5 ways to get free advertising on Google
Free advertising on Google?
It’s possible because I have done it.
Right now, I want you to Google “How to win Tony Elumelu Grant”.
You should see this.
My article has ranked consistently at number one on Google for over 1 year. Even when I wrote a new version as a separate article in 2021, it shot to number 1 and I had to update the old one to avoid confusion.
Without spending 1 naira on ads, this article has brought in 14,000 views and plenty sales for us at Grant Master.
With over 3.5 billion searches per day, Google is a hotspot for consumers. And with its location-specific and rich results, it is ingrained in our daily lives as the go-to tool for, well, anything. When you hear the word advertising, paid methods most likely come to mind. But I am going to show you how you can attract top quality leads without spending a dime.
Here are 5 strategies your business can implement to start generating leads and sales for free on Google:
1. Write Useful Content
Perhaps the best form of free advertising on Google is useful content. Publish blog posts and website pages regularly that answer common questions your ideal customers are looking up. These pages will help your business to get in front of people who don’t yet know about your business. The more times you supply the information they need, the more they will trust you, and the more likely they will be to choose you when they need a product or service.
Grant Master is an online marketplace that connects ambitious organizations in need of debt free and equity free funding with the top 5% of Grant Writers. We’ll match you with a vetted veteran grant writer in under 24 hours. Our grant writers have raised $4.5M in grants. In short, we help you win grants. But how do we share this incredible, life changing service with our potential clients?
In our case, I knew a lot of small businesses were looking for guidance on how to win the Tony Elumelu Grant so I asked myself, ‘if I needed information on how to win the Tony Elumelu Grant, what would I type into Google?’. The answer was my blog topic.
You must be certain that people are searching for it. Try Googling your intended topic before you start writing, you will see whether people are searching for it. Google will typically try to guess what you are searching for. For example, try typing “How to win”….. Google will give suggestions. Those suggestions are what people are searching for near you.
2. End the article with a strong call to action
It’s not enough for you to write useful content, you must coat it with a solid offer. The goal here is to generate leads and sales so you cannot afford to just generate traffic and not generate income. Can you see what I did here?
So many of our customers at Grant Master simply clicked on a link that led them directly to my WhatsApp line.
3. Share it as widely as possible
Now, you’ve written useful content. But you are just getting started. Share the link and a short caption in as many online forums as possible. If your content is really good, people will start sharing it too. You need that initial push so that Google can index that page (if it has not already done so). Every single visit tells Google that your content is useful. Share in WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups. Do this for the first 5 days after posting new content on your website or on a blog such as medium.
4. List Your Business on Google My Business and other directories
Google My Business is one of the most underrated tools ever. Without paying a dime, you can list your business or NGO on Google. This gives you access to also list your business location on Google Maps. Cool, right?
There are many directories aside from Google My Business that appear on Google. In fact, directories like Trip Advisor and business list that have been around for a while are trusted by Google, and their pages often show up on the first page of Google.
This means that when you post useful content on your website, it is more likely to make it to page 1 of Google because your business is already on Google My Business.
5. Submit a Blog Post to a High-Authority Site
Have you written an opinion or thought leadership piece? An industry-specific informational post? Does it pack a punch? If so, it’s worth submitting to a high-authority site with a wide audience. Be sure to pick a credible, well-known site in your industry that already gets significant exposure on Google.
For example, quite a number of reputable blogs actually posted my article, then linked to the original page. This is certainly one of the reasons I have been on page 1 as the number 1 result for over 12 months.
Free advertising on Google? It’s possible because I have done it.
