Free Advertising For Your Website

Marketing has always been an essential part of running any successful business. With the increasing prominence and popularity of the Internet, advertising online has become more important than ever; companies that fail to maintain a presence online are destined to fall far short of their competition. If you’ve been putting off your Internet marketing campaign because you don’t think you have the budget for it, think again. There is a plethora of excellent – and completely free advertising for your website – resources, strategies and techniques for advertising online. Below, we present a primer on a few of the very best examples of them.

Free Advertising For Your Website with Social Networking And Social Media

If you’re trying to keep up a prominent Internet presence – but aren’t using any of the popular social networking and social media sites to do so – then you’re missing out big-time. Social networking sites are free to use and are immensely popular; these days, it seems like everybody is on at least a few of them. Familiarize yourself with the following social media sites and you’ll be off to a spectacular start.

Facebook – With its user-friendly layout and easy-to-navigate interface, Facebook has earned the top spot in the world of social networking. You can set up a completely free profile for your business on Facebook, where you can place links to your website and provide product descriptions and other pertinent information. People who belong to Facebook will then be able to become “fans” of your company; in turn, their friends will see their association with your site, and a snowball effect will occur. It’s an excellent free advertising for your website method to kick-start a word-of-mouth campaign in an organic and natural way.

Myspace – Although not quite as popular as it once was, Myspace is still a force to be reckoned with in the world of social networking. If you sell products and services that are geared toward the younger crowd, especially, you simply must have a presence on Myspace. Setting up a profile is quite easy, as is searching for people who have interests that may make them natural candidates as friends. In turn, you can spread the word about your business and enjoy a bit of free advertising for your website.

Twitter – Since officially debuting in the spring of 2007, Twitter has become one of the most popular social media sites on the planet. The microblogging service, which people use to send out 140-character updates called “tweets,” has also emerged as one of the most effective marketing, customer service and advertising tools on the Internet. As with Facebook and Myspace, it is completely free to set up a Twitter account. By setting up alerts for pertinent keywords, you can be notified whenever somebody tweets about your company and its products and services. This way, you can suggest new items or services, alert followers to sales and other specials, and simply keep in touch with those who do business with you. It’s a remarkably intuitive and easy way to conduct free advertising for your website and promote your business.

Free Advertising For Your Website with Article Directories

Another extremely popular – and totally free – phenomenon that many business owners use to market their companies online is the article directory. Submission guidelines vary from directory to directory, but the gist of it is that you can compose informative and interesting articles on subjects related to your business, put links to your site on them, then submit them. If they are of sound quality, others will link to them and your company will gain prominence for providing exceptional information online. This will enhance your business’s reputation and boost your sales, as well.

There are hundreds of article directories online; EzineArticles and Articlesbase are two of the most popular and easy to use ones.

Free Advertising For Your Website with Blogs

Setting up a blog is a free and easy way to enhance your online presence as a business. With a blog, you can post updates concerning industry news and opine on current events that are related to your business. Over time, you could develop a regular readership and could even become a trusted source of industry-related information. The marketing angle comes in when you include links to your company website, and direct inquiries to your work email address. You can set up your blog independent of your site, or incorporate it into the design of your business website – the choice is entirely up to you.

Blogs are especially popular because they are free and easy to set up. Blogger and WordPress are just two examples of the many trusted blog-developing websites that you can use to create your own company blog. With ready-made templates and step-by-step instructions that walk you through the blog creation process, it’s easy enough even for not-so-savvy Internet marketers to be up and running in no time flat.

Tying All This Free Advertising For Your Website Together

Once you’ve set up profiles on the popular social networking sites, have written and submitted a handful of solid articles to a few of the best article directories, and have created and posted to your very own company blog, it’s time to tie it all together. On the main page of your company website, provide links or buttons to all your various online content. Ultimately, your website should direct visitors to your Twitter, Facebook and other accounts – and those accounts should direct people to your website.

Free Advertising For Your Website…”Real Life” Marketing Ideas

It’s easy to forget that there’s still a “real world” to advertise in, as well. One of the best ways to enhance free advertising for your website into the bricks-and-mortar world is by including the URLs to your best-designed online profiles on the correspondence and marketing materials that you use. For instance, you could:

• Include your company website address on the letterhead of the stationary that you use
• Print the URL of your Facebook and Twitter accounts on newsletters and other mailings that you send out
• Direct people to your blog by including its URL on your business card
• Letting people personally know about the existence of your company website and other accounts
• Advertise on your vehicle (very low cost but exceptional exposure)

As you can see there are numerous avenues to generate free advertising for your website both online and offline. Find out which marketing methods work well for you but don’t be afraid to experiment with new advertising techniques. Best of luck with your free advertising for your website!