How do I let everyone know about my new website?
After planning is done, development is done, and the launch date for your new website has finally arrived. Your webmaster pushes the button - congratulations! You're now on the Internet! But where are all the visitors?
Having a website is only the beginning. To help serve your business or organization, you want people to see your website, or else what good is it?
There are many things you can do to bring in those site visitors, some of them your webmaster should take care of for you, and some of them you can do yourself.
What can I do
First and foremost, make sure your website address is printed on all of your promotional and business materials (business cards, letterheads, envelopes, fliers, etc...) If you advertise in print, on TV, or on the radio, don't forget to include a mention of your new website.
Also important is word of mouth! Tell everyone you know, your current customers, anyone you can think of about how great your new website is. You will get traffic from people just typing in your URL because you told them about it, and when word of mouth spreads it tends to spread to the right people (otherwise why would they be talking about it?)
Business have been using press releases for years, and they are just as effective for announcing the launch or redesign of a website. Don't limit yourself to traditional media though, be sure to send a copy of your press release to any related websites that post articles and news. It's hard work to keep a site alive with up to date news and events and many sites will be more than happy to publish it along with a link to your website.
An ongoing way to bring in visitors is to read and comment regularly on blogs that are related to your website. Many blogs allow for you to leave a comment with a link to your website included. Be careful though, leaving purely self-promotional comments is considered spamming (and very bad web etiquette) and these will be removed as soon as the site owner sees them. As long as you stay on-topic you'll be fine.
A similar method is to join an online forum that is related to your website. Many (but not all) forums allow you to use a custom signature, including a link to your own website. Be sure to follow a forums rules on how you promote your site, spamming on forums is an easy way to get banned from them. Again, just remember to participate in the forum and stay on-topic.
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