Your web site won't do you much good if nobody sees it.
There are ways to promote it, of course, through advertising venues like Google Adwords, Facebook---and virtually every other social media platform out there, as well.
If you're just starting out, however, or if you have a very limited budget, there are some things you can do to increase visibility without stretching your wallet. Here are five free ways you can get additional traffic to your web site.
Answer questions on social media sites. Several Q&A sites, like Quora and Yahoo Answers, provide a unique opportunity to promote your expertise--and your business. Search out questions you can answer there and on other industry sites that relate to your business, answer them and link back to your site. If the answer is a complicated one, write a blog about it and link to that, too.
Pinned posts. Several sites, like Twitter, have a pinned post option. Using that, you can affix---or pin---a particular post to the top of your newsfeed. It'll be the first one web surfers see when they visit your site. Of course, you want to make it good, make it relevant, and attach it to a call to action, like asking a browser to sign up for an email newsletter.
Add CTAs to shared content. Whenever you share someone else's content, you should try to capitalize on it. Yes, sharing content to engage in the online community is a form of promotion on its own, but including a link to your site brings it a new level. It could be as simple as sharing a news story, asking a question about it, and then directing people to your site for the answer. There also tools like Snip.ly that allow you to add a CTA to every link you share.
Buttons. Another easy way to get additional traffic to your web site is to include a CTA right in your cover photo. Facebook in particular is well suited to this: it allows you to use a CTA button to link to the landing page that relates to whatever you're advertising.
Use your staff. Your team is your biggest asset inside your shop, and it's one of the best, free promotional tools you have. Encourage them to share your content, whether it's your latest blog post, most recent special offer, an upcoming event or just something funny or heart-warming that happened in your shop. Make sure to recognize them for their efforts and reward them for it. It doesn't have to be much; a $5 coffee gift card can go a long way!
Can you think of any other free ways to get more traffic to your web site? Let us know in the comments!