Don't Stay in the Dark!

So, how do you make your Web site the talk of your niche market? Besides using popular search terms as meta tags (as discussed above), try these other tips for Internet success:

Link to other sites that target your customers. "We've found dozens of sites that have links to our site," Byron says. "Those links really attract visitors."

Obtain press coverage to attract visitors. According to Byron, the Tekno Bubbles site had more than 50,000 visits per day after CNN ran a story on the product.

Put your URL on every product. The Swetlands are convinced that tactic helps bring new buyers every month to their site.

If the recent "dotbombs" have taught us anything, it's that putting up a Web site doesn't guarantee success. But if used correctly with the right products, a Web site can be a powerful sales tool for inventors.

Don Debelak is a new-business marketing consultant. Send him your invention questions at dondebelak@qwest.net.

This article was originally published in the September 2001 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Don't Stay in the Dark!.