If you want to promote your business for free, Google is one of the best places to turn. The search engine processes 3.5 billion searches every day, and you don’t have to pay anything to show up in those search results.

So, how can you promote your business on Google for free? In this post, we’ll look at some of the best ways to do just that.

Want to learn more about helping your business show up in search results? Check out our free search engine optimization (SEO) resources.

How Google search and SEO work

When you search something on Google, how does it know which pages to show in the search results and in which order to rank them? Understanding the basics of how search engines work can help you understand how to promote your business on Google for free.

Before it can show a page in search results, Google needs to find the page and index it. To accomplish this, Google uses bots that crawl the web via links, then analyzes each page it comes across and adds them to Google’s index.

When Google analyzes a page, it looks at numerous factors to determine its quality and what topics it covers. It uses these factors to determine which order to rank pages in for each search.

Google’s goal is to show users the most relevant, high-quality content for their searches. So, to rank well in Google, you need to help Google figure out what your page is about and show Google that your page is high-quality. That is the basic goal of search engine optimization (SEO).

SEO encompasses a wide variety of tactics, some of which involve some cost. There are also many ways to improve your SEO for free.

5 ways to promote your business on Google for free

If you’re looking for cost-friendly options for promoting your business, here are five ways to advertise your business on Google for free.

1. Write useful, high-quality content

Perhaps the most important thing you can do to promote your business on Google for free is to create high-quality content that’s valuable to your users.

Whenever you create new content, you have another chance to rank in Google, as Google has another page of yours to crawl and index. Creating new content also allows you to expand the range of topics your content covers and, therefore, the search queries for which your site can rank.

Regularly publishing quality content also sends positive signals to Google, which can improve your rankings.

Also, if users appreciate your content, they’ll gain a favorable opinion of your brand. It’s, in effect, a way to advertise your business on Google for free.

Create content that’s relevant to your business and helpful for your audience. For example, if you’re an electrician, you could write a blog post about electrical safety or choosing light fixtures for your home.

2. Include keywords on your pages

Keywords are another fundamental concept in SEO. Keywords are the words and phrases you aim to rank for with a given page. These terms help Google understand your page’s context.

The ideal keywords are the ones users search when looking for information about your business, products, or services. To find keywords, brainstorm some ideas of what potential customers might search. Then look up those terms in a free keyword research tool to get more ideas.

Include your keywords in your page’s title tag, meta description, URL, and headings, as well as throughout your content. Adding your keywords in these areas will help Google determine what topics your page covers and when to show your page in search results.

3. Earn backlinks

Another key SEO concept and way to improve your SEO for free is backlinks. When you earn these links to your site from authoritative websites, Google views your site as more authoritative as well, boosting your rankings. The more links you have from high-quality websites, the better.

The best way to earn links from other sites is to create excellent content that other people want to link to and share. Certain types of content, such as infographics, statistics roundups, and original research, tend to get a lot of links.

You can also reach out to bloggers and other publishers and recommend that they link to a page on your site. Look for somewhere on their site where your link could be helpful and suggest it as a way to make their page even better.

4. Use Google My Business (GMB)

Google My Business (GMB) is an extremely powerful tool for local businesses, and it’s an excellent way to promote your business on Google for free. What is GMB? It’s a free tool by Google that enables companies to manage how their information appears on Google.

It’s responsible for local 3-pack results in Google search like the following:

To use GMB, sign in to your Google account and go to GMB. From there, you can find an existing listing for your business or, if there isn’t one, create a new listing. You can then fill out your business’s information and go through the required steps to verify that you own the business.

Creating or claiming a listing is a great first step, but there’s a lot more you can do to optimize your GMB listing so that it ranks better for more keywords.

• Fill out your information completely. The more information you add, the more useful the listing is for users.
• Add a description of your business and use keywords throughout it. Mention the amenities your business offers and what makes it unique so that when people search for those things, your business comes up. For example, include “outdoor seating” or “open 24/7.”
• Add photos to your listing to help it stand out.
• Encourage reviews. Positive reviews can improve your rankings and give you a chance to have more keywords in your listing. Just make sure to follow Google’s review rules and never pay for reviews.

5. List your business in online directories

GMB is especially useful for promoting your business on Google, but there are also many other valuable business listing sites, such as Yelp, TripAdvisor, Facebook, MapQuest, and Angie’s List, plus various industry-specific directories.

These listing sites often appear in the top organic results on search engine results pages. For local businesses, they often appear right below the local 3-pack.

Having a listing on these sites helps you get more website traffic from Google and can even get your business’s name directly on page one of search results. This visibility makes it an incredibly effective way to, in effect, advertise your business on Google for free.

Add a listing to any site you’re not on, and like with GMB, make sure you fill out all of your information completely. Add a description of your business, photos, and keywords to your listings. Encourage reviews on sites that have reviews, while ensuring you follow the rules for each site.

Learn how to promote your business on Google with WebFX

Google is an extremely useful resource for your customers, and it’s an excellent place to promote your business. With these five tips, you can start optimizing your website for search and getting more visibility for your business online.

If you’d like to learn more about SEO, check out our free resources!

Interested in working with a top-rated SEO agency? Contact us at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist or request a free quote today!