Now you have got a website you need to let potential customers know you exist.

There are many ways to promote your site ranging from free to very costly and obviously your marketing budget will pay a big part in which methods of promotion you use.

Below we have outline some of the methods which you could implement to achieve more visitors and therefore potential customers to your site. The list is by no means extensive and we highly recommend that you spend some time researching alternative ways to promote your site.

Free Advertising

Gumtree

Gumtree is a local classified ads site. There are over -- gumtree sites for individual cities / counties across the UK. Currently you can advertise your service for free on your local gumtree (except London). Gumtree has a wide range of categories ranging from Building to Tuition.

Google Maps

Google is the worlds biggest search engine and getting your site listed highly on Google can be the difference between a handful of visitors or thousands. One of the most effective ways to ensure that your website is prominent for local goggle search results is to register your business on Google maps. Once registered anyone searching locally for your service will see your website and business details listed next to a local map.

Yell.com Free Listing

Although the free listing on Yell.com does not supply a link to your website (only paid versions do) it still gives some basic details about your business, such as location, name, map and contact details to potential clients.

Link Exchange

Swapping links with other businesses in similar fields to your own is a great way of not only attracting new custom, but also it helps improve your Google position.

Ebay

If you thought ebay was just fore auctions, you were wrong. Ebay now has a local services section whereby you can advertise your business or service. This service is currently free.

FreeIndex

FreeIndex.co.uk is a large directory site which enables you to upload detailed information about your business along with pictures and a link to your website. Previous customers of yours can then log on and rate your service / business. The customers comments and ratings can be displayed on your website if you wish.

Paid for Advertising

Google Pay Per Click

When a potential customer does a search on Google (or Yahoo and other search engines) for your service they are greeted by two lists of results. The first is the organic results, which are there based upon Google's algorithm. The other list of results which appear at the top and along the right hand side of the organic search results page are sponsored (paid for) results/ads.

You can get your advert to appear in the Sponsored results section by signing up for a Google Adwords account. The adwords account enables you to "bid" on keywords that relate to your business. You then only pay when someone clicks on your advert. You can set how much you would like to pay for each click and also set limits on your daily spending.

Google adwords is a subject that can get quite complex and to list all the functions and benefits here would take too long. You would be advised to spend some time researching Adwords. There are some links at the bottom of the page to useful information on Adwords.

Facebook

Facebook adverts work in a similar way to Google Adwords, but offer more accurate targeting of customers. You can target your ads to specific Locations, age groups, genders and interests as well as keywords.

Gumtree Paid Adverts

Free ads on the classified site Gumtree were discussed earlier in this article. Gumtree also offers paid advertising. The benefit being a more prominent listing.

Local Directories

There are many websites such as TheBestOf who offer advertising on a local basis. Prices vary from site to site. The best way of finding local directories is to search for them on Google.

Press Releases

Press releases are useful for helping improve your Google ranking. there are many companies who you can issue your press release through and they charge varying amounts for their service.

Email Campaigns

Once your website is live you can start to collect names and email addresses of customer. Once you have a list of email addresses (obtained with permission) you can start sending email newsletters. Newsletters can be a great way of encouraging past customers to use your service again, encouraging potential customers to use your company and to promote your latest offers.

There are many companies that offer email marketing campaigns such as Mailchimp and Newszapp.

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