The internet was designed to be a free means of communication. As a result, there are a number of resources you can use to ‘advertise’ your business… for FREE! Listed below are some of the best ways to advertise your website online:

1. Google Maps/Google Local: Create an account with Google and use Google Maps or Google Local to ensure that your business shows up in the search results on Google.com. When Google infuses these results on its page, it increases the value of its local search and Maps application.
2. Yahoo! Local Listings: Despite Google being the reigning search engine, Yahoo! remains a popular option for its loyal users. Sign up on Yahoo! Local and grab all the free exposure your website can get!
3. Local.com: Apart from Google and Yahoo!, local.com can help potential customers find you after you have signed up for a free listing.
4. Craigslist: One of the most popular sites online, Craigslist allows you to post free classified ads, which would be visible for 45 days on a location chosen by you.
5. Yellow Pages: Ensure that you are listed on the online version of the popular phone directory. A basic listing comes free of cost.
6. Tell-A-Friend: As a personal referral from your visitors, ‘Tell-A-Friend’ is a great means to direct traffic to your website. This is most likely to result in conversions because visitors who are referred by a friend are more likely to buy!
7. RSS Feeds: You can syndicate your site’s content with the help of RSS feeds. Once you have RSS on your website, you can submit your feeds to aggregator sites like FeedBoy, FeedBomb, FeedCat, Feedfury, Feedburner among others.
8. Digg, Delicious and StumbleUpon: You can bookmark your website and blogs at the various social bookmarking sites online. There are more than 400 free sites that you can sign up and submit your website at.
9. Technorati: It is a leading blog search engine which collects, organizes and distributes the global online conversation. It also matches bloggers and social media creators with marketers who are interested in the discussion. All you need to do is sign up and claim your blog.
10. Social Media: Social networking is a huge draw on the internet today. Millions of people around the world use social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and a number of other such sites. These websites have options to create/join communities, post a link etc so you can use your profile to publicize your services
11. Article Marketing: Informative articles are a great way to market your website. You can submit your articles [with a link-back to your website] at the various article submission directories.
12. Yahoo! Groups: If you have a Yahoo! ID, you can go ahead and create a group in the niche that your site sits in. Ask your friends and colleagues to join the group and initiate discussions through groups so you can advertise your products and services.
13. Video: Upload video testimonials from clients, video your business or the people that make it unique. YouTube and Vimeo are popular choices.
14. Blogs: With the popularity of blogs rapidly increasing now is the time to jump on the wagon. This doesn’t mean you have to blog every day or even have every topic be ground-breaking. What it does mean is that you are getting the information out there to be found and linked to by potential clients. Over time, these links grow exponentially and soon, your site will have many inbound links to it.
15. Internet TV and Radio: Be the star of your very own TV show or even promote your services using Internet Radio and get yourself front page listings on Google in less than 4 hours.
16. Press Release Submissions: Writing and submitting press releases related to your business and service is an important aspect of online marketing campaigns today. With a little research you can find a number of websites which will accept press releases for free. You can also grade your press release for free at Press Release Grader
17. Forum Marketing: Find relevant forums for your website, post your profile and questions or answer queries in the forum to generate traffic for your website.
18. E-mail Marketing: E-mail marketing is one of the most powerful and effective marketing tools available to businesses today. Even small businesses are tapping into this incredible resource. There are a plethora of reasons to send out an eMail Newsletter, eVite or eMail Marketing campaign.
19. E-mail Signatures: Don’t underestimate the significance of an e-mail signature. Ensure that your e-mail signature includes your contact details and your website details as well. You could even run a promotion through your email signature.
20. Run a Contest: Run an interesting contest on your website with goodies to give away. Find out how you can get free TV and Radio publicity for your website and service through these contests too!