The fact that a web presence is one of the most effective ways of getting exposure for you, your products or services is old news but does beg one question. How do you advertise the advertising? How do you advertise a website so that it is found by the searchers and search engines? Well, there are several ways of doing it that can work out to be quite expensive but if you follow these basic pointers on how to advertise a website for free, you can get a lot of exposure for your site without paying a cent.

Concentrating on your SEO efforts is probably the most effective way of doing this and should be the first thing you consider. SEO (search engine optimization) is basically the practice of inserting keywords relevant to your business into the HTML meta tags on your website and in the content of your webpage. These keywords should be the focus of  the actual content or text of your site, particularly your landing or home page.

So, if you are having someone do your content and site development for you, make sure they pay attention to this point. If your SEO is up to scratch then your site will attract far more of the right kind of traffic (targeted trafic) and your page rankings (how close to the top of any search result your site appears) will improve which will attract more traffic and so on. Once your site is as “visible” as possible to search engines it becomes a self sustaining, daisy chain process that will greatly boost your sites efficiency.

Put your website URL (website address) on all your other advertising. If you are distributing flyers or pamphlets or advertising in newspapers and magazines, make sure that your website is listed prominently. Most people who receive a flyer and are interested in your product or service will immediately look for a web address. This can be an immensely powerful advertising strategy.

Post your site details on every possible free online business directory you can find. Many potential clients visit these first before they do a generic search for a product. Many businesses, both off and online, attribute a substantial part of their trade to directory queries so don’t neglect this one.

Blogs have also become a super tool when it comes to site exposure. A blog (short for weblog) is a social platform where you can air and debate your thoughts, post business relevant articles and generally spread the word regarding your business. You can either have a blog hosted for free by companies such as Blogger or start your own on-site blog with free software applications such as MediaWiki.

Another new kid on the block regarding media exposure is the podcast. These are basically talk show format audio files which allow you to pitch your website and post the audio files to directories such as iTunes. Free podcast applications can be found readily online and should be considered as many web surfers prefers tactile audio or visual information.

Other ways of getting your site advertised are reciprocal links which is basically the practice of allowing others to advertise their site on yours in return for a like courtesy, email lists, article directories and complimentary business alliances. All are effective but should be considered only after you have carried out the basic points listed above.

So if you are wondering how to advertise a website on the cheap, follow these basic tips and you are sure to get the good word out there in no time.