Helen M. Overland

10 Ways to Promote Your Site for Free

By: Helen M. Overland, September 17, 2006


Free website promotion doesn't have to be a dream or a scam. It's true, a high-quality, co-ordinated online marketing campaign can be quite expensive, but there are other "grass roots" strategies for free promotion.

Promote your site for free with these 10 techniques to increase your traffic, and draw qualified visitors - for only the cost of your time.

1. Write Articles

Writing "for release" articles that can be republished elsewhere is a great way to get noticed. Your articles could be republished on subject related sites, recommended by trusted authorities, posted in newsletters, and read by those who are actually interested. What do you get in exchange? Plenty! A targeted audience, a reputation as an expert, and a link from a custom subject-related page. All these factors may help increase your ranking.

2. Blog

A blog is not only for the tech-savvy any more! All kinds of people blog now, why not you? Build a targeted audience, interested in your subject,and constant new content for the search engines to index. Think blogging isn't relevant to your commercial enterprise? Think again... just look at The Washington Post, GM, and Boeing. Commercial blogging is a well-developed industry.

3. Podcast

While it's true that only 1% of surfers currently subscribe to podcsts, that number is expected to rise sharply in future.In fact, Forrester forecasts that over 34.5 million households will subscribe to a podcast by 2010. Currently, the most likely people to listen to podcasts are net-savvy individuals. If this is your makret, this could be a great option for you.

4. Ask for Links

Did you ever hear the saying that "your best customer is the one who has just purchased"? Every time you interact with someone, ask them for a link - whether by phone, email, fax, invoice note, or product insert. Happy customers may want to tell others about you. Why not help them?

5. Email List

Start an email list and communicate with your audience more frequently. It's practically free, and assuming they have opted in, they are interested in what you have to say. You can use your website to promote your site. You can also promote another persons' site in exchange for them including your link on their website or email list. Every contact with your audience has value.

6. Quality Content

Quality content isn't just for your own benefit. It also tells your audience that you know what you're talking about. It tells search engines that you have a lot to say about your topic. Quality, subject-related content can help boost your rankings in search engines. It also encourages other sites to link to you. All quality search engine optimization starts will well-written content.

7. Offer Free Stuff

Since you are probably knowledgeable in your field, why not write a whitepaper or e-book and distribute it for free. Visitors could tell their colleagues about it, and even re-distribute it for you. You could offer branded wallpaper of screensavers, depending on your audience. Give out access to a tool or a helpful (or entertaining) game or utility. If you have theme music (such as commercial music or a podcast intro), then consider offering it as a ringtone, depending on your audience.

8. Email Signature

One of the absolutely easiest ways to promote your site is to have a link to your site at the bottom of every email your organization sends out. This was one of the main reasons for the early success of Hotmail - and you can put this tactic to work for you, too.

9. Forum

Depending on your industry, you may want to set up a forum. This way, your audience can speak to one another, and interact. As they find what they need on your forum, they will refer others to your site. At the same time, the search engines can index all that free user-generated content. This can be a great option for most businesses.

10. Social Media

One of the most exciting developments online in the last few years is the development of social media. What this encompasses is bookmarking and tagging sites, blog and vlog networks, wikis, and any other service that allows people to communicate with each other. A few of the more well-known services include MySpace, YouTube and del.icio.us. While the marketing strategies for these markets are as yet unclear, there is no doubt that there is enormous potential inherent in these services for those who are willing to innovate. Some brands are already experimenting with this media, as you can see with MySpace: Nike, YouTube: Petro-Canada and MySpace: Honda Element

At the same time, however, there are risks. A company who "misses the message" with their social media campaign could become a target of criticism. See Coke Lies, Misleads With Fake 'Zero' Blog. One of the keys is to understand that in this market, the message is harder to control.

Promoting your website can be an affordable, and even a fun process. Use these handy tips to help increase your traffic and start you on the road to success.



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