normalizing is bad. sorry, but it is.
OP: you're probably comparing the relative volumes of your track vs. stuff you've bought. the stuff you've bought has been mastered and yours has not, therefore yours will sound more quiet.
of course, you could go through some kind of self-mastering process, but unless you know what you're doing, it will probably end up sounding worse.
the proper solution, short of paying for pro mastering, is to simply turn up the volume on your stereo.
All good alternatives to the OP's problem.
I know that I'm new to this forum, but I would like to add this;
There are those (especially classical recording engineers, including Jack Renner) that would say eq and compression are just as bad as normalizing.
Anything that is overdone is usually bad, whether it's eq, compression, normalizing, reverb, delay or even, yes level.
The OP's question was not 'how can I improve the overall
quality of my
mix', but how to raise the overall level on a track. If you have a track that was recorded at too low of a level, then one of the options is to normalize.
I didn't say how much. Just as with all other things audio, the less you have to do, the better it usually sounds. That's a given.
All one can do is pick a tool, and try it out. We're very fortunate that with DAWs, most of the time there are 'do overs'.