There was a time when many Web site owners had money to burn when it came to marketing their sites. Remember the Pets.com sock puppet? Those days are definitely over. Now, most people want to promote their sites with minimal cash investment. Here are some of the best ways to do it.

Google AdWords

The most popular search engine today, Google is known for providing excellent search results. You can buy a piece of that action through the company's AdWords program.

Look at the Google search results in Figure 6-3. Notice that the first two results, and six others down the right side of the screen, are labeled Sponsored Links. These are paid advertising spots purchased by the listed sites.

Figure 6-3: Google search results with sponsored links.

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The sponsored link listed on top is a premium listing, which is somewhat expensive. The sponsored links down the right side are purchased through Google AdWords, which is fairly cost-effective. You only pay when someone clicks your ad, and you can set a budget limit that stops showing your ad once you've spent that amount.

Link Swaps

A time-tested method of promoting your site is through swapping links with other Web sites. The best approach is to swap ads with Web sites that are complementary to your industry or service, rather than competitive. Just contact the Web site administrator (this information is usually available on the site) and ask.

Some Web site administrators want you to post an image, such as their company's logo, rather than just a text link. If so, ask for the same treatment in return.

Link swaps can even help improve your site's performance on search engines. As you learned earlier in the lesson, most search engines weigh sites by how many other sites link to them. This means a site with more links to it will be listed higher than similar sites with less links to them. This makes link swaps doubly good.

Customer Service

Perhaps the most important and enduring way of promoting your site is by providing excellent customer service. If you're selling a product or a service, word-of-mouth will most likely be your top means of attracting new customers -- if your customer service is good, that is.

Your number one goal should be to bridge that communication gap that exists on the Web. Stay in contact with your customers. If your customers purchase products, let them know when they're expected to ship, when they ship, and when to expect delivery. Give your customers package-tracking information, too.

The same applies if you're providing a service. Keep in touch with your client regularly through status updates or other regular communication. The key is to keep the customer in the loop.

If you provide excellent customer service, your site is guaranteed to generate good word-of-mouth advertising. And when it does, it'll snowball into a bunch of happy customers who keep coming back. In the next section, you'll learn other tips for keeping customers coming back for more.