10 creative, fun ways to advertise your site for free.

Having trouble getting visitors to your web page?  Get creative!  There are many ways to effectively advertise your site online and drive quality traffic to your site.  I've listed my top ten free ways here:


       Refer Friends and Family:   Perhaps the easiest way to advertise in the beginning.   Send an email to your family and friends describing your site.  Make sure you include your web address in the email so people will have no trouble finding it.  Also, there are lots of sites that offer free "tell a friend" buttons you can place directly on your site in order to encourage visitors to send e-mails to their friends and family telling them about your site.

        Email Signature:  Creating a signature in your email program is a great way to promote your web site.  The key is keeping it short (3 or 4 lines is ideal).  Most email programs allow you to have more than one so you can switch depending on the recipient.  Make sure to include your signature every single time you send an email.

        Message Boards:   Taking part in newsgroups and discussion forums is a great way to build your reputation online as someone who is knowledgeable and helpful.   Please keep in mind that most newsgroups, blog networks and discussion forums do not allow people to blatantly advertise in them.  Instead, offer friendly, useful tips and advice. Create a "signature file" with a link back to your web site, newsletter, or blog that will automatically be added to the bottom of every post you make.  If people like your advice, they may decide to visit your site and take a look around.

        Search Engine Submission:   The free search engines are still one of the most effective ways to bring traffic to your site.  There are many different techniques to get a high ranking but remember to start with good content on your site.  This process can be a slow one.  Don't get discouraged.  It can take many months of tweaking your site (adding content, getting links from other sites, and optimizing your content for keywords) to get a high listing.  A great tutorial on free web site optimization and submission can be found at WebMonkey.

        Paid Email:   If you have something to advertise, paid email is a great way to get the word out.  Advertising rates are very reasonable.  Be selective in the PTR sites you choose.  Not all are created equally.  Information on reputable sites can be found here.


        It Pays To Learn:  In addition to earning money by reading mail and signing up for offers, IPTL provides great advertising.  V-mail (virtual email) is unique paid incentive advertising on the IPTL site that insures a minimum exposure time for each message, and is specifically targeted to member demographics.  IPTL also offers banner advertising and allows you to create an onsite banner if you don't have one.  I have a page set up with more detailed information on It Pays To Learn. 


         Create a Banner:   Another effective marketing tool.  If done well, banners create brand awareness (a positive image in the surfer's mind) whether or not the viewer actually clicks on the ad.  Place your banner ads on paid email sites, some traffic exchanges, and ItPay$ToLearn.  Also, personally seeking out site owners to exchange banners with is a great idea but avoid banner exchange programs because of the lack of control over the banners that would appear on your site.  Check the Resources page for sites to create banners for free.


        Link Development:  Link development is an extremely powerful way to promote your site.  It involves sending emails to site owners asking them to include your link on their sites.  Often this will involve an exchange but not always.  If you pick the sites carefully, link development helps your site in two ways: 
    1.    These links will bring extremely targeted, high-quality traffic to your site.
    2.    Your search engine ranking will improve.  Search engines consider the number of links to your site as an indication of its                        importance.
Be sure to partner with owners whose sites are complementary to yours but don't compete directly. Their sites have to attract surfers who are likely to become your visitors as well. 


         Articles, Blog, or Newsletter:   Love to write?  Here's your chance.  Writing about your site and experiences can bring traffic as well as credibility.  Submit articles on topics of interest to web sites and e-zines that include those topics in their content.  Site owners are constantly seeking fresh copy to update their content so many will happily publish your articles.  Be sure to include your resource box (web site address and description) at the bottom of the article.  Here's a short list of sites that accept articles to get you started:
Ezine@rticles.com
IdeaMarketers.com
Free-Content (Yahoo Groups)

        Another way to use your writing skills to promote your site is to start a blog (web log).  Post your opinions, ideas, and thoughts on the Internet in chronological order.  Use your blog to increase the public's awareness about your site and also establish yourself as an authority on your topic.  Update it frequently and encourage readers to leave comments and feedback to find out their wants and needs.
          The last way in this section is to write an email newsletter.  People who visit your site and sign up for your newsletter are more likely to return.  Keep it simple, friendly, and informal.  Provide helpful tips, resources, and updates.  You can manage your mailing list and automate your e-mail promotions using existing software programs.  IMPORTANT:  Make sure the recipients of your newsletter have requested to receive it.  Also, make sure they can opt-out at any time.  DON'T SPAM.

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That does it for my list of top ten free ways to promote your site.  I've included one that isn't quite free but definitely low-cost:
  
       Offline Ads:   Create attractive fliers and post them to bulletin boards at stores, churches, daycares, laundromats, colleges, etc.  Get business cards printed and leave one everywhere you go.  Advertise in your local newspapers.  Since "bargain hunter" and "penny-pinching" ads are low-cost they work well.

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Remember:  When it comes to online marketing, location is everything.  To be seen by as many potential visitors as possible, get your site mentioned often in places where your particular market surfs.

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