How can I market my new online website with limited resources?

[SWINGNDANCE]

I'm starting an online social networking website business, but I have very limited resources. How can I market or advertise my site to as many people as possible with very little or no money? How did other companies such as myspace, friendster or facebook do it?

[imisidro]

With a social networking site, you need to employ all viral marketing tactics -- so a user recommends your site to a friend who in turns recommend your site to their friends and so on and so forth. Read Seth Godin's Unleashing Your Idea Virus http://www.amazon.com/gp/explorer/078688...9-5270519?

Getting traffic is a combination of a lot of things. The key to success is to create great content that visitors want to use, search engines will love and other websites will naturally link to. Of course, it's easier said than done.

"If you build it, they will come" is not necessarily true on the Web. Putting a website up is one thing, but getting visitors to come to your site is another. The process becomes even more difficult if you have limited resources to market your business.

You can use pay per click advertising in the search engines to reach audiences looking for your products. You can use Google Adwords http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com

Here are some shoestring marketing ideas that can help you get the visitors you need at the least cost possible:

1. Create the best content you can with the best products you can possibly offer. Your content is your best advertisement - if visitors love your content, then they will go back and spread the word to others.

2. Make it easy for users to recommend your site. Viral marketing is very important -- and easy to tap on the Web. But give your users the tools. Get a Recommend this Site script from websites such as cgiscripts.com and similar directories of scripts. Some even go as far as giving incentives to those who recommend the site to their friends. If only 10 people go to your site, but these 10 people invite 10 more - that's additional traffic that you get for FREE!

Recommend Site Scripts (various) http://php.resourceindex.com/Complete_Sc...mend_Site/
Big Nose Bird Recommend this Site http://bignosebird.com/carchive/birdcast.shtml
CGI Resource Index http://cgi.resourceindex.com/Programs_an...mend_Site/
Hostscripts http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/Scripts_an...index.html

3. Rank well in the search engines (organic search results, not the pay per click). SEs can be a big source of traffic. The key is to create the best content in your niche. If you have good content, other websites will gladly link to you and offer your site as a resource to their audience. Check the on-page factors and be sure to get linked from authority sites in your topic area.

If you are going to read only one piece on search engine optimization, I suggest you read Brett Tabke of WebmasterWorld.com's "Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone: 26 steps to 15k a day." http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/2010.htm

Other resources that can help you get top ranking in the search engines are:

Google Press Releases http://googlepress.blogspot.com/
Matt Cutts Blog http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/ (Matt is a Google software engineer)
Digitalpoint Yahoo Forums http://forums.digitalpoint.com/forumdisplay.php?f=6
SearchEngineWatch's MSN Forums http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/foru...ay.php?f=8

As for tools to help you get top rankings in the search engine, here are some of the best in the field today

Total Optimizer Pro http://www.totaloptimizer.com/
Keyword density tool http://googlerankings.com/ultimate_seo_tool.php
Google Sitemaps (to help Google index your pages faster) https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitema...view?hl=en
SEO Book - lots of free great SEO tools http://tools.seobook.com/

4. Send out press releases. While outfits charge as much as $650 per release, there are free press release submission places on the Web. Press releases allow you to (a) attract media attention; (b) get more back links to your website without sending each website an email request; and © get more visibility especially if your press release gets in Google News or Yahoo News.

http://www.prleap.com/sign_up.html
http://i-newswire.com/
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/
http://www.pressbox.co.uk/cgi-bin/links/add.cgi
http://www.pr.com/press-releases
http://www.prfree.com/
http://www.clickpress.com/releases/index.shtml
http://www.theopenpress.com/
http://www.przoom.com/
http://www.prweb.com
http://www.newswiretoday.com/
http://www.free-press-release.com/

5. Submit articles. Write articles and submit them to websites accepting author submissions. You get exposure for your business; establishes you as an authority in your field, and allows you to get backlinks for your website. If 50 websites publish your article and it contains a link back to your website, then you easily get 50 links from a single article. The more links you have, the greater your chances for increasing your search engine rankings.

Here is a comprehensive list of where to submit your articles http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=...6022407481

6. Post a link to your site for free where it is allowed (always read the Terms of Use). Examples are:

Craigslist http://www.craigslist.com
Google Base http://base.google.com
Classifieds for Free http://www.classifiedsforfree.com/...
Text Link Exchange http://www.txtswap.com/
Recycler.com http://www.recycler.com/
Yahoo Classifieds http://classifieds.yahoo.com/
US Free Ads http://www.usfreeads.com/

[Tashi Khoo]

Submit your URL to as many search engines as possible. I create my own websites and blogs. That allows me to choose what kind of income myself. I work more make more. I tell myself that I have to create at least a new page everyday so that it'll become more informatic. I gather all informations and post in my website. This will increase my visitors everyday. I cannot post my own url here because there are people who complaint that I spam. I don't need to spam and have no intention to spam. Try my method and hope it'll make you a happier person. You can take this as a secondary income while looking for a new job. You can create your own websites or blogs @ blogger.com and put up your products' photos and services if you have any. If you can create websites or blogs and can type, you can make online money online easily. You may make money by publishing Google Adsense on your websites. If you have a website or a web-blog, you could make money by publishing advertisements on your site (by google). If someone clicks on those ads, you will earn money. If you don't have a website, you may start creating web-blogs
like blogger.com (mostly free) with advertisements (google ads) on it. Some free websites don't allow you to publish google adsense because they are doing it themself.
There's always room for improvements for people like this lady I found here http://lost-newbie.blogspot.com/ She have some freebies in her blog. I know she will make it. This is just an example. All this are free methods

[tay_jen1]

free advertising sites like craigslist.com and internet directories and search engines...

[bhasquin]

you can take a look at my website for free advertising

http://www.freewebs.com/bhasquin

[TM Expressâ„¢]

A few free resources – check out the sources box for links:

1) Create a blog pertaining to your field

2) Use Yahoo! Local & Yahoo! Groups – Be sure to read the TOS for each one!

3) Write articles pertaining to your field and/or expertise.

4) Advertise on Craiglist

Also, consider signing up for an affiliate program. These programs enable you to advertise on other's sites (your affiliates) and once a sale is made to you, your affiliates & the program are paid a commission.

I listed a few handy sites & articles relating to marketing, promotion & advertising. Here are some book titles that are relevant:

* 301 Do-It-Yourself Marketing Ideas: From America's Most Innovative Small Companies by Sam Decker
* Off The Wall Marketing Ideas: Jumpstart Your Sales without Busting Your Budget by Nancy Michaels, Debbi J. Karpowicz
* Guerrilla Marketing for Free: Dozens of No-Cost Tactics to Promote Your Business and Energize Your Profits by Jay Conrad Levinson
* Entrepreneur Magazine's Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide: Over 1500 Great Marketing Tricks That Will Drive Your Business Through the Roof by James Stephenson

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

[golden duck]

Life is becoming faster & faster, nobody has time to visit to your site.No matter how great the products you're selling are, people aren't going to beat a path to your door to get them. You need to bring the products to the customers.So DIRECT marketing is the BEST strategy.(I am also following the same)
See these for details:

http://automaticmailer.notlong.com
http://blogging4dollars.notlong.com
http://desktop-marketer.notlong.com
http://hit-booster.notlong.com

[brewstered777]

The advice on creating viral methods of promotion is where you should concentrate your efforts.

Pay per Click (PPC) is a guaranteed method of getting visitors to your website. You want to make sure that your site converts visitors into users before comitting significant money.

PPC costs have risen recently, but one way that you can get free advertising is to sign up for a new PPC search engine called BigDaddy. http://www.BigDaddyPays.com/brewster

You get your own search portal which returns good search results, plus you get ppc credits that you can use to advertise your website.

If others join via your link, you also get credits for their searches, enabling you to extend your advertising.

There are options for paid upgrades, but I'd avoid those if money is tight.

I'd also recommend that you investigate blogging.

Overall, no one technique will be sufficient to get you the traffic you need. Building a portfolio of traffic generators, is the way to go.