November 6, 2020
3 Ways to Promote Your Website Without Spending Anything
Building your website is just the beginning, and just the tip of the iceberg. After all, there are almost 2 billion websites around the world, with new ones created every second.
Related – A Definitive Guide on How to Choose the Best Blogging Platform *insert link*
But that doesn’t mean that website promotion is not intimidating and confusing! Not only does it take time and effort, it can also be very expensive. Not everybody has the financial budget to invest into paid advertising campaigns and event sponsorships.
We understand just how hard it can be. So in this article, we’re going to introduce 3 surefire strategies you can use to promote your website and increase your traffic without needing to spend anything. Experiment with these website promotion ideas and watch the traffic roll in!
1. Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is one of the classic methods of establishing presence within your niche, growing your backlink profile and making great connections in the industry–all of which are essential to promote your website in the long run.
How does it work?
In a nutshell – you write for similar blogs within your industry.
Why should you do it?
- You get instant exposure to targeted traffic – If you successfully write a top-quality post, you can expect traffic to start flowing to your site once it goes live.
- You can expand your personal network – All you need to do is be active once you’re a part of the community of contributors. You can leave comments, share other posts, or cold-email your prospects. You can even have influencers over as contributors to your blog.
- You can establish your authority in the niche – By contributing to authoritative blogs, you can prove your credibility as an information source.
How do I do it?
Step 1: Find your targets – You’ll need to do some research and create a list of well-known blogs relevant to your niche; posting outside of your niche won’t really bring you any quality traffic.
Here are some tools to help you find your target audience:
Step 2: Prepare your pitch – Do your research on the blog and editor you’ll be reaching out to. You will need to personalise your pitch, and make efforts towards getting into the editor’s good graces and you’ll see a world of difference in the responses you receive.
Step 3: Write your guest post – When you finally write, always follow the style and formatting of the blog you’re guest posting for. For example, if every article on the site uses lots of headers and bolded text, do the same with your posts.
2. Email Marketing
Email Marketing is perhaps the most direct and effective way of connecting with your leads, nurturing them, turning them into customers, and further turning them into loyal fans.
Take a look at Birchbox’s unique email campaign, providing customers with a bonus promo for Rent the Runway, a dress rental company that fit the interest profile of most Birchbox customers:
The subject line: “We Forgot Something in Your February Box!” Obviously, one look at the email made it clear that Birchbox didn’t actually forget to put that discount code in her box — but it was definitely a clever way to get people’s attention.
How do I do it?
Step 1: Set measurable goals – Identify the objectives that you want to accomplish with each specific email campaign. They could be:
- Deliver highly relevant content
- Increase sales conversions/revenue
- Build brand awareness
- Increase lead generation
- Drive additional traffic to the website
Step 2: Choose an email template or build one from scratch – The next step is to decide if you will build each campaign from scratch or use pre-made and customizable email templates. The latter option provides a reliable version of your email campaigns in a short amount of time. You can access our free ones here *insert link to our free templates*, or work with an email designer and developer.
Step 3: Write enticing email copy – We recommend you tackle each email copy component individually to make the entire task less overwhelming.
The following elements appear before a recipient opens your email:
- From Name, Subject Line, Preview Text
- Headlines, Body Copy, and CTAs
- Images
Here is an example of a great email copy from Carbon Based Podcast that is conversational and engaging:
Step 4: Review, test, and send your email marketing campaign – Checking for spelling/copy, links, and browser variations are all important items to review before sending off an email marketing campaign. Once your email has been thoroughly reviewed, it’s time to either send or schedule your campaigns.
Step 5: Measure your results – Some important metrics to note include:
- Unique opens
- Click-through rates
- Unsubscribe rates
- Spam complaints
Some great tools you can use for email marketing are:
- Hubspot *insert affiliate* – Create, personalize, and optimize your marketing emails without waiting on designers or IT.
- MailChimp – *insert affiliate* – Mailchimp’s easy‑to‑use email builder has the tools you need to grow your business.
Related – HubSpot vs. MailChimp – Which One Should You Use For Your Business *insert link*
- WebEngage *insert affiliate* – With WebEngage, you can engage users with tailored emails at the right moment, fostering brand loyalty
- Constant Contact *insert affiliate* – Constant Contact offers e-commerce marketing as well as unlimited emails that rank high in most small businesses’ to-do lists. This is a great fit for any small business!
3. Instagram Marketing
Instagram has 1 billion active users which makes it a great potential platform for promotion. You can promote your website by posting visually compelling content on your page.
For example, Shoe company Nothing New highlight its goal of sustainability and show how its product is part of that objective. The caption offers evidence proving that the featured shoe follows the company’s mission, such as the fact that the product is made of 100% postconsumer plastics:
Here is a step-by-step to get you started on your Instagram marketing journey:
Step 1: Set up your business Instagram account – Your bio should tell your followers what you are about in a concise, catchy way. It should include the following elements:
- A short, snappy bio
- A link to your site in your bio
- A username and photo that clearly shows who you are and what you do
Step 2: Create great Instagram posts – To make your Instagram successful and engaging, you need to make it stand out visually. This means you will need to:
- Focus on top-quality visuals
- Focus on “lifestyle” content (visuals showing your product in use, or as a background element) rather than simply the product itself
- Feature images taken by your customers and fans
- Use Instagram Stories for a behind-the-scenes look at your business
- Use Reels to take your customers along on the journey of your business
Step 3: Use Hashtags – Hashtags as a way to connect social media content to a specific topic, event, theme or conversation. You can use tools like Hashtagify and RiteTag to find popular related hashtags.
Step 4: Offer promotions to your followers – You can do sales and discounts and contests to drive engagement. For example, take a look at this contest run by Quest Nutrition. The hashtag #MyQuest is simple and easy to remember, it gives Quest a chance to repurpose users’ photos on their Instagram page, and directions for participation are straightforward.
Final Thoughts
Naturally, there are a lot of ways to promote your website besides the tactics listed above. The three which we listed above are some of the guaranteed ways small businesses have been using for years to promote their sites without breaking the bank. However, the strategy which ultimately proves the most effective for you depends largely on your unique competitive landscape and the resources at your disposal.
What are your thoughts? Have you found huge success with any of these strategies, or has a method not mentioned here worked wonders for you?
We’d love to hear your story in the comments below.
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