On the previous page of this article I presented three free Web site promotion techniques that I claim actually work. That is, if you’re prepared to invest some time in learning how to do them well and then working at them, they’ll repay your investment by increasing traffic to your Web site – the ultimate goal of Web site promotion. Here are two more that are also worth your time:
4. Become a social networker.
You’ve probably already received invitations to join one or more social networks such as LinkedIn or Ryze. Among the advantages of joining that Entrepreneurs Guide Scott Allen and David Teton mention in Crossing the Social Network Chasm is high visibility at low cost. Most social networking sites, they point out, allow you to create a profile for free.
There’s no reason why you can’t belong to several social networks at once (except time constraints), but you will want to choose the network communities you join carefully. Some seem to be more personal chat centers than business networking groups and will be useless in terms of business and/or Web site promotion.
Tip: Scott Allen and David Teton recommend having your profile prepared before you join a social network. A “master copy” of your profile information makes it easy to copy and paste and create a new profile when you join a social networking group.
5. Become a blogger.
Creating a blog of your own is another great free Web site promotion strategy because it lets you apply several promotion strategies at once. By blogging about your subject, you’ll get the chance to become an active member of the blogging community, building a web of relationships and links. And of course, your blog will be keyword rich, increasing your Search Engine Optimization. You can set up a blog as part of an existing Web site, or give your new blog a site of its own.
This Business Blogs FAQ includes a blog definition as well as information on how to create a blog of your own.
Tip: Most blogs include the facility to make comments on posts. When you’re reading another blog that’s relevant to your topic, take the time to comment on a post (making sure that your comment actually says something that’s equally relevant). It’s another opportunity to promote your Web site for free – while getting known in the blogging community.
These are not the only strategies that you can use to get free web site promotion of course. But these are the best, and if you select several of these and concentrate on them, they’ll yield the return in increased site traffic that you’re looking for.
