It’s easy to assume that just by putting a website online people will find your organic content “naturally”. The harsh truth is regardless how beautifully designed your business website is or the magnificent product or service you offer, people won’t find your website naturally. Why? Because literally thousands of new websites are being put online each day and every one of them are vining for people’s attention.

Therefore, getting people to visit your website is not as easy as it was 10 years ago. With the right planning and knowledge, you can do better than 40% of other small business website owners, which is the purpose of this short article – to give you a few useful tips to help you promote your new business website online.

Most small businesses have a limited budget for marketing and advertising, so we recommend starting with free methods first before spending any money, especially if you’re also new to business. There are thousands of different ways to drive traffic to your website, but these 3 methods will give you good results now and in the future.

[dropcap]1[/dropcap]Write a blog –You can write articles about just about anything. For example, if you enjoy cooking, you could write about new ways you’ve discovered how to prepare specific dishes, provide recipes.

However, writing about topics that are related to your product or service is more practical. How does blogging get visitors to your site? Well, search engines like Google love fresh and useful contents, and because it’s a blog, your post/article usually gets indexed within 24 hours. But, remember that quality is important.

[dropcap]2[/dropcap]Join forums – Joining industry specific forums and answering people’s questions can set you apart from 75% of the other forum members since the majority of the people using forums are there to find solutions to their issues. Think about ways you can help others instead of what you can get from them.

It doesn’t hurt to promote your products or services on these forums if it’s allowed, but giving information and being helpful should be your focus here. If done correctly, the long term benefits and unexpected correspondences from potential customers/clients can be quite rewarding.

Join Social Networks – In today’s business world, this is a given. While there are a plethora of social sites to choose from, you only need to join the ones that will add value to your business.

We recommend starting with just a few of the most popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and perhaps Google Plus. Why a few? Because managing these sites, posting valuable and relevant content is extremely time-consuming. Additionally, it if your business is an online-based business, while Foursquare is a popular network, it’s geared more towards brick and mortar type businesses.

Hazel Burgess

Hazel Burgess
FOUNDER/SEO DIRECTOR

Hazel is the Founder & SEO Director at Envisager Studio, a premier website design agency specializing in WordPress website design, development and internet marketing. In her spare time, she writes about search engine optimization, website design, and internet marketing.