You’re feeling like a cheapskate, huh? That’s okay. No matter how rich you are, there’s never a better price tag than “FREE”. These 15 ways to improve your digital marketing aren’t just free, they’re effective too!
If you’re looking for budget-friendly advice from an experienced digital marketing firm, you’ve come to the right place.
1. Make it clear on every page of your website what your small business offers.
If a user enters your website through a blog post, they could easily find the answer to their question and leave your site without ever knowing what service you provide.
You don’t have to add some fancy design, simply insert a bit of permanent text in your sidebar or the top of your navigation bar that makes this clear.
2. Sign up to receive Google Alerts.
Google Alerts are sent directly to your email inbox on whichever topics or keywords you are interested in. If you want to stay on top of customer reviews or mentions of your small business, this free tool is perfect for you.
3. For a broad website review, enter your website into SEOptimer.
Their overview will share custom tips for improving your SEO, performance, UI/mobile, social, security, and technology.
4. Stay up-to-date on Google’s search algorithm changes.
If you want to be in the know on Google’s search algorithm changes, check Moz’s change history periodically. Here they list every single change dating back to 2000 (at least every change we know something about).
5. Check your backlinks.
Your number of backlinks from credible sources are a significant ranking signal for search engines. Using this free backlink checker will show you up to 100 of the URLs that link to your website. Researching your competitor’s backlinks through this is helpful as well, as you may want to try and get these for yourself.
6. Attend WordPress Meetups.
The great thing about WordPress Meetups is that they welcome people of all levels (developer nights are better suited for developers but everyone’s still welcome).
Here you can bring your laptop, take notes, and learn more about how to use your WordPress website and other related topics. There are also fun and insightful WordCamps around the world (low priced, but typically not free).
7. Design your own images.
If you want to take a stab at your own graphic design for promotions, social media, etc., download the program Gimp for free to edit/create images.
8. Check your website’s mobile-friendliness.
How mobile-friendly is your web design really? Without a responsive web design, mobile users likely have a very negative experience viewing your website and leave altogether. Check if your website is mobile-friendly with Google’s mobile website speed tester.
9. Join Facebook groups for businesses.
If you’re a local Maine business, a group like Central Maine Business Owners would be good to consider. They promote local businesses and you can share sales etc. there.
10. Use Gimp to find free, high-quality images.
After you’ve downloaded Gimp, you need images to work with. Instead of hiring a photographer, taking images yourself or purchasing them, use Unsplash to look for completely free, high resolution photos.
11. Start a new tradition – watch Moz’s Whiteboard Friday every Friday.
Here at OSC we are big fans of this. Rand shares different SEO tips in his unique videos once a week.
12. Set up Google Analytics for your website.
This is a crucial step to track the progress of your digital marketing and the traffic on your website. It takes a little effort to learn the basics of Google Analytics, but it’s 100% free and they even provide education on how to use their program.
13. Add UTM parameters to each of the links you share from your website.
Google has a free URL builder that will allow you to track which platforms are driving the most traffic to your website (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.).
14. Enter blog titles into SEOmofo’s Google SERP Snippet Optimization tool.
You want to be sure your blog titles are the correct length to display fully in Google search results. If important parts are cut off, it’s likely users won’t click on them. This tool allows you to preview how your title and meta descriptions will display in search results.
15. Last but not least, keep visiting our blog for more free tips to improve your digital marketing!
We’re committed to the success of our clients, as well as our potentially future clients
