With the emergence of social media, blogging, and ecommerce, one has to wonder whether having a website is still relevant and necessary in 2019. Well, let us save you the suspense - yes. Having a website, especially if you are running a business, is still as crucial as ever if you are interested in reaching your target audience and/or customers. In fact, when searching for products and services online, 30% of consumers will not consider a business that doesn’t have a website. On top of that, the majority of your audience will still find your website through search engines, as opposed to discovering it on social media or through email marketing.
Furthermore, the top 10 local SEO factors which Google uses to determine ranking are related to your official website, such as the quality of backlinks and content, and traffic. While you can achieve some of this using social media, keep in mind that Google doesn’t take into account the majority of social media signals, such as your likes or followers. After all, when a consumer googles a particular keyword or phrase, they will still be presented with a list of websites first, with social media pages ranked much lower.
Now, having a website in itself is pointless if nobody knows about it, which is why we have decided to put together a list of seven best ways in which you can promote your website for free. Keep on reading for more details.
Beef Up Your SEO
SEO is still as relevant as ever, since the majority of traffic to your website will be coming from search engines. While SEO is hard work and the results may not be visible for at least a few months, it is the best long-term strategy to promote your new website, business, or build your brand. The main SEO signals you should focus on are keywords, great content, and high-quality backlinks. Knowing your target audience, as well as your niche, will enable you to identify the most relevant keywords and build your content around them, and hopefully rank high in search engine results for those keywords, whether you are trying to promote a paper writing service website or an online fashion store.
Write Guest Blogs
In case you are not sure what guest blogging is, it’s basically writing content for other blogs. They get high-quality content for free written by you, and you get to link back to your website from within the article or from the bio section at the end of it. The reason why guest blogging is so effective for website promotion is because it ticks several important boxes. First, you will get plenty of exposure, not to mention plenty of traffic coming to your website. Second, you will make connections to other people in the industry. Finally, you will be able to improve your website’s ranking, because high-quality backlinks, as we have mentioned, are among the most important ranking signals.
Start Your Own Blog
There are only so many pages you can add to your website before it starts to get cumbersome. The solution? Create a blog section. Not only will you be able to add more pages, but you will also boost your SEO even more, since you will be targeting new keywords and creating both internal and external links with each new blog post. On top of that, writing high-quality content on a regular basis will create a steady stream of traffic to your website, and it will help you establish yourself as a person or a brand of authority in your niche. And last, but not least, it will keep your audience hanging around your website for much longer than usual.
Make Use of Email Marketing
Email marketing, if ROI is anything to go by (and it is), is the most effective form of marketing. However, it is also effective at driving traffic to your website. Because your average business user receives more than 100 emails daily, make sure to optimize your emails for maximum impact. That means making sure that your content is concise and punchy, that you’re using a single, yet clear CTA (which will also be used to link to your website), that your subject line is intriguing, and that your tone is conversational and friendly.
Promote Your Website on Social Media
If you are cultivating an active social media presence and engaging your followers on a regular basis, you can use that to build brand awareness and share your latest pieces of content. Apart from having your followers sharing your content on social media, you can also link to your website, blog, or one of your landing pages and get them to take a look at what you have to offer. As for which social media platforms you should opt for, let’s just say that one is not enough. Start with the major players (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) and also consider networks such as LinkedIn and Pinterest.
Be Active on Forums
We are talking about places like Reddit or Quora, which have a huge following, and where people gather in order to consume or share useful content. Now, in the case of Reddit, it will be fairly easy for you to find the right place to post in, since everything is divided into subreddits. In the case of both websites, you will have to spend some time sharing valuable content before you can mention your website. And make sure to post inside relevant subreddits, otherwise it won’t go over well with the admins. But, as we’ve said, you will have no trouble finding the most relevant subreddits, which is where your target audience hangs out.
Use Google Local Business
You’d be surprised how many people look up businesses in their local area on a regular basis. Chances are, your target audience is not an exception. In order to make the most of this, submit your website to Google Local Business. It is totally free, and you can add all relevant business info, including images and promotional offers. If you do this right, there is also a chance that your business will show up above all the other search engine results, and as a result, your website will become more visible. Google even allows consumers to call your number directly from the snippet, and they also provide directions.
Wrap Up
Implementing all of these will require a lot of effort on your part, but it will be worth the trouble. Not only are these methods free, but they also have a more lasting impact when compared to their paid counterparts. Start relying on them today. Good luck!
Peter Hill is a college paper writer of the paper writing service BrillAssignment. He is a socially active person, likes traveling and photo/video editing. He has been working in California SMM agency as a journalist for more than 6 years. You can find him on Twitter and Facebook.
Website promotion FAQs
What are some ways to promote my website for free?
Beef up your SEO. Write guest blogs. Start your own blog. Make use of email marketing and marketing automation. Promote your website on social media. Be active on forums. Use Google Local Business.
What is Google Local Business?
Google Local Business is totally free, and you can add all relevant business info, including images and promotional offers. If you do this right, there is also a chance that your business will show up above all the other search engine results, and as a result, your website will become more visible. Google even allows consumers to call your number directly from the snippet, and they also provide directions.
How can I improve my SEO?
The main SEO signals you should focus on are keywords, great content, and high-quality backlinks. Knowing your target audience, as well as your niche, will enable you to identify the most relevant keywords and build your content around them, and hopefully rank high in search engine results for those keywords.
Image courtesy of Austin Distel on Unsplash
