How to promote your business online

I'd like to share with you the best ways to promote your business online. Some will require spending a little bit of money, some are completely free. But all of them are totally worth it. All of these ideas will increase your sales and your brand's popularity. It's foolish no to know this! Personally, I'm amazed that many companies don't take advantage of these internet marketing techniques. No wonder why so many companies go down so quickly...But you don't have to be one of them. Learn how to successfully promote your business online!

1. Make sure your website can be found in Google. It is important to do a research before even starting a website, so you know your main competitors. If the sites appearing on the top of Google results are junky, that's your opportunity. If you run a local business, create a solid website and optimize it (SEO) for local search results (for example, "new york restaurants"). SEO is one of the most powerful and cheap marketing investments you can make. It creates a possibility for your website to rank higher in Google when someone looks for your the service you provide. That's a great way to increase your sales with very little or no money spent.
2. Create a mailing list. It's important that you collect email address from people interested in what you have to offer. Tell your customers to sign up for your mailing list. It's always a good idea to reward them for doing so. Many websites offer free e-book for those who signs up for newsletter. Email doesn't cost anything, and it helps you to stay in touch with people who might be interested in buying your products. You don't have to spend time waiting for customers to come to you. Instead, you just fire out emails to them. And the best part is that email is viral. If they like your newsletter, they might forward it to friends! But be very careful and don't overdo it. Nobody likes to receive spam - make sure your newsletter is interesting and easy to read. Send it one a week. If you do it more often, your subscribers might get annoyed, and it that happens, they will cancel their subscription. 
3. Blog on your website can really make a difference. Create a blog that offers information about your services and update it on a regular basis. It should be a source of helpful and free advices about the products and services you provide. 
4. Track the effectiveness of advertising companies. Whether it is an ad published in newspaper, or a banner placed on other site, make sure you know how those companies perform. Use Google Analytics to track the performance of web advertisement. If necessary, create different landing pages for each ad, so you know what source brings you the best traffic. Get rid of advertisement that doesn't pay off, and invest more money in companies that increases your sales.
5. Advertise your website URL in email signature. Include a clickable link to your website in every email you send out.  This will bring you lots of fresh traffic. Keep your signature as simple as possible and don't bother to include fancy banners or anything. One sentence and the link will do the trick. Don't make it longer than one line - it would look spammy. 
6. Update you website on a regular basis. This is the crucial step, because most of the sales you make will come from loyal visitors who know you well and trust you. It's important that you can easily make updates (preferably without using any software). Your goal is to keep the information on your website as fresh as possible. That's the only way to develop a relationship with your customers online. Therefore, update your news, pricing, products, services, staff, and promotions change. If you don't update your website often enough, guess what happens. Your customers click away! With the ability to easily update your website you're able to create that wow impression simply by frequent updates. In order to update your content quickly, you need 
8. Spread the word about your website in Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). This is important to understand that your clients are humans, and they like what most of humans do. Believe it or not, they like hanging out on-line. A vast majority of your customers spend many hours a day on Facebook or Twitter, and it would be foolish of you not to use it. Create a Facebook fan page and let your customers know about it by publishing a link on your website. Also, spread the word about your twitter profile and ask your customers to follow you. If you update your social media profiles often enough, you'd be amazed at the growth of the popularity of your brand.