How to Promote Your Business Online for Free
Promoting your business isn’t as hard and costly as you may think after looking at what agencies offer you. Free online business promotion is not only possible but easy to do. There are a plethora of options available online.
Let’s see what ways you have to start promoting your business for free.
Online Directories
Online directories are a huge benefit to small businesses. Consumers routinely visit these sites to search for credible companies with great reviews to do business with so let’s be sure you’ve posted yourself up on a few of the most relevant!
Here’s a quick list of sites to check out:
- Yelp
- Google My Business
- Better Business Bureau
- Foursquare
- Yellow/White Pages
- EZ Local
- CitySlick
- Show Me Local
- City-data
- Manta
- Bing
Another benefit of signing up for these sites is that smaller directories pull data from the most popular sites, which means you’ll likely show up on pages that you didn’t even sign up for and that’s great! Your online presence will be able to grow without much effort and will improve your visibility to the online community.
All of these directories offer free services, but also have advanced options that require some cash on your end. Our tip? Try the free stuff first and if you like your results, consider paying for an upgraded version.
Social Media
Social media is the simplest online advertising avenue. You likely have one or two business accounts up and running. The most popular business accounts are Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, but make sure to consider using other sites, like Pinterest or WikiHow. They aren’t always the most obvious, but these sites are another way to get you in front of an interested audience.
Tips: 7 Errors You Should Avoid In Social Media Marketing
Start a business account by linking your URL to easily create pins directly from your site, gain insights about what your audience is looking for, and see who’s saving content from your website. Pinterest has arguably created a search engine as savvy as Google, so you want your products, services, and original content to have a home here. If you regularly upload pins from your website, you could begin to pull traffic from a whole new source
Tips: 4 Outsourcing Hacks To Streamline Pinterest Content Strategy
WikiHow
“Learn how to do anything with WikiHow” is how the platform describes its purpose. Essentially, users jump on the site to pose questions to the community or create original content, most of the ‘how to’ nature. However, the website can be very strict about posting URLs, and in fact tags, most outside links with a ‘do not follow’ ordinance. This means that even if content with your website linked was published, the link would essentially be dead. However, the site is still useful as far as online advertising.
Creating original articles on wikiHow and then cross-promoting them on other social media platforms helps identify you as a thought leader in your industry. The higher your content rates, the better your credibility. And, of course, all of this is free.
Blogging
Blogging is an efficient way to show the story of your success to the world. A blog is like an open diary that allows people to see the other side of your work. Not always glossy and polished, but amazingly alive. A blog is a way to show some insides to your audience – people are always interested in seeing how their goods are made.
Tips: Top 10 Strategies For Promoting Your Blog
Implementing a few of these simple and free online advertising tips are sure to pay off, especially if you regularly review and revise your strategy.