Most online business owners who are just beginning their enterprise do not have the benefit of a large Online Marketing budget. Although the old adage that “it takes money to make money” is largely true, there are other ways you can market your business online that cost nothing but time and effort.
Need some help finding ways you can market your online presence without spending anything? Then take a look at some of these suggestions.
Microblogging
Fast becoming the cutting edge method of free Online Marketing, microblogging is an easy, yet highly effective way to create interest in you and your website. A micro-blog is defined as a networking site where users post small pieces of content that can include audio, video, photos, links, or text. The purpose is to drive traffic to another page.
Such sites as Twitter, FriendFeed, Tumblelog, Tumblr, and Facebook are some of the more popular micro-blogs. Setting up an account is free. While the posts themselves are brief, it takes time to build up a following. The key is to create interesting posts that will induce others to read them and then follow your links.
Article Directories
Article directories are sites that take a piece of text you’ve written and submit them to various ezines, blogs, or websites. They can be used as a marketing tool when you promote your own business. The key is to keep the articles interesting and informative, and refrain from making them an outright sales pitch.
Of course, this is going to take a bit of time and effort. Ensure your writing style is easy to read and contains no spelling or grammatical errors. Choose topics that are of interest and remember to include valid keywords throughout. Rather than interspersing the text with lots of links to your site, try simply adding your URL to resource box beneath your name, as author. This can be more effective at driving traffic than blatantly stuffing links and sales pitches in the article.
Web 2.0 Pages
These are sites where a user can sign up to promote information on a particular topic, or a “user-generated content site”. Generally, the user can create blog posts, add photos, video, or other content, and use it to drive free online traffic to another website.
Squidoo and HubPages are two of the most popular such sites. There are also lots of newer ones being created on a regular basis. Some of them cater to specific demographics, such as hubpage sites just for women, or for those who live in a particular geographic location.
The advantage of creating an online page is that the site will do much of its own promotion to ensure that you receive a lot of visitors. It is also ideal for diversification of income streams in that you can monetise it through affiliate marketing and direct income programmes.
Once again, the key to making your hubpages successful is to ensure that your content is topical, informative, and interesting. You will gain followers by posting articles that provide a benefit to readers.
Remember that not all Online Marketing strategies need to involve paid advertising. There are many different ways to promote your business and its products or services that cost nothing but time.
Organic search engines rankings that result can be even more valuable to you than paid traffic through a pay-per-click campaign!
Have a most outstanding day.
Sean RasmussenAussie Internet Marketing
www.SeanSEO.com © 2008 - 2012
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I hadn’t looked at Hubpages. How much is different is it to Squidoo? Or is it pretty much the same? Which one would you recommend if you had to make a choice?
They are both very similar Gee. I don’t have a preference to be honest, either one will help you. If you have the time, it can be a good idea to use both services.
Hi Sean,
Social media is the cheapest way to gain exposure for your sites. It just takes some time but I also think you still have to work at it. It may not cost money but it will cost you time. I will need to be organized because there’s a lot of ground to cover.
Free online marketing is the way to go at the beginning when you are learning as you can chew up a lot of money with paid campaigns if you don’t know what you are doing regarding keyword research and building an online presence.
Hi Sean
I was wondering what Web 2.0 Pages were and here you have answered my question. Another perfect manifestation for the day!
You say that Squidoo and hubPages can drive free online traffic to another website? I would have to look at that a bit more in depth once I get my Squidoo up and running so as to get my head around it but it sounds like an awesome way to advertise my site.
Thanks Sean
Yes, you surely can drive traffic to another site Elly, you will also get a nice backlink as well
I think I like hubpages better – but that probably doesn’t mean much a this stage as I haven’t really got into it. It seems a bit simpler to use though.