Spreading the Word, Part 2: Reaching Out

In part one of “Spreading the Word” I talked about how to optimize your site for search. Now I’m going to give you some suggestions on how to reach out to the people you know (and the ones you don’t) to let them know about your fantastic new web site.

Link Sharing Sites

When I began freelancing I sent https://smackhappydesign.com/wp-admin/edit.phplinks to friends and family asking them to promote my site on Delicious, Digg, Reddit and Technorati. I went to each site and created the appropriate links to include in the email, which made it easy for them to help out (my original links are listed below). Here’s the message I sent:

I’m trying to generate a little buzz for my new company. If you have an account with any of these sites, please bookmark me, I can use all the help I can get!

• Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/7y7vs/smack_happy_design/?already_submitted=true

Write a Press Release

Another somewhat easy thing to do is write a press release. I’m not the best writer in the world, so I hired a copywriter. Once we finished the press release, I submitted it to a distribution service. Here is the one I used:

• www.prlog.org (free)

Use Twitter

If you don’t already have one for your business or web site, create a twitter account and tweet about your content or field as often as you can, but make it personal — don’t just try to sell to your audience or it will sound spammy.

Create an Email Signature

Add a signature to your email that includes a link to your site, along with your tagline or a brief description of your business. That way, every time you communicate with someone they’ll see that you have a web site and they might even forward it on.

Seek Out Blogs and Forums

I mentioned doing a “Link Exchange” in part one, but I think it’s worth reiterating here. Look for blogs or forums that are related to your industry. Try to comment on them and include a link to your site. Set aside some time to do this at least once every week. Try to answer questions, or post questions and get your name (web site) out there. As you write on these other sites, you build yourself up as an expert in your field, and consequently, you also build up a great link network that will help you with SEO.