If you have a business, it is essential to have a web presence. However, many start-up businesses do not have the funds necessary to accomplish a professionally designed and managed site. There are other options. In fact, there are many big businesses that started out with free sources of advertisement and publicity. It is important to use one or more of these methods to build your web presence and watch it grow. You should keep in mind that it is not just that you have a web presence, but what information and content you include. If it is not beneficial to your target audience, chances are you will not find the traffic that you desire. The following methods are free, easy to use and can produce big results for your business.
Social Media
You likely check one or more social media sites on a daily basis. The fact is that most other people do, as well. You can use this information to build your own presence. First, you should determine what sites will best promote what you have to offer. For example, Pinterest is specialized to crafters and do-it-yourselfers. Choose your social media platforms and make pages for your business. You need to ensure that the content you provide is relevant to your customers. Also, you should make sure that everything you post is a not just sales ad. This is the quickest way to turn off a potential customer. Instead of trying to sell each time you make a post, offer something for your readers. This could be tips, valuable information or even free trials or giveaways of your product or services. The fact is that you have to give your readers a reason to come back. Social media is free, reaches millions of people and the perfect way to grow your business.
Website
There are many hosting sites that will allow you to build free websites or charge under $5. This is a great way to offer your products to consumers without spending a lot of money. Chances are the space and bandwidth you will receive for free is limited, however for start-ups this is usually a sufficient amount. Once you have established your website you can advertise it on your social media sites and drive customers to buy from you.
Blogs
A blog is another great way to grow your web presence. You can include this blog on your website, or have it stand alone. Word Press has the most popular free blogging platform that is available. Here you can blog about your products, interesting information and pretty much anything else that interests you. You can also ask guest bloggers to make product reviews and insert other content for better rankings in search engines.
Each of these methods will help you grow your web presence and thus your bottom line. While you may not see immediate success, remember there are millions of web pages. This means you have to give your customers time to find you.
