Are you searching for the best ways to learn how to promote your website? Whether you’re a small business owner or a content creator, getting your website in front of your target audience is pivotal to growing your brand. The good news is there are plenty of free strategies to drive traffic, build visibility, and boost engagement.
At OptinMonster, we specialize in helping websites like yours attract visitors and convert them into loyal customers. In this guide, I’ll share 15 proven ways to promote your website for free so you can start seeing results without breaking the bank. I’ve divided these strategies into two categories: content marketing and external websites.
- Content Marketing Website Promotion Ideas
- How to Promote Your Website on Other Websites
- Next Steps: Convert More Traffic to Leads and Customers
Content Marketing Website Promotion Ideas
Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to promote your website for free.
If you look at content marketing statistics, you’ll see that content marketing increases engagement and generates leads.
But what is content marketing?
Content marketing is the creation and distribution of online material like videos, blog posts, podcasts, social media posts, and more. This content isn’t directly promotional, but it’s meant to get people interested in the brand’s products and services.
The nice thing about content marketing is that it can be very cost-effective. You don’t have to pay for advertising or sponsorships. It only costs your time and energy to create the content and build an audience. Let’s look at some specific tips for promoting your website through content marketing.
New to Content Marketing?
If you’re a beginner, don’t worry! Take a look at our Ultimate Beginner’s Content Marketing Guide.
1. Prioritize Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization is the process of making your website show up in search results. The first page of search engine results gets far more clicks, and organic search traffic is free. This means you can drive a lot more potential customers to your website without spending any money.
We don’t have space to go over a full lesson on SEO, but here are a few SEO best practices:
- Start with an SEO audit to get a baseline for your site’s performance
- Review the top SEO ranking factors to learn what search engines look for
- Choose keywords that your target audience is searching for
- Create high-quality content based on common keywords related to your online business
- Monitor your traffic and keyword rankings regularly
- Optimize your on-page SEO strategy
- Work on building links to your website over time
It’s also important to have the right SEO tools to help you monitor your website traffic, perform keyword research, and optimize your content for search.
2. Start Your Own Blog
Bloggers were some of the first online businesses and they knew how to promote themselves. Blogging statistics show that websites with blogs get more traffic and conversions.
Starting a blog for your business is simple. All you need to do is write blog content that’s helpful to your audience. You can use keyword research to identify terms that your audience is searching for to guide your content creation. Incorporate those keywords prominently and naturally through in your blog posts.
To get the best return on investment (ROI) from blogging, your blog posts should be written with conversion in mind. Here are some best practices for writing blog posts that convert. We also have some tips for getting more blog followers.
3. Offer a Lead Magnet
A lead magnet is something of value that you offer visitors in exchange for subscribing to your email newsletter. Examples include ebooks, downloadable guides, coupon codes, and other freebies. I’ll talk a little more about email marketing in a moment, but your lead magnet itself can be a great promotional tool.
If you create a super useful free tool like a template or cheat sheet, you’ll create trust with any subscribers who sign up for it. This builds brand awareness and positions your website as knowledgeable and helpful.
To help you out, we have a full tutorial on how to create a lead magnet.
4. Create an Email Marketing Newsletter
Email marketing is one of the best ways to promote your website. Unlike your social media audience, your email list belongs to you. You can make direct contact with your customers and leads any time you want. And you can also set up reusable email automations to generate leads and convert sales around the clock.
Now, many email service providers (ESPs) are now paid services. But some still offer free plans, and the cost of an ESP is relatively low compared to trying to outbid your competitors in advertising or sponsoring a piece of influencer content.
There are many ways to create an email marketing strategy. But the general principles are the same as any other type of content marketing:
- Give readers a reason to subscribe, like a lead magnet
- Send out great content that subscribers actually want to read
- Keep track of your email metrics to see how your outreach efforts perform over time
Check out our ultimate guide on how to run a successful email marketing campaign. With high-quality email marketing campaigns, you can drive repeat traffic to your site through powerful calls-to-action (CTAs).
5. Host a Podcast
Podcasting is another effective website promotion strategy that doesn’t have to cost much. Many people prefer listening to podcasts over reading blog posts, so this can be a great way to reach more of your audience.
You can create podcast content the same way you create blog posts. Look for topics that your target audience is interested in. If you bring in podcast guests, there are extra opportunities for promotion since your guests will want to share their episode with their audience too.
Plus, if you post your podcast episodes on your website with search-optimized headings and descriptions, podcasting can improve your search traffic. Take a look at the best WordPress podcasting plugins you can use.
How to Promote Your Website on Other Websites
So far we’ve been discussing ways to bring in free traffic to your website. Another strategy you can use is to promote your website on other websites and platforms. These can be social media channels that belong to your brand or completely external sites like online directories.
The advantage of this method is that you can access a bigger audience that someone else has already built. In many cases, visitors to these websites are looking for a specific solution. Your small business can provide the answer and gain a customer. Win win!
6. Post on Social Media
Social media platforms are a great place to promote your website for free. It’s free to set up an Instagram profile or Facebook page for your business, and you don’t have to pay for ads if you don’t want to. You can post content with links to your website, and of course link your website in your social media profile.
Social media marketing is great for building brand awareness. Many people turn to social media sites for information or simply when they’re bored and want something interesting to look at. You can also practice social selling and build the personal relationships that eventually lead to sales.
The most effective social media platform for your business will depend on your market. If you’re a B2B brand selling to other business owners, LinkedIn is probably the best. Consumer-facing businesses might do better on Pinterest, Facebook, or Instagram.
On each platform, you can use hashtags to increase your post’s visibility, and find potential collaborators. Here are our favorite social media marketing tools to help you promote your website on social media.
7. Create Videos
Video marketing is a specific type of content marketing that often performs best on external platforms. People often use YouTube as a search engine to find video tutorials, reviews, product showcases, and more. They might not land on your website but they could see your videos on the YouTube platform. Video is also extremely popular on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram.
Video production can be more involved than other types of content, but it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. People want to see authentic content, especially on social media. You can also repurpose video in many places. You can upload the full video to YouTube and share short clips on TikTok. Plus you can add YouTube feeds to your WordPress site to show off your video content on your own website.
8. Write Guest Blogs
While you’re blogging on your own website, you can also write guest posts for other people’s blogs. Another option is to be a guest on related podcasts. This does 2 important things for promoting your website.
First, it allows you to borrow the audience and the authority of the other blogger or podcast host. They’ve already spent time creating content and building an audience that will now see your blog post. If they’re a trusted leader in their field, their readers will assume that your content is also trustworthy.
Second, guest blogging is a great way to build backlinks to your website. Most bloggers will include a link to your website if you create a guest post for them. You can also promote your guest posts on your own email list and social media channels.
9. Interact on Forums
There are plenty of industry and topic-specific forums where people go to ask questions. When you show up in these spaces with the right answers, you build credibility for your business.
Look on websites like Reddit or Quora for topics related to your business. Be helpful, not spammy, in your responses. Answer the questions that are being asked, and then subtly promote your business if relevant. Some forums have rules about self promotion, so be sure to check these out before sharing links.
10. Join Directories
Even if most people don’t get the printed Yellow Pages anymore, there are still plenty of online directories that you can join. Putting your business profile in a global or local business directory makes it easy for potential customers to find you.
In addition to adding a listing for your business, you may be able to collect customer reviews as well. This is a convincing form of social proof that can boost your conversions.
Some directory websites are general while others are industry specific or local directories based on geography. There may be a fee for listing your business, but these are typically very low. Here are some nationwide directories to consider joining:
- Angi (formerly Angie’s List): home service
- Better Business Bureau: general business directory
- Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business): listings on Google search pages
- Thumbtack: home services
- Fiverr: freelance services
- Yelp: general business reviews
11. Cross-promote With Other Businesses Through Webinars
Another way to promote your business for free or very low cost is to collaborate with another business. You can work together to host a webinar or course that would interest customers of both businesses. In doing this, you can both reach an audience larger than you would on your own.
The key to successful cross-promotion is to choose someone who isn’t a competitor but still works with a similar target audience. For example, a wedding photographer might team up with a makeup artist. Both can offer a booking discount to attendees, but they won’t be stealing business from each other. A clothing brand might partner with a stylist rather than a competing fashion retailer. The clothing brand could offer a discount while the stylist could offer a special service package add-on.
If you’re hosting a joint webinar to promote your website, here’s how to create a webinar landing page.
12. Ask for Referrals
Referral marketing is a cost-effective way to promote your website. You ask your previous customers to share your brand with their friends and family. When a referral buys something, you give the referring customer a gift or bonus. This could be a gift with purchase, discount, or store credit, which means you don’t have to spend any actual cash for that new sale.
Referral programs are also amazing for building customer loyalty. Happy customers are more likely to make referrals, and then spend their referral bonus on something else from your business.
Referral marketing isn’t limited to eCommerce sites. People love recommending service providers or SaaS products that they’ve had a good experience with, especially if that means they get to work with you more. Consider free upgrades or contract extensions as referral bonuses in these situations.
13. Start an Affiliate Program
Affiliate programs are another variation of referral marketing. This is when content creators and other businesses place special affiliate links in their content. When one of their visitors clicks a link to your site and makes a purchase, the affiliate gets a small commission. Again, you don’t pay unless someone makes a purchase, so there’s no risk of losing money like you might buying Google Ads or other advertising.
If starting an affiliate program sounds really technical, don’t worry! There are great plugins like AffiliateWP that make the process simple and automatic.
14. Publish Press Releases
Press releases aren’t dead! Whenever your business has something newsworthy to share, you can submit a press release to PR sites. This can help you build media relationships, establish credibility, and improve SEO.
Press releases are written differently than traditional marketing content. They are more journalistic and focused on facts and features. Be transparent and honest with your press releases and let media and consumers decide for themselves.
15. Add a Link to Your Email Signature
Finally, here’s a super easy way to promote your website for free. Put a link to your website on your email signature. This is almost like a digital business card. Now everyone you send an email to will have the link for your website. You can link your homepage, a special landing page, or even a lead magnet signup page.
Next Steps: Convert More Traffic to Leads and Customers
Promoting your website doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. With the strategies in this guide, you can start driving more traffic and reaching your target audience without spending a dime. The key is to stay consistent and focus on delivering value to your visitors.
But driving traffic is only half the battle. You also need to convert those visitors into subscribers and customers. That’s where OptinMonster comes in. As the leading conversion optimization tool, OptinMonster helps you turn your website traffic into real results with easy-to-use popups, lead capture forms, and more.
Join over 1 million websites using OptinMonster to grow their audience and increase conversions. Try OptinMonster risk-free today and see the difference for yourself!
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