How to promote your website for free in 10 effective ways

 So, you create a website you’re proud of—now what? It’s time to share it with the world. After all, what good is your site if no one is around to see it? Website promotion doesn’t have to cost you a ton of money in order to reach your target audience. In fact, it doesn’t have to cost you any money at all.

We’re sure you’ve encountered articles similar to this one that promise to show you “x amount of tips” to do something for free, only to have a big, red price tag at the end. This isn’t one of those posts. All of the following marketing ideas listed will ensure your wallet stays closed.

Read on to discover the 10 best ways to promote your website for free.

1. How to promote your website
2. Solidify your website SEO 
3. Take advantage of email marketing 
4. Start a blog 
5. Try guest blogging 
6. Harness the power of social media 
7. Submit your site to online directories
8. Post on forums 
9. Reach out with outreach marketing 
10. Say it with your signature 
11. Focus on quality 

01. Solidify your website SEO

Leveraging SEO and integrating it into the website creation process is vital. Various studies have shown that organic search is the single greatest provider of traffic to websites.

SEO, or search engine optimization, is one of the most effective ways to promote a website, as it helps improve a site’s ranking on Google and visibility in other search engines. Unlike paid search ads, SEO is totally free –  the competition is open to everyone, based on the quality of the content you publish, the fluidity of the navigation you offer to your visitors, and the number of links you receive from external sources. 

You can achieve strong SEO by placing certain keywords and phrases throughout your website, adding alt text to your images and optimizing your headings so that your website can get found on search engines. 

Because SEO requires time and effort, from your initial keyword research right through to implementation and tracking, so automated SEO tools make the process more efficient. 

02. Take advantage of email marketing

There’s a reason you always see email marketing placed high up on articles that talk about how to drive traffic to your website. Why? Because it’s proven to be effective over and over. In fact, its average rate of return can be as high as 4400%, or $44 for every dollar spent.

Newsletters are a particularly effective form of email marketing, since they are a direct form of communication between you and your potential customers. They also help you get subscribers and can help drive traffic to your site. To create an engaging newsletter, keep your content punchy and direct, and use prominent calls-to-action that encourage readers to click. That will help your content stand out from the sea of other newsletters your subscribers may receive. Don’t forget your UTM links when planning your email marketing, you’ll need these to track the implementation of your KPIs and how well your campaign performs. 

03. Start a blog

When considering how to promote your website, a good practice is to create a free blog to bolster your SEO and increase your site’s rank on search engines. Blogging and content marketing in general makes it easier for people to find your site and discover your business. On top of that, it helps you establish yourself as an authority in your field and can dramatically improve your conversion rate.

Writing blog posts forces you to research your market, and in turn broadens your knowledge and professional skills. It can also help you build an online community who engages with your content and each other, this is particularly impactful if your site targets a niche market. As for the technical side of starting a blog, 

Even if you’re not much of a writer, you can still benefit from including a blog on your site, as it helps generate brand awareness and increase your website traffic. You can also monetize your blog and promote it further with affiliate marketing. 

04. Try guest blogging

Expand your website promotion even further by collaborating with a guest blogger. When another writer in your industry writes a post on your own blog, you expand your reach to their target audience and gain quality leads. In addition, connecting with writers who are already established in their field helps you grow your own network. This can bring you more exposure, traffic and social media shares.

On the flip side, you can also promote your website by becoming a guest blogger yourself. If you choose to go this route, you’ll be writing articles that will be published on sites other than your own. 

This is a crucial marketing strategy that yields huge benefits. First, it strengthens your SEO when you include a link to your site in a guest post or author bio. Second, it generates awareness of your brand by encouraging new audiences to click on your site and browse.

05. Harness the power of social media

Social media isn’t just a way for your friends from high school to show off pictures of their children or snap photos of what they ate for lunch. It’s also an effective way to promote a website, as it helps businesses reach a diverse audience and build brand awareness.

Whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit, LinkedIn or Instagram, social media marketing is important for engaging followers. Importantly, posting compelling content increases the chances that your audience will share it – which is free promotion for your website. And the more people click on your content, the more chances you’ll have of getting website traffic and improving your conversion rate.

Don’t forget to cross-promote so all of your networks benefit from as much of your content as possible. For instance, you can share your Instagram video to Twitter or your latest blog post on your Facebook page. You can also use a link in bio tool to promote your website from your social channels, or create social bar to your website so that visitors can easily find your social profiles and share your content. Find more advertisement examples here. 

You can also tap into the power of influencer marketing, and have social media celebrities on meta platforms such as Instagram, share your site as well as your products or services to their followers. 

06. Submit your site to online directories

In addition to optimizing your SEO to help people discover your website, you’ll want to submit your site to online directories. Online directories, can act as news aggregators, and make it easy for people to find your URL and navigate to your site. Depending on your industry, there may be a directory for your specific business type.

If you have a brick-and-mortar store, submitting to local directories is even smarter. Free services like Google My Business allow you to claim your business so that when someone searches for your business, a complete set of details – including your website, opening hours, contact details, and a map of your location – appear on the results page. Other locations you should consider placing your website are Angie’s List, Yellow Pages and Yelp. 

07. Post on forums

When deciding how to promote your website to a new crowd, try using forums. One method is to start a thread on a well-known forum like Reddit and let others decide if it’s worthy of getting upvoted. Another option is to engage in an existing conversation thread and refer to your website when relevant.

Whichever approach you choose, be mindful that you should only add your website to these posts when it serves as a genuinely helpful resource to supplement your response. Otherwise, you risk coming across as spammy.

Try to find forums that are specifically about your industry so that you can reach people who are already interested in your niche. 

08. Reach out with outreach marketing

Outreach marketing involves connecting with others in your business niche, such as bloggers, influencers and other professionals, in order to promote your website. Ideally, you’ll be able to build a lasting relationship with these professionals that will help you increase your site’s exposure.

The technique starts with identifying your marketing goals, and then finding people who can help you achieve those objectives. This involves reaching out with a pitch, and following up when necessary. Try sending your pitch over email or via certain social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter. 

09. Say it with your signature

Your email signature is an underrated but powerful tool that essentially serves as an online business card. Make sure that your email signature includes your business logo, links to your social accounts and website, plus any other contact information. This puts your brand’s stamp on your emails and promotes your website to your recipients.

10. Focus on quality

When learning how to promote your website, your focus should be on publishing expert, informative content. This is true regardless of which promotional strategies you choose, whether that’s posting on social media, writing blog articles or partnering with influencers. Though you may be eager to get the word out right away, prioritize quality over quantity, as this helps build trust among your audience and drive them through the marketing funnel. This is one of the best things you can do for your business in the long run.

Why website promotion is important

Website promotion is crucial for businesses of all sizes to establish an online presence, reach their target audience and achieve their marketing goals. Here are some compelling reasons why website promotion is essential for success in the digital landscape:

Increased brand awareness: Website promotion helps businesses showcase their brand, products or services to a wider audience through search engines, social media and other online channels. By enhancing visibility, businesses can attract new visitors, generate interest and establish a strong brand identity.

Improved search engine ranking: Effective website promotion strategies, such as search engine optimization (SEO), help websites rank higher in search results when users search for relevant keywords. This improved visibility leads to increased organic traffic, driving more potential customers to your website.

Enhanced user engagement and conversion rates: Well-promoted websites attract more visitors and keep them engaged with compelling content, clear navigation and a seamless user experience. This increased engagement can lead to higher conversion rates, whether it’s newsletter signups, product purchases or other desired actions.

Effective lead generation: Website promotion plays a vital role in capturing leads and converting visitors into customers. By implementing calls-to-action, contact forms and other lead generation strategies, businesses can gather valuable contact information and nurture relationships with potential customers.

Cost-effective marketing channel: Compared to traditional marketing methods like print ads or television commercials, website promotion offers a more cost-effective way to reach a large audience. With targeted online advertising, social media marketing and SEO strategies, businesses can maximize their return on investment.

Measurable results: Website promotion enables businesses to track their progress and measure the effectiveness of their campaigns using analytics tools. By analyzing website traffic, visitor behavior and conversion rates, businesses can identify areas for improvement and optimize their strategies accordingly.

Competitive advantage: In today’s competitive online landscape, businesses that actively promote their websites gain a significant advantage. By staying ahead of industry trends, adapting to changing algorithms and continuously refining their strategies, businesses can attract more customers, generate more leads and achieve their overall marketing objectives.

How to genuinely promote your business every day

 As a solopreneur, selling our business essentially means selling OURSELVES – who we are, what we do, and WHY we do it – to the world. The truth is that if you run your own business, then whether you like it or not, you’re also a sales person.

The tricky thing is that we oftentimes can feel a little weird and maybe even “icky” about promoting ourselves.

We’ve all been there. We’ve all seen those people. You know who I’m talking about… the ones who pester their friends and family trying to sell that product. The ones who plaster their Facebook feed with promotions or send WAY too many emails when you don’t even really care about what they have to offer.

But there IS a way to promote your business in a way that makes the RIGHT people want to buy from YOU.

There is a way to capture attention and turn that attention into raving fans.

There is a way to get your business into the world and build genuine and authentic followers.

So how do you do this???

Well, I’m going to share 3 tips with you about how to promote your business every day in a way that is authentic and genuine to you.

1. You have to be filled up in order to pour out in a genuine and authentic way.

The most important thing about promoting your business every day is you have to be filled up in order to pour back out. You have to be able to approach your promotions from a place of overflow vs. desperation.

This is so essential to not sounding too “salsey” or “spammy”.

What makes you feel alive? What things do you LOVE doing? What are your hobbies outside of work? What makes you feel like you’re living your most intentional life? Get back to doing those things!

Maybe this looks like doing a morning workout, eating a healthy diet, or getting into scripture and prayer every morning. Maybe this looks like taking time to relax with your family and friends. Maybe this looks like getting a good night sleep and taking the time to get all dolled up and ready for the day each morning.

Whatever this looks like for you, don’t neglect it! Get back into the habit of doing things that light you up and make you feel alive.

Think about what feelings you desire to have in life. I mean… REALLY think about this.

Do you desire to have a freedom filled life? Do you desire to find and have joy in all circumstances? Do you desire to live abundantly? Or do you want to live each moment with peace in your heart?

Whatever feelings you desire to have, start working to incorporate these feelings into your life more.

What things or habits make you feel these feelings? The key is to do more of those things and less of the things that drain you. 

2. You have to promote in a way that is genuine for you.

Secondly, we have to think about HOW you are going to promote every day. Obviously, we don’t want to promote the same way every day; that would just be boring for our followers!

The biggest tip I can give you is to promote in a way that is genuine to you. Do this by following your creativity. Follow your passion.

So, what do I mean by follow your creativity and passion???

This means that if you are not feeling passionate or creative about something at the moment, then maybe it’s not the right time to do that task.

Look at your task list and the things that HAVE to get done today. What things do you want to do? What things are you feeling lit up about? What things do you have a passion to complete and get into the world?

Ok, there is a catch. Sometimes we DO have to do things that are not fun. Sometimes we DO have to get something done TODAY and it just can’t wait… but we don’t want to do it. UGH. I know the feeling.

The best tip I can give you for this is to make a list of things that HAVE to get done and give these tasks a due date. Assign different tasks to different days or times and make sure to get these things taken care of.

Then, we can attack all the left-over tasks in a way that we are passionate about.

For example, I think a LOT. I also really like writing. I oftentimes will find myself thinking about a certain topic for quite a while and mulling it over in my brain. When this happens, I know that RIGHT THEN is the time to get these thoughts out of my brain and down onto paper. This is the time to try to plan the live video I want to do on that topic.

If I write the topic down and then decide that I will write that blog post later or do that live video later, then I often won’t be as passionate about it and I will have to take twice as long to get back into the “flow” of that topic. And if you’re a creative, I think you know what I mean.

So, when you find yourself in the “flow” of creativity and passion about a certain subject, topic, or task… attack that thing right then and there! Use that creativity and passion to create your daily promotion about that subject!

3. You have to promote with perseverance and tenacity.

If we approach promoting our business with timidity and shyness, we will never make the impact we dream of. We have to be brave, we have to be bold!

So, once you are filled up and know what your promotion is… attack that thing with perseverance and drive! Don’t let yourself shrink back out of fear… but step out in faith! Step out in obedience to your calling! Step out and be brave.

This may mean being awkward or maybe even annoying someone. But here’s the thing, you will get rejected. You will have people who don’t jump on board… and that’s OK! That just means that they either aren’t your ideal client or it’s not the right time. When this happens it’s important to know when to back off and when to keep pushing.

Remember, your dream deserves to be promoted. How can you impact lives and change the world if you don’t share it? The key here is to believe in your dream to the point of not being able to keep quiet about it.

And if there’s anything I’ve learned over this last year, it’s that you NEVER KNOW who might be interested in buying from you. There have been times I’ve almost not shared about my business because I start to think “they won’t want it” or “I don’t think they will be able to afford it”… and then those are the very people who want it most and actually CAN afford it.

Never disqualify someone is fits your ideal client persona before talking with them and sharing your business with them, you might be surprised when they say they are interested in buying from you!

Well, those are my 3 tips for you today. Make sure to watch the video above and share your thoughts in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you!

Always cheering you on,

promote your business every day

Start an eBay Store

 Until recently I thought that it was common knowledge that you can sell on eBay without creating an eBay store.

Then I started reading some posts from eBay newbies and realized that the “eBay store” feature is seen by many newbies as a must rather than an optional feature that is relevant only to some eBay sellers depending on various parameters.

So for this post I decided to create the ultimate guide on how to start an eBay store:

Right time to open an eBay store

Subscription type to choose

Guide to setting up your eBay store

Features to implement in your store

Which 3rd party tools are recommended, if any?

When is the right time to open an eBay store

For most entrepreneurs, a store is a natural step in the growth of your online business. 

Some would argue that setting up an eBay store instead of your own webstore is a mistake , the main reason being that when you sell on a marketplace where you are a guest, you are essentially on someone else’s platform and must abide by their rules or else you run the risk of being suspended and losing your livelihood.

Going back to talking about the right time to open an eBay store, to me this is equally a cost based question as it is a branding issue, here are a few points to consider before setting up shop on eBay:

Building your brand name – having a strong brand is a key factor when selling products. Even mega brands like Coca-Cola spend tens of millions of dollars a year in brand retention. That is exactly what eBay does and that is why it attracts millions of shoppers the world over. The question you have to ask yourself is: Do I have the knowhow to build a strong enough brand to do it independently?

Cost efficiency – eBay makes it beneficial for sellers from a certain level to pay for a store subscription versus selling without a store. It mainly depends on your monthly revenue and the number of listings you post. I wrote a complete guide explaining all types of eBay seller fees including how to choose the correct eBay store subscription, please read this on order to understand the whole picture.

Promotion – Where will my products get more exposure ? eBay has millions of shoppers but also millions of sellers. But traffic is traffic and you can run relatively low cost advertising campaigns on eBay and on social media. When you have an independent web store you need to start promoting yourself from the ground up and are likely to begin with very little traffic – it will take time and money to build your customer base.

The ultimate question you ought to ask yourself though is on which platform will I be most successful and profitable?

For those of you who believe eBay is your best bet, read on and I will walk you through the process of starting your very own eBay store:

Step-by-step guide to setting up your eBay store

Keep in mind that in order to open a store on eBay, you need to first open an eBay account and it is recommended to have first sold a few items as an individual as eBay restricts new sellers, forcing them to use training wheels before they can fly.

Here is a four step guide to starting a store for the absolute newest of newbies:

Step 1: Opening an eBay business seller account

In order to sell items on eBay, you need to register for an account. At the top left hand corner click the register button:

Keep in mind that you will have to accept eBay’s user agreement and that:

It is totally free to sign up for eBay but when you do sell an item you will pay eBay seller’s fees

Be sure to be up to date with the latest eBay seller policies so that you don’t break any rules. The most recent update is the 2017 Fall seller update

If long term you are planning on making a business out of this then opt for the business account option and not the personal account. Do keep in mind though that you have to be a legally registered business for this.

register ebay business account

Once you have registered you will need to decide what to sell on eBay. If you already have a bricks and mortar store then you will probably want to sell those items online otherwise I would recommend focusing on selling one type of item such as men’s shoes or one category type such as men’s clothing. This will make you seem like an expert in your field to potential buyers. And of course you can always check out the “Trending on eBay!” page to see what is hot right now:

Start by listing a few individual items for sale on eBay. Remember that eBay will charge you once you have sold the item and try to:

Write a title that real buyers would search for. See my my previous eBay Title builder blog for more on this

Include high quality photos

Write a thorough description or consider using a high generating eBay description template

Step 2: Qualify to open a store

I recommend you gain 3-6 months of experience before opening up your store. This will allow you to:

Learn about the buying and selling process

Allow you to hopefully receive positive buyer reviews and feedback

Do away with eBay restrictions for new sellers

Make sure you are generating enough monthly sales in order to make it worth your while to open an eBay store. I recommend you be moving $500-$1,000 a month in merchandise.

eBay recommends that sellers have at least 25 active eBay listings at a time so make sure you have that many and that you can handle that level of inventory management.

Make sure you have a payment method on file – eBay requires this so that they can automatically charge you seller fees when items are sold.

Also make sure that you have a verified PayPal account as many buyers prefer this method of payment. Typically you will need to provide:

Bank account information

Credit card information

Tax ID number such as your Social Security

choose payment method for ebay store

Step 3: Choose the right eBay store subscription

First off you need to choose what type of subscription you want and need. Before choosing I recommend you start simple as you can upgrade at any point in time (eBay recently announced on a lower store subscription tier called ‘Starter’ which costs $7.95/mo so you may consider this plan at first). Choosing a plan means you will not be paying individual listing fees rather one flat fee for a specific predetermined number of listings. The more items you sell on eBay the better the offer will be. Here is the official eBay pricing chart:

As you can see eBay has divided its store subscriptions into three simple categories (we did not include the ‘starter’ and ‘enterprise’ plans as they are not live yet):

Basic – 250 fixed price listings per  month at a 20 cent insertion fee and 250 auction style listings per month at 25 cents as well as 5,000 off-eBay promotional emails per month  

Premium – 1,000 fixed price listings per  month at a 10 cent insertion fee and 500 auction style listings per month at 15 cents as well as 7,500 off-eBay promotional emails per month

Anchor – 10,000 fixed price listings per month at a 5 cent insertion fee and 1,000 auction style listings per month at 10 cents as well as 10,000 off-eBay promotional emails per month

Choose your store name

Next, Choose a name for your store – this name will ultimately become your store’s URL so make sure to choose wisely and think about how real people will be able to find you or more accurately your product on a search engine. Try to be precise over being cool or humorous: try ‘Men’s Clothing & Accessories’ over ‘Mike’s Shoes & Belts’, for example.

ebay store name url

Once you have chosen your subscription type and your store name you simply have to agree to eBay’s terms and conditions and officially subscribe.

subscribe to an ebay store

Now your store is active you can start selling like a pro and you can work on other aspects of your business such as:

Marketing

Design

Branding

Just to name a few.

Step 4: Design your eBay store

By now you are well on your way to becoming a successful eBay shop owner. Don’t forget to:

Constantly add new items to your store

Offer promotions

Pay attention to which products are selling and which aren’t – ditch the ones that aren’t profitable and increase the variety of your top sellers

Don’t forget to try out both ‘auctions’ and ‘buy it now’ and see which one works best for you

Oh ya, don’t forget to have fun – shopping should always be fun and believe it or not shoppers can sense sellers who are positive and believe in their product, your shop window (or homepage in this case) is your facial expression and smiles sell more than frowns 🙂

Setting up the 2 most valuable eBay store features

#2: Creating store categories

Creating ebay store categories

Be sure to create categories for your store. eBay gives you the option to divide your products into categories as a store owner and this makes it untellingly easier for customers to find your items which ultimately makes it easier for you to move your merchandise. If you are selling men’s clothing consider putting each item in its proper category such as:

‘Shoes’

‘Belts’

‘watches’

‘Shirts’

‘Sunglasses’

‘Scarfs’

‘Gloves’

‘Hats’

‘Boots’

‘Wallets’

‘Aftershave’

store categories for clothing

#2: Building an email list for newsletters

Building an email list of your shoppers is critical for repeat business. Over time it’s one of the most effective tactics to generate more sales. The idea behind this is very simple: think about it from a shopper’s view, if you bought something and you’re happy with the experience, would you buy from the same retailer again?

eBay allows its store owners to dabble in email marketing via newsletter and shoppers can sign up by:

adding you to their list of saved sellers

or clicking ‘sign up for store newsletter’ which appears on your store homepage

Sellers typically create these messages in order to:

Promote their store

Update customers regarding sales

Inform shoppers when new items are added to your store

And to generally touch base with customers and remind them that your store is there for them whenever they should need to make their next purchase

eBay provides ready made templates under ‘marketing tools’ > ‘email marketing’ (I also recommend reading X-cart’s expert guide about email marketing templates).

Your email will be comprised of:

Subject – This appears in people’s inbox and is the first thing they see assuming your email hopefully did not end up in their spam box. Try and make this short, catchy and simple, for example: ‘Hot new men’s outfits’ or ‘winter sale: 20%off all items’

Header – This will appear at the top of the message and might be something catchy like ‘50% off all electronics’ or ‘buy one get one free’

Personal message – You want to keep this message professional but friendly and let people briefly know what you are selling and why they should buy from your store today

Items to showcase – here you can highlight items that you want to push or that are particularly popular, on special offer or new arrivals. These items appear as large images at the top of the message

Item list – eBay allows you to display a list of up to 50 items so that shoppers can browse your wares without leaving the comfort of their inbox

Seller feedback – you have the option to link to your feedback. Positive peer feedback and high ratings consistently account for consumers choosing whether or not to buy from one seller or another so make sure to include this line if you have great ratings. If your feedback or ratings are not so high maybe avoid displaying this link altogether.

Summary

Having a store on eBay is definitely not a must, it should be a financial decision first and a branding decision next.