50 Smart Ways to Promote Your Blog (And Get Free Traffic)
If smart ways promote blog is on your radar, this short guide cuts through the noise. Here is what is worth knowing, and how to put it to work today.
Key Takeaways
- 50 Smart Ways to Promote Your Blog (And Get Free Traffic) You can't expect to make money with a blog if no one is coming to your site.
- But SEO takes time, and you don't have the budget for Facebook or Pinterest ads.
- If that's you, here are 50 smart ways you can get visitors to your website at zero cost.
You can't expect to make money with a blog if no one is coming to your site. But SEO takes time, and you don't have the budget for Facebook or Pinterest ads. If that's you, here are 50 smart ways you can get visitors to your website at zero cost.
Written by Ben Huber Last Updated: April 1, 2025 Reviewed by Megan Robinson, CMC®You just put the finishing touches on a brand new website, and you’re excited to share it with the world.
After dozens of hours of hard work, you’re finally ready to let the floodgates open.
There’s only one problem.
You built it, and they did not come.
Soon, you realize that promoting a new website is really hard, and you start looking for realistic ways to get free traffic. Fortunately, you find this article and realize that getting free traffic isn’t impossible; you just have to know where to look.
One expert tells you Facebook is where you need to be. Another swears that Instagram is the place to get free traffic. You’re not sure what to do, but you know you can’t possibly devote time to them all.
Fast forward two years, and you reflect on how you built your first six-figure business.
You recall how you caught your first break:
After a little trial and error, you settled on the free traffic method that worked best for you. You did your homework and realized that your target audience was easier to reach on a particular network (and you ignored what all the “experts” were telling you to do).
You didn’t give up after one week of it seemingly not working, and you saw the process through. Finally, you invested your time and effort into a well-crafted social media strategy, and you perfected it.
It sounds like some sort of convoluted fairy tale, but it’s not. It’s also exactly what Jeff and Ben did with Pinterest, and it’s something you can do too.
Pick one method and stick to it. Then add another. Eventually, you’ll diversify your traffic sources and branch out from the singular source that helped you grow in the first place.
To help you in your search, we’ve created a list of 50 free (and paid) ways can get free traffic for your website or blog.
Two basic steps before you begin:
- If you haven’t already, create a blog or website: In order to promote your business, you must have a way for your potential shoppers to learn what your business is all about in an simple-to-access format. Starting a blog is the perfect way to achieve this.
- Define your business objective: Before you can reasonably expect to get free traffic in the ways listed in this article, you must define your business’s objective. If you can’t define your business’s purpose, then your potential customer or loyal reader definitely won’t be able to. They need to know what’s in for them and what they can expect from your business.
Offer value in exchange for free targeted website traffic
The first rule of getting free traffic: create value for your visitors and readers.
1. Build an email list
Offer a valuable opt-in to your readers so they’ll want to sign up with their email address and receive a excellent freebie. Once you’ve built your email list, you can send them emails to direct them to articles on your website. Just be careful not to spam your email list with only emails that are focused on selling. You want to provide your email list with valuable content that is helpful to them to establish trust.
Related: How to Build an Email List for Bloggers (And Why It’s So Key)
2. Create a promotional video
When people feel connected to the face (or faces) behind a business, they are more likely to establish a relationship of trust, and you will appear more credible if your video is well-made.
Video is one of the most effective ways to get free traffic to your website at the moment, as social media platforms are placing a huge emphasis on this medium of engaging content.
3. Offer free consultation calls
Who doesn’t like free stuff? This is the perfect way to show what you know and offer your services to shoppers in a more personalized way.
4. Lend your voice to an ongoing discussion
Use platforms like LinkedIn, Quora, Facebook groups (like ours), and more to establish yourself in the online atmosphere. Communicate with others, offer your help (without always linking to your website, posts, etc.), and develop relationships. You’ll develop trust and credibility, and from there you can offer services, connect to collaborate, and more.
5. Write a Q&A post for your blog or website
This is a excellent option to get free traffic without appearing too “salesy”. Answer a list of commonly asked questions about your business so your readers can find all the answers they need in one simple-to-access place.
6. Join discussion boards and focus groups
Networking is an incredibly key aspect of business development to get your name out there, and groups are a excellent way to do this.
7. Make it stupid-simple for your readers to subscribe
There’s nothing worse than coming across a blog I absolutely love and not being able to find a way to subscribe. If you want recurring free traffic to your blog or website, then make it stupid-simple for your readers (and shoppers) to subscribe. That way, they can continue to be in the loop with all the happenings going on in your business.
8. Share your own testimony
Relate with your readers and shoppers by telling them your story and how you got to where you are today. Why should they trust you when it comes to your business? Why are you qualified or equipped to help them?
9. Guest posting still works
Guest posting is a smart way to get your name out there and grow your audience. This is an especially smart step to take when just starting out because it hits on three good ways to increase your blog traffic:
- You gain additional referral traffic from readers clicking on links that lead back to one of your articles (if you choose to use yourself as a source).
- Your site gains link equity (link juice), from an SEO perspective, if your link is a do-follow link.
- You gain credibility/authority by posting on other authoritative sites (you become a source of information on a particular topic).
10. Start a podcast
The truth is, some people just don’t like to read. They’d rather listen to a 10-minute, informative podcast than painfully skim through a 3,000-word article such as this one.
You can kill two birds with one stone by starting your own podcast that discusses the same content that you already publish to your blog or website. You’ll reach an even bigger audience and cater to multiple different types of learners all at once.
11. Create a Gravatar and comment on popular blogs in your niche
Creating a Gravatar is imperative when it comes to communicating with other influencers in your niche. It stands of little use to network with others if they have no idea who you are or what business you stand behind. By creating a Gravatar, people can click your image and read all about your blog or business.
12. Write an eBook
Creating an eBook is not only a excellent way to supplement your income, but it also gives you the chance to gain credibility, widen your audience, and cultivate a relationship with lifelong shoppers.
13. Create a free email course in exchange for a subscription
We’ve established by now that everybody loves free, so why not create an email course that provides valuable content but will also hook your reader to want more? All they have to do is sign up with their email, and you gain another loyal reader/customer.
Use social media platforms to get free traffic
The most tried and true of free traffic sources, social media is also still a excellent way to get targeted traffic to your website content. Despite its ever-increasing competitiveness, there is no better place to reach shoppers than where they spend several hours of their day , glued to social networks.
14. Create your own business Facebook page
A Facebook page is a excellent place to reach people and grow your audience/customer base. You can answer questions, post excellent content, offer freebies, facilitate discussion, share events your b
Final Thoughts
Before you check out, double-check smart ways promote blog against current offers and any coupons you can stack. Small habits like this add up to real savings over a year.
Originally published at dollarsprout.com.
Ben Huber
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