Hiring a website promotion specialist is a great way to get your name out to the public and build you and your websites credibility. But in most cases this is not a feasible option because people just can’t afford spend that much money when launching a website. The other method is the “free” do it yourself method which a lot of startup websites opt to do in this day and age, but this does require an investment of your time, focus and effort. There are several tactics you can employ to generate free website traffic.

Establish a promotion program – The sky is the limit for promotions. You can offer free products, trail samples or discounts on your products. Everyone loves a bargain, so give it to them. Establish a contest – Contests cost nothing to create, are simple to manage and draws visitors back. Include your website URL on everything – Business cards, letterheads, promotional items, emails and even a sticker on your car. Establish a viral marketing campaign – Viral marketing is when you incorporate things like “forward to a friend” with the advertisement. In theory if many people forward to many friends to will spread like a virus.

If you can afford to hire a website promotion specialist, then this is not a bad option especially with paid advertising. Paid advertising options is what will be provided by the specialist, the quickest way to bring crowds of visitors to your website and the only way to do that quickly is through paid advertising. It is quite easy to promote your own website, but you must be focused and once you become focused there will be no need to hire a website promotion specialist.

Many people miss out on some very valuable promotion opportunities by confining themselves to marketing their business online.
If you run a business that is confined to one country or area then offline marketing is a must.

Some of the ideas below may be obvious to you but if you overlook just one idea then you are losing business.

Business cards- yes it may be an obvious one but many people overlook it. Every person you meet is a potential client or at least visitor to your site. There are many places to get business cards printed both online and in your local high street or mall.

Printed Balloons- Everyone loves balloons, young and old alike, get a thousand printed up with your web site address on, give them out at party’s, send them as gifts in with your packages, put them on your car if you want to.

Vinyl Decal /Magnetic Signs- get a vinyl decal printed up with your website name on and put it in your rear car window. Everyone who is behind you in the traffic jam will see it. Ask your family if they will put one in their car for you.

T-Shirts- How many people see your T-shirt while you are out walking in your local shopping centre or even at work? Everyone likes a free T-Shirt so get a few made up and give them away as prizes for a competition on your site. Give them to friends and family (especially members who are in the age group that you want to attract).
If your t-shirts look good you can even offer them for sale on your site and possibly they will pay for themselves.

Coffee Mugs – If your site is aimed at office workers this is a good one, while drinking out of your cup they may well type in your site address just to look at it.

Flyers- put a flyer in with every order you send out, offering them a 10% discount code for their next order.

If you sell socks, go to a shoe shop and see if he will give one of your flyers to everyone who buys his shoes. He will get a % of each sale that uses his code.

If you sell ring tones go and see some shops that sell phones.

Charity- Giving an item to charity for them to raffle or auction will get your site mentioned in their booklet/leaflets. It should also be tax deductible and you are genuinely helping a good cause.