Most businesses have a website (and if you don’t, you should consider getting one). Unfortunately, with billions of other sites out there, no one ever sees them. So how can you make your website popular without spending a lot of money on large marketing campaigns?

5. Start an e-newsletter. The people most likely to buy from you are past customers, so why not use the Internet as a way to keep in contact? Simply collect your customers’ email addresses when you do business with them, and then periodically send them all email newsletters, or e-newsletters. The contents of which depend on your business and how much time you can dedicate to it. It can include things like news about your business, special offers and informative articles that your customers would find interesting. You don’t want to send long articles by email, just quick summaries with a link to your website so they can read more if they find it interesting. The idea is to send something to your clients so they remember your business and visit your website.

4. Include website address on all business documents. It seems obvious, but many businesses don’t do it. Include the URL on business cards, letterheads, email signatures… everything that a customer might look at. A website can be a business’ most valuable marketing asset because it is an easily updateable brochure a customer can use to find out information about your business any time they want to.

3. Exchange links with similar websites. If you are a real estate agent, ask real estate related websites to link to your website. The benefits are twofold: you get targeted traffic sent to your website and your search engine placement goes up when you are linked to by quality websites relating to your subject. And the best part is that link exchanges are almost always free if you send a nice letter or email to the website owner.

2. Tell past and current customers about your website. Like #5, your past and current customers are one of the most important target markets of your website; they have done business with you before and are easiest to do business with again. When you see them in your store or office, just mention that you have a website – they might go home and check it out.

1. Viral Marketing (word of mouth) is the best and cheapest form of marketing. If others find your website interesting, they’ll tell their friend and colleagues. While you can’t control it, you can help encourage it. Ask customers to visit your website and tell others about it if they like it; add a “tell-a-friend” script to your website that allows them to email people to tell them about it; add something interesting to your site. Burger King recently had a viral marketing campaign that involved a website featuring a subservient chicken that did whatever you commanded it to – taking their “Have it your way” slogan to the next level. It received a huge amount of visitors and spread across the Internet through only word-of-mouth. If you have something interesting, others will want to show their friends.

Advertising a website doesn’t have to be expensive. Using the methods listed here, you can easily get more people at your website with little if any expense to your business.

Great article Bill!

Nice job with this article. Many people don't understand the different ways of advertising a website. These ways are great in that they are cost effective and get the job done. There are many places over the internet that charge for services like these when many of them can be done by an individual free of charge or in a cheap manner.

All in all, it's a great article, very helpful as well.