Promote your micro-site using these 15 quick and easy methods -— even if you don’t have a clue about meta tags, keywords, and search engine optimization.
What is a Micro-Site?
There’s no doubt about it, micro-sites or are the
latest craze in the writing world. Like blogs, they are here to stay. Micro
sites are just what the name implies, “mini websites” that are part of a larger
host website. Each micro-site operates within an identical framework that is
set up by the host website. The difference lies with the content on each page,
which is usually based on a particular theme, for example parenting, or
gardening. Guest editors typically referred to as contributing or corresponding
editors are responsible for providing the content for their own micro-sites.
Becoming an online contributing editor at a
micro-site is an excellent opportunity to promote yourself and your expertise,
while at the same time honing your writing skills and building up a readership.
You might not get rich from running a micro-site, but with a little creativity
and some hard work, you can certainly make some pocket change—and maybe more.
How Micro-Sites Make Money
Micro-sites derive their income from advertising
affiliated with site content. Some micro-site editors earn money based on the
number of page views, while others profit from pay per click (PPC) advertising
such as Google AdSense. Many companies offer affiliate programs that pay a
commission on products sold through your micro-site (this applies to regular
websites as well). Amazon is probably the most well-known affiliate program,
but there are many others out there.
No matter which way you look at it, the more
visitors to your site, the more money everyone makes. So how can you get in on
the action and make a profit from your micro-site?
One method that every micro-site editor has control
over is increasing traffic. There are simple methods, which are the focus of
this article, and there are more complicated ones such as search engine
optimization. Search engine optimization (SEO) is an art unto itself, but one
of the first steps is to choose your meta tag keywords and content carefully.
Sometimes however, you have no control over this aspect,
or perhaps like many people you find keywords, meta tags, and html slightly,
well, mind boggling. If that is the case, you might want to start off by
increasing traffic to your micro-site using some simpler methods before you
tackle the keyword meta tag part of it.
What You Can Do
1. Add a “make this ‘your micro-site name’ your
home page” link. This is a very easy way to get more page views, although it
might not do much for your CTR or click through rate. CTR is the number of
times visitors click on PPC advertising.
2. Add an “e-mail this article” link. This allows
your readers to send a link to your articles to friends or interested parties.
If for some reason this is not allowed on your particular micro-site, select
articles of interest and email friends with the article link. At least you will
still be generating viewers to your site.
3. Incorporate a “Tip of the Day” feature that
viewers can sign up for and have delivered to their e-mailbox.
4.
Add the URL of your micro-site to your email signature. Outgoing email that is
sent to friends, acquaintances, or anyone else for that matter is often
forwarded many times. Doing this exponentially increases the number of people
viewing your site with very little effort on your part.
5. Add the URL to the signature block when
visiting message boards, list-serves, or newsgroups. Read the TOS (Terms of
Service) to make sure this is not prohibited. If it is (and it often is),
phrase the wording so that it is not an outright advertisement, but rather an
announcement of what you’ve accomplished—and remember to include your link!
6. Comment frequently on other writers’ sites
using your signature and include a link to your URL.
7. Print the URL of your micro-site on business
cards, letterhead, and fax cover sheets.
8. Call your community newspapers, local radio
stations, or colleges to find out if they maintain lists or announcements of
new URLs. If they do, then notify them accordingly.
9. Create a well-crafted press release to announce
your new micro-site. Keep your writing succinct and to the point. Make sure you
mention your micro-site URL at least twice. Submit your press release to free
news feeds such as USA Today or eMediaWire.
10. Include links to your micro-site in the body
of any article text you submit to online magazines or other sites. This is
referred to as deep linking. Read the guidelines regarding submissions before
doing this, as deep linking is not always allowed.
11. An example of deep linking would be: “Flower
waters can be used to make a refreshing drink on a hot summer day, simply by
splashing a few drops into a glass of sparkling water”. In this case, the words
“Flower waters” would be hyperlinked (blue text and underlined) to the article
page. The reader could click on the link and be taken to your article about
flower waters.
12. Submit your URL to the top three search
engines, Google, Yahoo, and Dmoz. The smaller search engines such as MSN will
pick up your micro-site from the larger ones. In most cases, European search
engines will only pick up your micro-site if you have a country specific domain
name, so don’t bother--unless of course you have one.
13. Create a mailing list associated with your
micro-site that offers “free” copies of articles on specific topics. When you
write about similar topics you can forward the article links to your list of
interested people. In addition, you then qualify to submit your URL to freebie
search engines such as FreeSpider. None of the websites associated with freebie
search engines sell anything.
14. Take advantage of reciprocal website linking.
First, add URL links to your micro-site that complement your site content. When
your micro-site is up and running (and getting a decent number of hits), email
the webmasters of the linked sites and suggest why their sites should be linked
to yours.
15.
Always include the URL of your micro-site in the “about the author” section of
every article you submit.
Heleigh
Bostwick is a freelance writer who writes about a variety of topics. She is the editor of
All Info About Parenting Multiples.