How to promote a new web site - how to get visitors

There are plenty of blogs and other sources on how to promote a new content-heavy web site and how to get visitors, yet there are people who ask me. Maybe because I had success once.

So let me list a few thoughts:

  • Set up a web site on a domain that describes the subject, start writing articles.
  • Set up a newsletter where people can subscribe and you notify them for every new article. e.g. use Mailchimp. Set this up early!
  • Create something that will encourage people to sign up to your newsletter. E.g. Offer them a free e-book. It works even if the e-book is thin.
  • Set up Google Analytics and Google Webmaster tools. They will provide invaluable insight.
  • Make sure you have a visible RSS/Atom feed people can subscribe to.
  • Create a sitemap.xml and submit it to Google Webmaster and other places where it might be relevant. Read about sitemap.xml files
  • Add a robots.txt. Learn about robots.txt from Google and Moz
  • Use the appropriate metadata in the header of HTML files. See Guide to Noindex, Nofollow, Canonical and Disallow
  • Promote every article via the Social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+.
  • If there is a Reddit group dedicated to the subject, occasionally post there too.
  • If it is relevant post at Hacker News
  • Find channels where people interested in the subject might lurk and post there.
  • Check if there is a Weekly newsletter about the subject (like the Perl Weekly I run) and try to get included there.
  • Try to get on a podcast about a subject and promote it there.
  • Learn about SEO - Search Engine Optimization. Especially about the part on finding new and relevant subjects to write about. Moz seems to be a recommended source.
  • Find other blogs that talk about "Content marketing" or similar subjects. Learn techniques from them.
  • Find sites that are related to yours and see if you can get them link to you.
  • But avoid link exchanged and linkfarms!
  • As your site grows people will ask you questions that can be used as subjects for new articles.
  • Use both words that are proper in the subject and words that are used by people who are not professionals in the subject. Those people will search using the words and expression they know. You have an opportunity to show your content to them and to teach them how thing are correctly called.