1. Bring a shield. Even a practice shield will absorb a few arrows and can save you. A difficulty 1 shield can take even more.
This tactic seem pretty obvious and the average player who is tired of getting turned into a pincushion enough that he has to go to the forums for guidance has probably already considered shielding and wearing heavier armor.
2. If you can't bring a shield, stick by a teamie with a shield. (Teamwork!?). Sometimes you can spam:
[q][f][f] KEEP YOUR FORMATION
and
[q][f][w] SHIELD WALL
When there is cav, you stick by teamies with a pike, right? When there are archers, stick by teamies with a shield. Let them go up ladders first. Let them take the lead when advancing on archer positions. IT'S THEIR JOB.
If this is in battle, it will likely only be effective if the shielder in question is one of your buddies; and as if coordinating your movements with a random guy on a public server isn't hard enough, most experienced archers pick their targets well, and the prospect of shooting a straggler trying to hide behind his teammates shield is one that makes archers salivate at the mouth.
4. Bring a siege shield and make your own cover. If you have several teamies do this, you can even build a pillow fort and hide-out!
This is probably a bad idea considering a siege shield weighs a significant amount and will make you run like a snail. Unless you're in a fixed location and plan on defending an enclosed location, I wouldn't recommend this
5. Practice dodging. The zig-zag, the double-back, the random dance, the last-second juke, and the "non-dodge!" Learn them well.
And know when to stop dodging as well, I believe it has been touched on in this thread, but the guys who do the least amount of fancy dodging antics get away a lot more times than the guys having mini-seizures on the battlefield.
6. Wear heavier armor. When all else fails, suit up and employ all of the above tactics with redoubled vigor.
Keep in mind this will slow you down, making you an easier target. Try to find a good balance between weight and protection, otherwise you could find yourself taking a lot more arrows than before.
7. If the enemy TEAM has way more archers than you, you have 2 choices. You can turtle up and hide behind cover (works for a while sometimes) or RUSH them. Closing distance against a ranged-heavy team will help take their advantage away.
There are many more options for those who do not wish to taste the sting of an arrow or bolt; such as going archer and taking sweet revenge on the archers who targeted you. Going cavalry is another option, as you will quickly learn that you can make chop suey out of groups of inattentive archers while quickly making your retreat with little to no damage.
Knowing timing is also important, when archers are engaged with your teammates, it's the perfect time to help change the tide of battle while also having the satisfaction of cutting down those who hailed down hellfire on you. Calculate your risks, even if they don't see you, engaging more than 2 archers solo is a tough task. And lastly, remember that arrows are always incoming.
