Make sure that you’re using the best methods of free advertising available on the web to make the most use of your valuable time.
Here are seven great ways to start bringing loads of traffic to your web site for zero cost:
1 – Free classifieds
Free classifieds on such sites and Craigslist and Kijii can be a great way to promote your business, depending on what your product or service is. The downside is that they need to be updated regularly, as most classified ads will expire after a week and will need to be reposted.
2 – Forum postings
Join forums that have are relevant to your website. You can then use your forum posts to promote your business. The caveat is this: make sure to not make the advertisement too overt, or to start heavily promoting your website when you are a new member. By participating in the forum and establishing a presence and persona, people are more likely to trust you and be interested in your product or service. Again, this method of free advertising can be time consuming, but forums can also be a valuable way to keep up on the latest information and products within your niche, giving it an added benefit for you.
3 – Article Submissions
Writing articles are a fantastic way of getting some free advertising. You write articles on subject matter pertaining to your website, submit them to article directories such as Ezine, and you can include links to you website in the resource box. You get exposure to a wider audience, increased traffic to your site, valuable non-reciprocal links, and a higher search engine rating.
4 – Free Directories
Directories work in a similar way to article submission. You submit your website to different directories under the proper categories, and again you get the benefit of increased traffic, non-reciprocal links, and better search engine ratings. If your site is highly specialized, it can be very valuable to be listed in niche directories, as they provide a highly targeted consumer.
5 – Reciprocal links
Reciprocal links are not as highly valued by search engines as non-reciprocal (one-way) links are, but they can still be very useful in generating traffic. And most importantly, they’re free. Seek out sites within your niche that you like and would not mind being associated with. Contact them and suggest that you post reciprocal links on your sites, and voila! your website is now getting exposure to their entire audience. It is important that you monitor these kinds of links very closely; you don’t want to link to a site that no longer exists, and you also don’t want your site linked to a site that posts material that is offensive or that you don’t agree with.
Web business building communities like Portal Feeder give you access to very sophisticated tools for automating reciprocal linking with dozens and even hundreds of other topic-related sites. Although these are not free, it may be worth investigating when you are ready to take your online business bulding efforts to the next level.
6 – Opt-in emails
Opt-in emails are a form of free advertising that can help you convert visitors to your site to customers, and convert customers into repeat customers. By having an email list that people can either opt-in to upon purchase or visitation for the purpose of getting information about special deals, you can build your own mailing list. Opt-in emails have the added benefits of being comprised of a targeted audience: these are consumers who were already interested enough to visit your site. You can then use email campaigns to convert those people into multiple sales through promotions, all at no cost to you.
7 – Properly SEO optimized site
While not actually free advertising, having your site properly optimized for search engine considerations will make it easier for consumers to find you, which will increase traffic to your site. Search engines are the most popular way for consumers to find products on the internet, so maximizing your ranking is just as or more important than any of your other advertising efforts, free or otherwise.
Additionally, you could have other webmasters rave about your venture and they could talk about it in their own websites.
Another tip: YouTube.com is one of the best ways to receive high quality traffic to your website and it is completely free! Simply create and upload videos to your account and make sure that the videos refer back to your site.
Finally, a free traffic-getting tool that I highly recommend you download is Comment Kahuna.
Comment Kahuna is a powerful free software that can deliver unlimited, high-quality, targeted backlinks to all of your websites, without using any risky tactics that can destroy your search engine rankings. Here’s the download link: Comment Kahuna.
Advertising correctly is essential for the success of an online business. I hope you have found this article useful and practical enough to start applying some of the methods and start driving new visitors to your websites … for free!
