It can be a long and difficult process to establish a strong reputation for your brand and website. While almost all companies should be allowing at least some amount of a budget for paid advertising, there are also many free or low-cost options for generating better search rankings and visibility for your business. In this post, we outline 20 effective off-site techniques for creating better notoriety and traffic to your site.
1. Social Networking
Engaging with the social networking community is crucial for today’s internet landscape. Almost everyone has a Facebook, Instagram or Twitter account, and so making yourself visible on these platforms is a very useful way of making a name for yourself and your brand.
2. Blogging
One of the most powerful ways of promoting your business and website is by establishing a blog for your website. Make sure to post content regularly and frequently (at least once a week, if not more), and have it tailored to the types of services or products your company offers. PPC.org is a great place to submit blogs.
3. Guest blogging
Related to the point above, consider asking a colleague (or even a stranger) with a prominent blog, if they’d be willing to have you submit a guest article for their blog. You may offer to have them do a guest post for your blog in exchange.
4. Social Shopping Network
If your business is an e-commerce website, consider submitting your product catalog to social shopping network sites such as Google Product Search, Yahoo Online Shopping and Kaboodle. Having your products listed on these sites will increase your site’s chances of coming up in search results related to the products you offer.
5. Post on forums
Posting on forums / discussion boards related to your field is a great way of establishing expertise. If the forum allows for it, make sure to include a link to your site in your profile signature.
6. Create a forum
Similar to the point above, creating an online discussion board of your own can be a way of generating reputability and notoriety in your field. Should the discussion board become a popular source of information related to your industry, this can be a good way of leading people to your primary website.
7. Submit your site to popular search engines
7. Submit your site to popular search enginesMake sure to submit your website for listing on the most-used search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, MSN, etc.
This is a free but important step to making your site visible.
8. Viral Video Marketing
With YouTube being the second largest search engine on the internet, video production is an extremely effective way of marketing your business. Create and upload promotional videos, helpful how-to videos or related content to sites like YouTube, Vimeo and Dailymotion. Be sure to include a link to your site, as well as clear and concise info in the video description.
9. Yellow Pages and other local listings
Making yourself visible to potential customers in your local area is essential. While the internet potentially makes your site available to everyone globally, Google will give better placement to businesses local to a user’s search location. Submit your website and business info to listings such as Yellow Pages, Yahoo Local, Google Local, Maps and others.
10. Off-Site Article Writing
Writing an article geared toward the services or products you offer is another way of generating traffic to your site, by providing useful content to your target audience. While there are many options of where to submit your article, some good places to start are Now Public, Buzzle, Ezine, Sunlight Media and Go Articles. Keep in mind that this can be a longer process, but it can be an effective technique of link-building in the long-term.
11. Press Releases
While this can sometimes cost money depending on the channel you go through, submitting a press release for your business or services can be an effective way of establishing legitimacy and credit to your brand. Some popular PR websites include PR Leap, Open PR and 1888pressrelease. Having a published press release will increase the chances of your site appearing on Google News
12. Utilize Classified Listings
Sites like Craigslist, Oodle, or local regional sites that offer classified advertising are another great way of link building. Offer your services in the appropriate section, and these high-traffic sites will likely bring more visitors to your site.
13. Documents and Infographics
13. Documents and InfographicsMake useful content available in the form of documents, PDF or infographics on sites like Google Docs and SlideShare. With proper titling and descriptions, these links will show up in the search results of users looking for that type of information.
14. Submit answers to online question sites
Engage with the internet community by offering helpful answers to questions related to your field. Sites like Yahoo Answers, Quora and other question sites can be a huge resource for positioning yourself as an authority figure in your industry. Be sure to include a link to your website as a source if that option is available.
15. Leave Business reviews
With the popularity of review sites like Yelp, leaving reviews for other businesses you like is a good way for other users to potentially see your website. Make sure to leave a good, detailed review, and have your profile filled out with a link to your site.
16. Generate reviews for your business
Similar to the above, ask your friends or previous clients to leave a review for your business on sites like Yelp. The better your reviews are, the higher your search ranking will be for your field, especially with regard to local searches.
17. Directory Submission
Submit your website to a directory that has a category related to your field. If you have a law practice, consider finding a directory site that lists attorneys or other legal services and submit your site for consideration. Popular directory sites such as Yahoo Directory, DMOZ and ZoomInfo are a good place to start.
18. Link Exchanging
Ask your friends and colleagues to add your site link to their page in exchange for you to do the same. While you may not want to do this with sites offering the exact same services as you, it can be a tool for businesses of different industries to both benefit from.
19. Social Bookmarking
Social bookmarking sites like Digg and Delicious are a good way of both getting your site pages tagged and categorized for people to find, as well as to provide a useful collection of bookmarks for people seeking info related to the services you provide.
20. PPC Ad Campaigns
While PPC Ad campaigns can be useful for generating traffic to your site, this should be considered a last resort with regard to off-site SEO. PPC Ads obviously cost money (and the more money you allocate to your budget the more likely for your ad campaign to be successful), but you should try to utilize as many free / low-cost techniques as you can without having to spend additional money. Should you decide to utilize this technique though, make sure you do your research on targeted keywords to use for your campaign, making sure they are relevant to your industry and the demographics you are trying to reach.
