4 Ways to Increase Your Web Traffic Without Spending Money

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]If you’re trying to make it as a musician, you need to make the most of your available budget. This includes your marketing budget.

Luckily, there are ways to promote your music through online marketing that won’t cost you a dime. Eventually, you’ll want to spend money on marketing. This includes the use of paid ads on Facebook or Instagram.

Paid marketing can help you expand your market and reach a larger audience. But, you can learn the ropes without spending money – starting with these 4 music marketing tips.

#1 – Create a Schedule Social Media Marketing Plan

Social media is an indispensable tool for online marketing. And, you can harness its power for free.

The most popular platforms include Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Though, this varies depending on demographics. So, think about the 2 or 3 social media sites that are most popular with your fans and ignore the other sites.

You should post frequently, which will help you keep your existing followers and help you attract new followers. But, you don’t want to overwhelm people with too many posts. Striking the right balance can be difficult.

Generally, stick to 1 to 3 posts per day per social media platform. If possible, spread multiple posts throughout the day. Mondays and Tuesdays are the slowest days for social media usage. You can skip those two days.

This means that you could be posting 15 times per week, on up to 3 social media sites, resulting in 45 posts per week. That can be a lot to handle on your own.

Hootsuite is a free tool for managing your social media posts. You can schedule your posts in advance. If you want, you could schedule all the posts for the week on Monday morning and then sit back and relax.

#2 – Use Influencer Marketing to Reach More People

Along with social media marketing, you can use influencer marketing to reach a larger audience. This is the practice of contacting people of influence and getting them to promote you in a post. This might include a shout-out in a post on Instagram or the sharing of one of your posts.

Influencer marketing allows you to tap into the follower-base of someone with more followers. But, you shouldn’t reach out to people with a massive following. It should be in proportion to your current level of success.

For example, if you’ve got 1000 Instagram followers, don’t reach out to someone with a million followers. Look for someone with 10000. Keep it in perspective.

How do you reach out to these people? Here’s a short video that will explain some of the basics of influencer marketing:

#3 – Use Content Marketing to Attract New Fans

Content marketing refers to the creation of content to attract potential customers. This includes everything from blogs to video tutorials and downloadable PDF guides.

As a musician, it can be hard to choose an effective form of content. For example, if you created a blog, what would you write about? The most successful blogs offer tips and advice. Unless you’re planning on establishing yourself as an online music expert, you should look elsewhere for content.

Artists have the unique opportunity to create original content. In fact, you probably already create content. MP3s and music videos are both forms of content that you can use for your content marketing.

The idea with content marketing is to use your content to draw people to your website. In this case, you can use your content (MP3s or downloadable videos) to lure people to a landing page and get them to join your email mailing list. This is a fan magnet and an effective way to utilize music content marketing.

You can include content on your website, either on a private page (for download after joining your mailing list) or on a public page for public download.

For a professional site, you’ll want to purchase a domain and get shared web hosting. Though, you can get started with a free site. Google Blogger and WordPress.com both offer suitable options to cover your basic needs.

#4 – Use Search Engine Optimization to Increase Search Results

If you search for “your genre of music” and “your city”, does your name show up in the search results? Depending on the region, you might not climb to the first page or two of Google search results. For example, in Los Angeles, it would be difficult to reach the top.

But, in smaller markets, you should make it your goal to increase your search rankings.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of making your web page easier for search engines to read, along with the inclusion of specific keywords.

Basic SEO starts with a website that works on all devices – such as a website with a responsive design.

You should also keep your website updated at least once per week. Whether you change a few lines of text or add a new page, updating your site will help with search rankings.

Your website should also be easy to navigate. Every page should be reachable within two or three clicks. You can include internal links throughout your site to help people quickly find the page that they want.

As for the keywords, don’t worry about a specific number. Try to include the name of your city wherever possible and the name of your band or solo act.

Marketing isn’t complicated, but it can require time. Don’t expect to get great results overnight. This is especially true when using these free music marketing strategies.

It will take a while for these strategies to start improving your web traffic and to help you gain more fans. Even when you don’t think that you’re making any progress, you can’t give up. These strategies are most effective when you remain consistent.

You’ll need to stick to the methods that you use and continue to perfect them. That’s how you’ll succeed at marketing your own music, without spending a fortune. Good luck – and don’t forget to check out our articles for more marketing tips![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Source: ArtistPR Music Marketing