Most articles about Internet marketing focus on what to do after your website goes live. However, with some changes that are taking place among search engines, there are some things you can do before your site goes live.
Register your domain name as soon as you can, even if you do not plan to have a website for awhile. This will prevent someone else from taking it and will help to establish the domain name. Currently Google likes to see a domain name in existence for 6 months to a year before they give the site a good ranking.
Create a "coming soon" page that includes basic information about your business and the services/products you offer. Include contact information, logo and approximate date when the site will go live. Use "fall 2006" rather than "September 10, 2006". This gives you some flexibility in launch dates. If you are going to develop an email list, start now. Your first email notice will be that your site is up and running.
Regardless of your business, there is always a topic you can write about. For example, if your site is going to sell baskets, write an article on how to get organized with baskets. Submit your articles to directories like Ezine Articles and iSnare. Be sure to include a bio and a link to your website. This will help to generate links to your website.
Submitting an article or two should take care of this step, but additional links won’t hurt any. The Open Directory Project is an easy directory to get listed on. Submit your site under your region to help ensure the link is added. Another option is to have your web designer add your site to their portfolio. Virtualtech does this with all of our clients and quite often this link appears within a week of adding the site.