You have an innovational product or idea and have great web site created or even designed it yourself.  Now it is time to promote your site.  I suggest four avenues for your web site promotion campaign that will produce hits for free or a relatively low cost.  Submit your site to search engines, banner exchange programs, link exchanges with similar sites, and include your site in web rings pertaining to your topic.

Take the time to submit your site to the four largest search engines, Excite, Lycos, Alta Vista, and Infoseek.  Prepare your site by researching META tags and keywords and adding them to your HTML code for higher listing on these engines.  Utilize Submit It!  or Add Me!.  These free services submit your site to over twenty search engines free or for a fee there are over 500 search engines for which your site can be submitted.  Since, the majority of hits your site will receive are accessed through search engines; this is a crucial first step in your site's promotion.

There are numerous free banner exchange programs.  These operate by submitting your banner to the exchange with a banner rotating sites included in the program on your site in return.  The concept is great, considering free advertising is an attractive way to get your promotion off the ground.  It is important, however; to be selective on the exchanges you choose to utilize.  I suggest Link Exchange, Banner Women, or Moms in Business Banner Exchange.  A clean and eye-catching banner is essential for this promotion to attract hits.  It may be worth your money to have a quality banner designed to represent your site.

Search for sites of similar interest and email the designer or webmaster to request a link exchange.  Avoid mediocre sites.  Create exchanges with sites as good or better than your own.  You may not receive too many hits from this form of promotion, but it is nice to see your competition and bond with your peers.

Web rings are created by linking sites of similar interest in a ring from one site to the next.  The pro to joining web rings is increased free exposure.  Of course, the con is a surfer may stop and stay at competitor sites along the search through the ring.  The same logic works with web rings as banner and link exchanges.  Only associate your site with rings containing reputable and well-put together sites.

Obviously, marketing your web site on a tight budget is not the same as paying to have your site promoted.  You do have to start somewhere and I believe you will be delightfully surprised with the results of your efforts on the low budget plan with the promotion ideas discussed above.  Good Luck! 
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