A big step for any blog or website is when you start promoting it. Promotion is vital for success, yet starting too soon can hamper your success. You need to have something for people to see.

The press release is a wonderful form of promotion for a new site. But you don’t want to do it when you have just one page going… unless of course you’ve built a one page sales site, and even then you probably need a couple other pages, terms of service, privacy, about and so forth.

And then there’s the mistake of only sending your press release to the major press release websites. Send it there, yes, but also take the time to contact your local media. Local businesses are often covered by newspapers. If you’re lucky, the local story can get picked up elsewhere.

If you’re focused on providing information, have a good amount on your site before you start promoting. There’s little point in talking up your informational site that has only a couple of articles on it, no matter how well you’ve written them. So little information will not bring people back to your site.

If you’re blogging, get into the routine of blogging before you start heavy promotion. You need to have enough posts to show people that you are a serious blogger, not just a three post wonder. It can be hard to give it a couple weeks, but people like having something to read through and get a feeling for the kind of blogger you are… or at least some reassurance that you aren’t going to quit tomorrow.

There’s no magic number of times you should post to your blog, either before you promote or on a regular basis. Most bloggers will need to post a minimum of a few times a week. Many post a minimum of once daily, seven days a week, or even a couple times a day.

Once you’ve shown signs of being serious, your promotional efforts have a better chance to bear fruit. Visitors will have a chance to find something they want to say something about. It could be worth the wait.

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