It's Those Little Extras Your Visitors Love, So Why Not Promote Them?

In my experience as editor of a social networking site, I've found that my visitors love those little website extras. So, I always promote the heck out of them as soon as they are up and running.

Ning, also the platform for my Triangle TRACKS social networking site, regularly adds new features that simplify use of their social networks. So, whenever Ning informs me of new features, such as the new classifieds feature, tab manager that features drop-down tabs, iPhone interface and OpenSocial applications, I put them right into a broadcast message to let my members know about them. I also include a note about any recent pages or links I've added to the site on my own. My Google Analytics account always shows a sharp increase in visitation to my site for several days after I've done this.

Another way to spread the news about those little extras that will also drive more traffic to your site is to publicize them in a press release and post it via a free press release service such as PRLog.com or 1888PressRelease.com. Just register for a free account and start posting. Google always picks up my press releases within 1-2 days of releasing them.

One last tip: it helps to include little bits of information extras as well when you're promoting your site. For example, I like to tout the number of parent resources my site links to. Right now, I offer 22 categories consisting of 1,780 links, and I add new ones every week.

Hopefully you will find these ideas helpful. Let me know if you use some of these strategies as well, and how they've worked out for you.