Guides2 minute read
How to promote your website without an ad budget
You can get your website in front of the right people without paying for ad space. It takes your time instead of your money, and it works best when you turn up where those people already are.
Start with who you want to reach
Write down the question your site answers. A mobile mechanic answers "who can fix my car at home?". A bakery answers "where can I get good bread delivered?".
That question is your search term. The people asking it are your customers, and they're asking it somewhere right now.
Find where they already talk
Look for Facebook groups, subreddits and forums built around your subject or your area. Local groups suit a local business. Hobby and trade communities suit a specialist one.
Pick a handful that are busy and well kept. Three good communities will do more for you than thirty dead ones.
Give before you ask
Answer questions. Share what you know. When you do mention your site, make it the useful next step for the reader, and say plainly that you run it.
People can tell an advert in disguise, and so can moderators. A post that helps first is the one that stays up and sends you visitors.
Look the same everywhere
Use the same colours, logo and way of talking everywhere you show up. Someone who sees you in a group on Monday and on your site on Thursday should know it's you both times.
The quickest way is to write those things down once: your colours, your logo, your fonts, your tagline and a few lines on how you talk. That's a brand kit, and every post and ad you make can start from it.
Keep a simple record
Note where you posted, when, and the link to the post. You'll want to go back and answer replies, and you'll want to avoid posting the same thing in the same place twice.
After a month, look at which places sent you visitors and which sent none. Put your time into the ones that work and drop the rest.
Add a short video
A short vertical video gives you something to post on the apps where people scroll, and to drop into a group when its rules allow. Keep yours to one idea.
Open with a line that earns the next few seconds, show what you offer in your own colours, and end by telling people what to do next.