1. Facebook

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Facebook, being one of the biggest social networks is a great place to start promoting your business. You may already have a Facebook account and in therefore promoting your website can be as simple as posting a link to your site on your wall. You can also post links to your website directly on your friends walls, which will expose the site to their friends too.

If you want to get a bit more involved with Facebook then the next step would be to create a ‘Page’. This is where you can post information about your business and invite friends to ‘Like’ it meaning your Facebook page will now be visible to their friends. Your Facebook page can be as simple as displaying basic information about your company or contain photos, updates and recent news.

This form of marketing is quick, simple and free and will be instantly visible to hundreds of people who could all be potential visitors to your website.

2. Google Places

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Google have many marketing tools available but a great one to start with is Google Places. Places is a basic landing page where you can display your company information to potential customers, and is great if you have a business location like a shop or office as your business will be visible on Google Maps. The landing page that Google Places offers can contain information like; address, opening times, phone numbers, special offers, and links to your website.

Another feature which is useful with in Google Places is a customer rating system where customers can leave feedback on the products or service they have received. People trust other people’s feedback and it can do a great deal of good for your company, as long as you  are providing good products and services.

The more information you feed into Google Places the stronger your listing will be against other companies who are also in the same sector, who operate in your geographical area. There are many elements to how listings are displayed but simply put the longer the business has been established the higher that particular companies Google Places listing will be.

This isn’t going to get traffic surging to your website from day one but it is easy and quick to complete and will really help you in the future.

3. LinkedIn (and other social networks)

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LinkedIn is a businesses to business version of Facebook where you can create a profile which will provide information about your company to other members. As many of the people who use LinkedIn are other businesses who provide business to business products and services this might not be the most effective platform for every business, but because it is free, and has millions of users it’s worth spending an hour or so creating a profile.

There are hundreds of other networks out there but Facebook and LinkedIn are defiantly the two to start with, however the more networks you join the more exposure you will give your website. Our only advise is don’t spend ages joining and updating information on social or business networks you are not getting anything from as there are lots of other free marketing routes to take.

4. Free advertising directories

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Gumtree is one of the most successful free online directories displaying everything from second hand clothes to job positions to cars. Gumtree is now owned by Ebay who have invested a lot of time ensuring items posted in Gumtree appear very high in search engines like Google and Yahoo. The benefit in listing your business and products within Gumtree means, (as long as you have used a good heading and relevant keywords throughout your Gumtree advert) you will get exposure from both Gumtree visitors and also people searching for your services through search engines.

To create a listing on Gumtree simply place an advert, choose the sector you wish to advertise in then fill out the step by step form and include some text which explains what your are offering, most importantly making sure you include a link to your website. You can also include pictures which can include your company logo or other images which people will relate to.

Gumtree is starting to charge for businesses to advertise on the site, and of course you can choose to have your advert featured on the home page, but for what it costs it’s well worth it but to test the water you can start with a standard free listing.

The most important thing on your Gumtree advert is to use a good title for your advert, the title is what search engine will use to determine the content. Make sure you keep it short but very descriptive; a good technique is to think of what a customer might type into Google if they were looking for the products or serves your offered, for example; “Professional dog walking service in Gloucester”.

5. Mailing list both online and offline

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No one likes unsolicited mail weather it’s through the post or delivered electronically, but people do appreciate finding out about deals or offers which may save them money.

building a free mailing list can be a slow process but highly rewarding, especially if your company offers seasonal products or offers discounts and special deals which subscribed members can benefit from.

If you already have a customer database you can put this to use by compiling a simple letter or promotion telling the customer to find out more by visiting your website. By doing this the customer will be exposed to your full range of products and services.

There are a few rules surrounding this subject so we would recommend you visit XXX to ensure you aware of what you can and cannot do when putting together and using a mailing list.