have less readers than if you are writing about American Idols contestants’ stupidity. What people like the most? What is most popular?
Of course you don’t have to always write something that people like the most. Providing deep information about your topic can also be the key to your success. Blogging requires high skill of writing because there are millions of bloggers, people that do blog, out there. If you can’t bring your readers’ emotion through your writing, you are most likely out of the list. Good skill of sending the message, bringing the emotion, telling the stories and putting feelings to words are some of the keys to successful blogging.
If you are not good at blogging / writing, don’t worry. Blogging skills is something you can teach yourself, it doesn’t require you to born with blogging skills. Just keep writing and practice makes it perfect. As you write more and more, more vocabularies and ideas will come to you just like that. Soon you will find yourself do endless blog and have no space to fill it anymore. Reading articles or other blogs will also help you to possess good writing skill.
Not only blogging will help you promote your site, but blogging can also help you build links. Links will eventually help your PageRank in Google and many other major search engines. When you do blogging, include some links that will refer to your own site. This case applies if you have separate blog from your main site. For example, your main site is www.example.com. Your blog’s site can’t be something like blog.example.com. It’s better if you have separate domain for your blog site. You can find many free blogging site such as www.blogspot.com
Article Submission
In addition to blogging, you can also write articles / tutorials for your own site. Post this article / tutorial in your own site and SUBMIT the article to other websites. For example, you are writing a recipe how to make Delicious Blackforest Cake. After you have your recipe on your own site, you can submit the url of your recipe to others webiste that focus on baking.
Do not limit your articles / links submission to websites only. If you like to hangout in baking / cake / recipes forums, submit your recipe to that forum too. Put your recipe / link to your website as your forum’s signature. Just remember to sumit the link, not the recipe. Most websites and forums will keep the links for long time. This is good for your search engine recognition.
Content Writing
Content writing is about the same as blogging. The difference is content writing usually more focus on the topic it’s presenting. The information usually deeper and contain more useful information about the topic. Blogging is usually short story / news that doesn’t require very much time to read, maybe about 5 minutes. Content writing is more focus article and usually discuss the sub topics as well.
You can also submit your content writting to any related websites. Content writing will expose yourself and show your experiences and knowledges about the topic. It will also show to others your professionalism. Good content writters will yield recognition in the community / industry you are in.
Free Stuff, Newsletter, Software, Wallpaper, Ringtones, etc
Admit it that you like free stuff. Yes, everybody else does too. People like free stuff. Giving away free stuff can help to increase your site’s traffic. Anything that you can give away for free. The catch is it’s not free / cheap to give away free stuff. You will have to spend money, most likely, in order to provide free stuff. Giving away free stuff is just one of marketing promotion.
I remembered when Microsoft gave away free keyboard about two years ago. When the site was launched, people were rushing to sign up to get free keyboard from Microsoft. As a result, the site freeze up and I didn’t get one. This is one of the example that free stuff is not always free for you. You will have to spend some money. But, you can use the chance to promote your product and maybe generating sales through the traffic.
Contest
Holding a contest with promising prize can help promote your website too. Contest can also in form of Scholarship. The only thing with contest is, again, you have to spend money. Contest can drive interested parties to your website and, thus, generating traffic, or maybe income / sales, to your website. Another thing about the contest is you have to promote it. This is easier part because, firstly, many websites provide this service for free. Secondly, every human being have a nature to compete with others and prizes stimulate their competition skills.
Fresh Idea
This is hardest one. Create your site with fresh idea that no one has ever done before. Then, find your way up to get some visitors and recognition from media, such as TV, Radio Broadcast, newspaper, or online website. Once you are recognized, your site will rocket up just like that. But, before that, find a good, fresh and simple idea that everybody likes and can take a benefit from. This is not easy at all. Good example is YouTube.com.