“Build it and they will come.” Well not so much when you’re online! Sorry to burst your bubble, but the reality is your website, in the beginning, is just a little dot in the online universe.
Whether it’s a website or blog, you probably want more traffic coming your way. It’s definitely the top priority of every website owner, because without visitors you will not be able to make any sales.
So how do you go about promoting your web presence and driving more traffic to your site. Here are 12 ways to get you started.
12 Ways To Promote Your Website
1. Tell friends and family
Cover the basics first and tell everyone you know about your new website and blog. Don’t worry about it coming off as spam, it’s just a tiny reminder to let everyone know what you’re working on.
Send out a simple, “Just wanted to quickly let you know about…” email to your contacts. And also announce it on your social media accounts.
2. Business cards
Yes I know there are apps that let you exchange contact information such as Bump. However they need the other person to have the application too which doesn’t make it every practical.
Based on my experience attending events, business cards are still the way to go. Make sure you include all the essentials such as email, Twitter handle and of course, your website URL.
3. Use SlideShare
SlideShare is a place where you can upload presentations, PDFs, videos and Office documents. This is arguably the largest community for sharing content among professionals. And according to ComScore, SlideShare has five times more traffic than LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.
To ensure you get traffic back to your website, make sure your slides include your website URL with a compelling call-to-action.
4. Links on social media profiles
You’re probably on a handful of social networks. Personally I’m on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. That makes at least five place where people can view your profile and click on your website link.
5. Giving talks
Take the conversation offline and ask non-profit organisations if they need a speaker for future events. And just like the content you upload to SlideShare, make sure your URL is on every slide.
The beauty of presenting in public is that you already have an audience in front of you. During which you can suggest everyone to visit your website for more information. If you have a free ebook or special report to give away, even better!
6. T-shirts
A great way to draw attention to your website is printing your URL on a t-shirt (hoodies and jumpers also work). Wear it where ever you go to raise awareness about your website.
7. Blogging
When you start delivering unique and valuable content, that’s when you give people a reason to visit your website again. Publishing a blog post 1-3 times a week gives people an entry point to visit your blog. The more you blog, the more ways folks can visit your website.
8. Social media marketing
This is where blogging comes in handy for your business because now you have a reason to post an update on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+. Whenever you publish a new post, promote it on social media. Also share it in Groups you’re a member of and get a discussion started.
9. Search engine optimisation
This list wouldn’t be complete without search engine optimisation (SEO). 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine meaning you can attract quite a bit of traffic by making your website easier for Google to index.
To get started on SEO make sure you check out: Search Engine Optimization: The Bare Minimum You Have To Do
10. Google Authorship
This is Google’s way of ranking content based on your authority. You’ve probably noticed those small pictures of people next to search results and that’s basically Google Authorship at work. It’s how the search giant verifies that you own the content. The reason this helps drive more people to your website is because it increases click through rates (CTRs) by 150%
For information on Google Authorship, check out: Top 3 Reasons To Implement The Google Authorship Markup Today
11. Networking
That’s right – get out of the office! Look for events to attend and start working the room. Remember that networking is not only restricted to business events! Anywhere you go is a chance to meet someone new. The thing is that you never who that person next to you is – they might very well be a potential client!
12. Freebies
Ever complained about getting free stuff? Thought you haven’t. Case in point, people love freebies! Ebooks, special reports and webinars work well in attracting more visitors to your website. For the same reasons as blogging, it gives people an entry point to your website.
So there you have it, 12 ways you can start promoting your website today. It takes time to build an audience so hang in there and get active on social media and also offline. Always try to take the relationship offline because that’s how strong relationships are made.
What tricks are you using for promoting your website?
Photo by Johan Larsson
