Many small business owners put up a website with the expectation that they will receive a flood of new customers from the great global online marketplace that is the Internet. Inevitably they are met with doubt and disappointment when their expectations are not met. Just like a brick and mortar business, an online website must be advertised before customers will find it to purchase products and services. Read on to learn about the top 5 free places to advertise your business online.
List Your Business on the DMOZ
The DMOZ, or the Open Directory Project, is the best online directory your business can be listed in. Not only is it one of the most used generic directories on the internet, it's also highly regarded by Google because of the strict standards their editors uphold for listing websites. A listing in the DMOZ can help increase your Google search engine ranking over time providing your website with even greater long-term exposure.
Create a Google Local Search Listing
Google gets more queries each day than all of the other search engines combined. When you create a free listing for your business with Google Local Search, users close to your business will see your location marked on a map displayed prominently on the top right of their screen every time they search for terms related to your business.
Search Engine Submission
Many companies offer paid services to submit your website to all of the major search engines. What you probably didn't know is that you can do this yourself manually and pay nothing. There are only 5 major search engines that you desperately need to submit your website to: Google, Yahoo, Microsoft's Bing, AOL, and Ask. Others with smaller market share will probably pick up your listing in time.
Create Content for Free Article Marketing Directories
One of the best ways to advertise is your business online is to write articles that are directly related to your business and submit them to free article marketing directories. For example, if you own a craft store and want to sell crafting products online, create and submit a tutorial that leads readers back to your website to purchase the supplies they will need to complete the project. There are many free directories you can submit to, but EZineArticles.Com is one of the better ones.
Blog Listing on Technorati
Most small businesses today are keeping a blog in addition to or as a part of their business website since content rich sites tend to attract more return visitors. If your business keeps a blog, be sure to get a free listing on Technorati.
There are many more places where businesses can advertise their websites for free online. The Top 5 free places to advertise your business should provide you with a solid start to promoting your website online. With a well advertised website, traffic and sales should increase in time.
List Your Business on the DMOZ
The DMOZ, or the Open Directory Project, is the best online directory your business can be listed in. Not only is it one of the most used generic directories on the internet, it's also highly regarded by Google because of the strict standards their editors uphold for listing websites. A listing in the DMOZ can help increase your Google search engine ranking over time providing your website with even greater long-term exposure.
Create a Google Local Search Listing
Google gets more queries each day than all of the other search engines combined. When you create a free listing for your business with Google Local Search, users close to your business will see your location marked on a map displayed prominently on the top right of their screen every time they search for terms related to your business.
Search Engine Submission
Many companies offer paid services to submit your website to all of the major search engines. What you probably didn't know is that you can do this yourself manually and pay nothing. There are only 5 major search engines that you desperately need to submit your website to: Google, Yahoo, Microsoft's Bing, AOL, and Ask. Others with smaller market share will probably pick up your listing in time.
Create Content for Free Article Marketing Directories
One of the best ways to advertise is your business online is to write articles that are directly related to your business and submit them to free article marketing directories. For example, if you own a craft store and want to sell crafting products online, create and submit a tutorial that leads readers back to your website to purchase the supplies they will need to complete the project. There are many free directories you can submit to, but EZineArticles.Com is one of the better ones.
Blog Listing on Technorati
Most small businesses today are keeping a blog in addition to or as a part of their business website since content rich sites tend to attract more return visitors. If your business keeps a blog, be sure to get a free listing on Technorati.
There are many more places where businesses can advertise their websites for free online. The Top 5 free places to advertise your business should provide you with a solid start to promoting your website online. With a well advertised website, traffic and sales should increase in time.
Lee Samson owns Samson Web Design, a company offering web design in Sussex. Samson Web Design also offers ecommerce web design, web development & bespoke websites and search engine optimisation. If you want more content for your website on this subject visit http://www.samsonwebdesign.co.uk/blog/web-design-and-seo-articles
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