21 Free Ways to Promote Your Business That Work

If you ask a business owner what they could use more of right now, they’ll likely say more customers.  Not surprisingly, 61% of marketers say that lead generation is their main pain point.  

Today, there are countless ways to attract traffic to your website, and in this article, I’ll discuss a whopping 21 of them, virtually all of which are free if you have the time. 

How to Use Content to Drive Traffic to Your Website

Just a quick disclaimer: you can’t get people to visit your website without content. So, if you want to skip this portion, go ahead!  

In 10 seconds, you’ll be back because you realized you can’t perform any of the other tactics without strong, quality content. (I mean come on…what did you want me to do…summon leads to your website using mind control?) 

1. Create a thriving business blog 

First and foremost, your business needs a blog where you can regularly post long-form content that people will find useful. This is essential. 

• Corporations that blog receive 97% more links to their websites. 
• Businesses who blog receive 55% more website visitors than those that do not. 
• Marketers are 13 times more likely to produce a positive ROI. 

The more value you provide on your website, the more likely people will visit it. And without a blog, most of the other methods discussed here will be difficult to implement.  

2. Focus on topics that will always be important

Today’s news and trending topics can give you a short-term traffic, but they aren’t worth the time and effort. Instead create “evergreen” content around topics that your audience will constantly be interested in. These evergreen posts will gain traffic and links over time, especially if they are refreshed on a regular basis (more on that later). 

What are some examples of evergreen topics? 

• Respond to frequently asked inquiries from prospects and consumers. 
• Share industry knowledge, “how-to” instructions, or advice. 
• Explain common industry concepts that may be confusing for your audience. 

3. Create awesome imagery

Use design tools like Canva to convey concepts, show data, and recreate charts in your branding. When other websites utilize your images, they will include a link to your site. On top of that, Google is now displaying more photos in standard search results, giving you a better chance to rank and boost the appeal (and hence click-through rate) of your result. 

4. Include video

Text-based material is fine, but video will entice more visitors and keep them engaged. Here are some ideas for using video to increase website traffic: 

• Embed videos into your blog posts so they can appear in video search results. 
• Optimize your YouTube videos to rank higher, then include links to your website in the video description. 
• Include call-to-action buttons in your video that drive viewers to your website. 

How to Use SEO to Increase Website Traffic

So, all of the above strategies have one flaw. They won’t bring traffic to your site if no one can locate them. With Google’s top page collecting 71% of search traffic hits, you need an SEO strategy. 

Local SEO is the practice of optimizing a site for search engines, so it’s displayed more prominently in local search results on sites like Google, Yahoo, and Bing for relevant searches.  

An SEO plan is a completely different beast, but here are the SEO fundamentals. 

5. Be strategic about your keyword placement

This is the meat and potatoes of on-page SEO—optimizing your content so that search engines can understand it and rank it in relevant searches. Make sure to include your target keyword in the following places: 

• Heading1 (H1) 
• A minimum of two H2 (heading2) 
• Occurs naturally in the body 
• The first hundred words 
• File names and alt text for images 
• Metadata description 

6. Internal linking

When you’re generating and posting content, make sure to include at least 1–3 links to other pages on your site. This not only increases traffic to those pages, but it also (a) keeps visitors on your site longer, (b) encourages them to view more pages on your site, and (c) helps them to get more value out of your site—all of which boost your ranking and bring more traffic to your website. 

7. The speed of your website matters

When was the last time you waited 30 seconds for a website to load?  Yeah, I never waited that long either. If your site takes an eternity to load, your bounce rate will be quite high. Speed has always been a ranking factor, but with a website speed test, it is even more significant. The more quickly your site loads, the better. 

8. Keep your content smelling fresh

Even the most evergreen material fades with time, and content freshness is a ranking factor. Even if your post is still on Google’s first page, you’d be surprised what a content refresh may do. A new SERP publish date can considerably enhance CTR and move you up a few spots, resulting in an increase in traffic. 

But you can’t just modify a few words and then update your post’s publish date. Google is smarter than that. Here are some tips for increasing visitors through evergreen content: 

• Update and/or add new data and statistics. 
• Replace old graphics with new ones to illustrate concepts. 
• Update existing connections to more recent materials. 
• Repair any broken links or images. 
• In Search Console, add new terms from the query report (more on that later). 
• Modify your meta title and description. 

How to Use Social Media to Increase Website Traffic

One of the advantages of social media marketing is the increased traffic to your website. Here are a few ideas for converting these large platforms into traffic generators for your website. 

9. Include hashtags

Include relevant hashtags when posting your information on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and other hashtag-friendly sites to increase the reach of your contributions. However, keep the hashtags highly specific to the topic of the post in order to be discovered by individuals who are most likely to read, share, and/or link to your content. This hashtag guide provides all you need. 

10. Target the amplifiers

Who Will Amplify This? by Rand Fishkin is an outstanding book. In his essay And Why?, he makes a fantastic argument about providing content for potential amplifiers, not simply potential buyers. Amplifiers of this type include: 

• Trade journals, news sites, big-brand blogs, and social influencers are examples of industry periodicals. 
• External sources of influence, such as mainstream media journalists and social influencers outside of your industry. 
• Customer evangelists or people in your field who use and recommend you. 
• Potential evangelists include clients with large networks and followings, as well as well-read media. 

11. Interview thought leaders in the business

Think interviews are just for the big leaguers? Think again. You’d be surprised how many folks are willing to talk to you if you just ask. Send out letters asking interviews with industry thought leaders, and then publish the interviews on your site. Not only will the name recognition raise your reputation and visitors to your website, but the interviewee will most likely share the information as well, basically doubling your reach!  

12. Include social share buttons

They said if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. This is a simple way to increase website visitors. Social share buttons enable users to quickly share the page they’re reading with their social networks. 

13. Study your competition

You are at a disadvantage if you haven’t looked into what your rivals are doing using software like BuzzSumo.com. These services compile the social performance of specific websites and content to give you a quick overview of the themes that are popular with readers and, more significantly, trending on social media. Discover what people are reading (and talking about) and create similar content to drive traffic to your website. 

14. Post at the appropriate time

If you want to dig deeper, you can also check your social media statistics to determine the hours of the day and days of the week when your readership is most active, and then share links to your blog posts at those times. Begin with the overall average best times and work your way through the data to refine from there. 

• When is the best time to TikTok? 
• When should you post on Instagram? 
• What is the best time to post on social media in general? 

15. Local listings will drive traffic to your website

Business directories (also known as citations and local listings) are a promising source of Internet traffic, but simply listing your website isn’t enough. It is critical to improve your listings so that they rank on their respective platforms and are visible to local searchers. 

Check to see whether you’re already listed on the best free business listing sites, but the most crucial is your Google Business Profile, because an optimized listing can help you rank on Google Maps and Google Search. 

More Strategies for Increasing Website Visitors

16. Host a webinar and teach people about your industry

People enjoy learning, and webinars are a wonderful method to share your knowledge with an eager audience. Webinars, when combined with an efficient social advertising effort, are an excellent method to increase visitors to your website. 

17. Create a Facebook Group community

Facebook Groups have around 1 billion members. Creating a group of your own is an inexpensive and effective way to reach your target market. 

If you’re unfamiliar with Facebook Groups, it’s essentially a community within Facebook’s platform that users can join and participate in. Groups are built around common interests and here are plenty of thriving business-focused groups, too. 

18. Attend conventions

Whatever industry you’re in, there is likely to be at least one or two good conventions and conferences that are important for your business. For networking purposes, it’s a good idea to attend these events. For lead generation purposes, speaking at these events is even better.  

Even a mediocre speaking engagement is a wonderful way to position oneself as an industry thought leader and earn considerable exposure for your website. 

19. Create an email newsletter

A newsletter does not have to be difficult to create. Sending out regular email campaigns is an effective approach to establish long-term relationships with your customers. Plus, sending out a newsletter promotion is as close to generating sales on demand as you can get—and it’s why we L-O-V-E newsletter marketing. 

 Just be careful not to overwhelm your subscribers with too many emails, or even too many links in a single email. 

20. Contact trade publications

There are trades for every business industry imaginable.  Find out who in your industry is looking for great content and provide it. If you are featured, you will not only see an increase in traffic, but you may also discover more regular readers who return to your site on a regular basis (or sign up for your newsletter)! 

21. Upsell existing customers

Previous customers are often overlooked when we talk about lead generation, but past customers are the BEST customers   They’ve already shown an interest in your business by making a purchase.   They already know, like, and trust you. It could ultimately boost your lifetime sales value, so why not?

In Conclusion

There you have it! 21 FREE ways you can start generating eager new leads and customers to your website. Now it’s important to find the strategies that work best for your business. Figure out what works and capitalize on it to grow your bottom line! 

Also, read on to know Why Is Video Marketing So Important for Small Business.