The first online publishing tip is to make sure your dates are correct. Your copyright notice should be the current year, and you should note how often you update the material. 'Updated daily" is a great thing to be able to say. People who come to your site will realize that if they miss a day they might miss something important. This will build traffic.



If you have a site that includes news let your visitors know that you will update any time there is breaking news. Then, publicize on your site that you updated for that reason and when. You might also create an opt-in e-mail list so you can let subscribers or registered visitors know that there is breaking news and an update on the site.

Even though you're publishing online, you should still market offline, with print newspaper ads, broadcast advertising, billboards and so forth. If your site has a local flavor, attend local events. You might even look for sponsorships or booths at trade shows.

Whatever you do, the best method of keeping your site and your publication in the minds of the consumers long enough to get back to their computer and look you up is to have a domain name that is easy to remember. Your Pet Parlor dog grooming service, for example, will be easily remembered if the URL is www.petparlor.com, instead of www.pet-parlor.biz or www.thepetparlor.com

Another tip for your domain name is to never piggyback onto another Web site's domain name. It may be less costly certainly, but it will also obstruct traffic to your site. For users to find you, and search engines to display your site in the first two pages of search results, you want to have a domain of www.petparlor.com , rather than www.petcompanies/petparlor.com.

The other reason this is important is that if you decide to use promotional products and materials to advertise your online publishing you'll need a name that will fit well on the product.

Today's Web user expects interaction and engagement. Your online publishing must include a way for the user to communicate with you, and most especially with your authors. When publishing bylined articles online you should hyperlink the author's name so that readers can e-mail that author if they wish.

Whether you want to inform or be informed or share an opinion you will have no problems finding an online publisher.