Are there any free ways to advertise my website and to get it listed higher in search engines?

[K]

My site is very new and I am looking for free ways or at least cost effective ways to increase the amount of hits it gets.

[Gaurav]

read maxland blog post in SEO its can help you more...
http://www.maxlandit.com/Blog/index.aspx

[Prabath]

Do following:
write posts in your site that are relevant and unique.
You can add them to social bookmarking sites like Digg or Stumbleupon.
Don't expect huge traffic at the start of your site.
Your traffic will grow depending on your site content and visibility.

I can give you a all inclusive special SEO package for just $50.

[Harley Biker]

Try out some FREE advertising tools first before paying to advertise your website.
Submit URL to all major search engines and directories websites like google and yahoo.
List your website in forum like moneymakergroup.com or any famous game forum. (increase your google page rank!)
List your website with moneymakerclassified.com (Your Ads will never expire here!)
List in social network website like facebook, myspace, friendster, digg, blogspot etc...

More you list your website with other major websites, the more traffic you will get!

Hope these will help you!

[Rick-O-Shay]

Right now this site is offering a space on their site to place an ad to your site. And if you refer a friend you get an even better deal. Something like that. If you dont see the ad, refresh the page a couple times for the ad to show. http://www.waitformarriage.com

[gregward56]

Use this company. They are HUGELY popular but also still pretty new, so their prices are still affordable, haha!

Pretty girls (or guys) wear your website or company message on a t shirt all day, take photos of themselves & blog about your company. Then they blast it on facebook, youtube, myspace, all of the social media sites, PLUS search engines over & over all month.

I've used them myself 3x & they are super memorable & catchy. Normal "advertising" might get you calls or clicks, but I've found because of the memorable & personal nature of the service they provide, actual dollars in sales are the result, not just calls or clicks. It's really cool because people remember it & see it all over the web. Enjoy!