1. Directories
There are plenty of directories out there which will be happy to list your website for free, the two most important being dmoz.org and yahoo’s directory (free for non-commercial sites). You should always look out for specialist directories in your particular industry since these will drive the most targeted traffic.
2. Search Engines
I’m sure you’ve already thought of this and since this is not a article on Search Engine Optimisation, I want begin to delve into this massive subject. What I will say though is as with directories you should always look out for industry specific search engines to submit your site to.
3. Email Signature
A Signature is basically a short footer which automatically appears at the bottom of every email you send, it’s therefore not a bad idea to have it do something useful such as provide a (very) brief description of what you offer and a link to your website.
4. Forum Signature
Again same principal as above. Join a few forums as related to your industry as possible and every time you contribute to a discussion you get free promotion for your website. Just don’t spam!
5. Reciprocal Links
Find as many relevant sites to yours as possible (without actually being direct competitors) and politely send them an email requesting to exchange links, it’s often a good idea to link to them first as this shows encouragement and speeds things up.
6. Awards
There are many award sites out there, some offer genuine awards, others just want their award logo on your site to promote themselves. How much attention people actually pay to the award logos on websites I don’t know, but don’t forget that most award sites will also link back to you on their website which is where the free promotion comes in. But remember only well designed, original, sites with good content win (genuine) awards. For a list of award sites visit www.awardsites.com.
7. Newsgroups
There’s a lot of newsgroups out there, and you’d be hard pressed not to find one that was related to your industry, there are also groups specifically aimed at introducing your website, again just be careful not to spam. The best place to find groups is at groups.google.com.
Lane Stainer works as a self taught, freelance, self proclaimed computer genius. His current project is a UK Shopping Directory which can be found here http://www.zoink.co.uk – where you can list your UK retail site for free.
