It’s not good enough just to have a business website.  Your website must attract an audience so that it can be translated to sales.  The more people coming to your website the more the opportunity for sales.  Bringing traffic to your website is not expensive.  There are many ways you can do this that does not involve great expense.  In fact most of the things you can do to increase web traffic are free.  Below is a listing of the top 10 ways you can promote your small business website and increase traffic.

1.  Increase Search Engine Visibility:

 

The key to getting people to notice your website is to rank high in search engine search results.  When someone uses a search engine such as Google, yahoo or Bing to search for something the pages with the highest ranking comes to the top of the search.  Most people don’t go past the 3rd page when trying to find what they’re looking for.  Hence, the higher your page ranks the more people will come to your website.  Learn more about increasing your web ranking.
 

2.  Place Your URL on Everything:

 

Promote your website by placing the URL to your website on everything.  Your URL looks like this: “www.mybusiness.com”.   Place this on all the places where it could come to the attention of others such as on business cards, brochures, flyers, your social media accounts, emails, products, etc.
 

3.  Place Your Website In Certain Directories:

 

Another way to promote your small business website is to list your site in popular online directories.  Online directories are where people go to in order to find specific local businesses.  Millions of people utilize these services.  Learn more about these directories.

 

4.  Subscribe to Social Media:

 

Social media draws billions of users from across the world.  These sites provide an opportunity for businesses to advertise themselves to potential customers worldwide free of charge.  When you open a social media account be sure to list your web address (or URL) so that people can find a link back to your website.  This is how you generate traffic back to your site.
 

5.  Reciprocate Links (Link Exchange):

 

Another term for Recirpocating Links is Link Exchange.  When others add your web address to their websites you should reciprocate by adding their web addresses to your website.  This will encourage others to do the same resulting in more traffic to your website.  Image the traffic that could come to your site if an already popular website add your web address to their site.  Learn more about Link Exchange.
 

6.  Content:

 

Content g when it comes to attracting people to your website.  You first have to make sure that you have compelling content.  Whether you’re selling a product, offering a service, or offering advice make your site the place where people want to come to for that product or service.  Use good images, good descriptions, make sure that your content is current, make sure that links are working.

 

7.  Site Organization:

 

Your site should be organized in a manner that makes it easy for visitors to navigate and find the information they’re looking for.  No one wants to spend all day trying to find a simple piece of information or completing a transaction on your site.  Limit the amount of information that is shown on one page.  Segment the information and provide an easy to use navigation menu for people to find what they’re looking for.  Use a consistent template for all pages on your wesite and make the menu available from any page on the site.  At a minimum you shold have an ABOUT page and a CONTACT US page.

 

8.  Brand the Business:

 

Promote your website by branding the business.  Branding is the methods and means by which you propel your business into the public consciousness. When you promote your business remember to include your web address.  Learn more about branding.

 

9.  Promotions:

 

Whenever you promote your business, products or services in newspapers, billboards, radio, tv, etc. be sure to include your web address.  If people are interested in what you have to offer they will certainly be interested in coming to your webiste to find more.
 

10. Take Advantage of Free Advertisement:

 

You should take advantage of free advertisement that comes with selling your products or services on popular e-commerce sites such as Ebay, Amazon, Etsy, CraigsList, etc.  These sites reaches billions of people worldwide.  When you sell on these sites it’s an opportunity to lure people back to your website, so be sure to include your web address.