Promoting your business website consists of many facets: SEO, social media, blogging, registering with directories etc.
However, even in the new media landscape there is an old-school promotion tool that should not be overlooked: the press release.
Writing a great press release can help drive traffic to your site by providing free media exposure for your business.
It also provides a backlink to your site via high-ranking media outlets.
It's easy advertising and often has a trickle down marketing effect for months.
There are press release services available on the web such as: prweb, prnewswire and BusinessWire.
These charge you a fee to widely distribute your press release to many outlets, but you can also do it yourself for free.
Choose a few local media outlets, research whom to contact and e-mail your press release to them.
Good choices are neighborhood and local newspapers, local business journals and industry-specific magazines.
Make sure, of course, that they already have an online presence.
A good press release starts with the basics.
Who you are, how to contact you and the "news" that you are sharing.
If you are a start-up, announce it.
If you are offering a new product or service, announce it.
You can even come up with something catchy that's not necessarily new, but related to your business: "Top Five Reasons to Send a Gift Basket".
You can even share that you will be participating in an upcoming event (just make sure you send it out at least one week in advance).
Try to write a minimum of six per year.
Most importantly, optimize the press release.
Include search-engine friendly key words in the headline, subheadline and the body.
Repeat them a few times, but still keep the writing direct and informative.
This will help improve its likelihood of being found through google, bing or other search engines.
Your own website should have a page for press releases or press in general.
Post the latest release when it goes out.
You'd be surprised at how often many larger companies lag on updates even when a release has been spotted elsewhere.
Finally, link it to your blog, Facebook page, and Twitter.