How to Run a Contest on Your Website

Let Visitors Win a Prize!

Everyone loves a good contest, especially when they win. It isn't even the prize that is as important as just having a chance to win something. One of the main reasons that people run contests on their website is so that they can build traffic and keep people coming back. Contests are very easy to run on your website, if you know what you are doing. There are some legal issues to it, so it is important that you learn step by step the best way to run a contest on your website.

Things You'll Need

• Prizes
• Winner contact information

Instructions

1. Set up the contest rules on your website. Contest rules are extremely important to any website contest. They need to be clear and very easy to read. Most of the people entering the contest are not lawyers and will not understand all the legal jargon. They should tell your readers exactly what they are going to win, what they need to do to enter, as well as any rules associated with the contest. Don't forget to list any restrictions relating to laws of the state you operate under so there will be no confusion.

2. Figure out your theme. If you don't know where to begin when setting up a contest then simply start with your theme. Is there a holiday coming around? What kind of website do you have? All themes are wonderful and really you can have a contest for any number of reasons. Perhaps you have a children's website so you may want to hold a back to school contest, or Christmas is approaching so you can find a holiday contest to hold. Keep in mind that the prize should be somewhat related to the theme of the contest.

3. Choose the prize. The prizes are the fun part of the contest so you need to make them good. You can choose a prize that relates to your website, or you can write emails to various sponsors to see if they will give something away for free. For example, if you have a website selling web design you could give away a free design which everyone loves, or you can contact web hosting companies and see if they will give away a few months of free hosting. Depending on your website, the prize can be almost anything as long as it is something that readers would want to sign up for.

4. Promote the contest. Make sure that people know you are having a contest by promoting it strongly. There are many sites located over the Internet that will list your contest for free or a link back to their blog. Also, you can promote via email by emailing every contact you know and asking them to forward the email. You can even hire a company to do it if it is a very large contest that you really want noticed.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure you give away the prize promised. This helps keep your site reputable.

• Make sure you get the winner's contact information.

• Do not offer a prize only for people who buy something from you. This is illegal and could get your website shut down, if reported. It must be "No Purchase Necessary."

Resources

• Preschool Sunday School Central Giveaway. Enter today!