There’s no way of getting around it: Marketing your business online is not just an option – it’s essential.
The good news is effective digital marketing doesn’t have to break the bank. With the right tools, expertise and forward planning, you can reach your target audience, grow your business and still come in under budget.
In this article, we offer five cost-effective ways to market your business online:
What Are the Cost-Effective Ways to Market Your Business Online?
1. Implement Search Engine Optimisation
Search Engine Optimisation is the act of optimising a web page to make it appear higher up in the search results, thereby attracting more traffic.
While for large e-commerce businesses, search engine optimisation (SEO) is a budget-led arms race, that doesn’t have to be the case for small businesses operating within a niche or local area.
By targeting appropriate keywords and implementing basic on and off-site SEO, your website can quickly rise up the ranks and attract good leads.
Some simple tips include:
- Don’t be too ambitious with keywords. Target niche products or services, or broader products and services contained within a smaller geographical area.
- Get your metadata right. The page’s title tag is an important SEO signal and is the first thing searchers will see. Make it direct, informative and engaging to attract those clicks.
- Perform basic on-page SEO. Ensure you have only one h1 heading that includes the target keywords, as well as several h2s. Publish at least 750 words of copy per page. Use unique images.
- Grow your backlink profile. Links from other trustworthy websites fuel your SEO. Add your business to global and local business directories, write backlink-attracting blog posts and participate in the technical or local community to earn citations.
There are plenty of free tools out there to monitor performance in terms of ranking and traffic. Shape, test and refine your approach for the best results.
2. Start a Multi-purpose Blog
Blogging is essentially free, isn’t it? Well, not exactly. It takes time, and time is money, as they say.
But that doesn’t mean blogging should slip off the to-do list when you’re busy. Try thinking of your blog as serving multiple purposes, not just marketing.
Do you find customers come to you with the same questions over and over again? Type them up into a blog post so they can find the answers online first.
Have you just learnt about some new rules and regulations that will affect how customers interact with your product, service or industry? Others could benefit from your expertise, so write up your findings and post them online.
If each blog achieves multiple aims, the time spent writing it will be productive even before the traffic starts rolling in.
And of course, if you do manage to set aside time for blogging, it’s a great way to build your brand and improve your website’s performance. To make your blog effective, make sure to:
- Focus on SEO. Incorporate the keywords naturally, use images, and include internal and external links
- Publish regularly. Whether it’s once per month, week or day, try to be consistent.
- Promote on socials. Share the blog post on your social channels and emails.
A well-maintained blog not only drives traffic, it helps build trust in your company by demonstrating your experience and expertise.
3. Post on Social Media
No, that doesn’t mean you have to learn all the latest TikTok dance crazes. By posting regular, high-quality content across social media channels, you can quickly grow an engaged audience.
And don’t for a second believe your service, product or industry isn’t social-media-worthy. If a million people can watch and like videos of someone mowing a lawn or unblocking a sink, you can surely find an angle that works for your business too.
To lighten the social media load, take plenty of footage of your business at work, and write down ideas as and when they come to you. Use a free or affordable scheduling tool, such as Buffer or Hootsuite, to streamline the process.
One last note: Don’t be afraid to experiment with viral trends. Just be ready for the eventual revival of the ice bucket challenge
4. Take Advantage of Online Directories and Reviews
Many directories are free to join and can drive significant traffic to your website.
Google Business is essential. Not only is it a popular directory, it also appears in local search results and on Google Maps.
To get the most out of your Google Business profile, don’t forget to optimise it.
That means writing an engaging description containing your business’s keywords, populating the services fields (also with descriptions), being consistent with contact information, posting regularly and earning as many positive reviews as possible by, for example, offering business cards with QR codes linking to your profile.
Other directories to consider include:
- Yelp: A platform popular with the hospitality, retail, and service industries.
- Industry-Specific Directories: Such as TripAdvisor (for travel and hospitality) or Houzz (for home improvement)
Review sites are a must too. By demonstrating a trustworthy reputation, you can quickly win over new clients. Add your business to sites such as TrustPilot and encourage reviews.
5. Make Use of (Free) Analytical Tools
To the uninitiated, digital marketing can feel like a leap of faith. How do you know if what you’re doing is right and how can you tell if it’s working?
The good news is there are plenty of analytical tools you can use to measure performance, many of which are free.
Google Analytics provides detailed information on site traffic in terms of origin, engagement and more, and can be configured to record conversions.
Google Search Console provides data on organic search results and keyword performance while also offering technical feedback on the indexing of your web pages.
Many of the best SEO performance tools, such as AHRefs, offer free versions with plenty of functionality.
Use the data to A/B test homepages, specific campaigns and social media posts. Armed with the right insights, you can refine your online marketing into a well-oiled machine.
Cost-Effective Marketing Tips: Final Thoughts
Digital marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. By leveraging basic Search Engine Optimization, blogging, social media, and more, you can reach your target audience and generate significant leads.
Start implementing these strategies today and watch your business grow and thrive online!
