"No-cost website
traffic strategies"
By Jim Daniels
OK, so you're plugging along in your new online venture. You have a website but not much
of an advertising budget. So how do you get people to your website without spending money?
Believe me, I've been there. And it ain't easy!
But rest assured, there ARE some great ways to get targeted website traffic online,
without spending a dime. Truth be told, I relied heavily on free web marketing strategies
during my own start-up years. And many of the strategies and resources I used back then
are STILL bringing me traffic today, some six years later.
So if you're on a tight budget, take the time to try every one of the strategies mentioned
today. You just can't beat the price...
Start Page Networks
Start page networks are fairly new online. The way they work is fairly simple. You join
for free and then click a link to set your browser's home page to a "network
page". In other words, every time you start your browser (or click home) you will get
a page from the start page network you joined. The pages promote sites from members in the
system. And you earn traffic every time you either open your page or refer a new member.
If it sounds confusing, it really isn't. It utilizes a basic viral marketing strategy to
grow your traffic. And while it may not be the answer to all your traffic needs, it can
certainly help.
There are a number of these systems available online now and I've tried a
few. Of the handful I've tried, the best has been TrafficSwarm.
"TS" is from an ol' web friend Sam Robbins and it is pretty slick. TrafficSwarm
offers many unique ways to earn targeted website traffic.
I set up a TrafficSwarm account (for free of course) and it was directly responsible for
$750 in sales the first week. That's pretty impressive. I believe the quality of
traffic from TS is higher than most start page networks for one simple reason... the
client chooses what they want to click on, rather than forcing them to see one specific
page they may not be interested in. That means better CONVERSION since you have a much
more targeted visitor when they click.
Try TrafficSwarm today.
It takes just a few seconds to set up and can bring you quite a bit of decent quality
traffic.
Articles
If you can put together a website, you can write an article or two every month. Yet it
still surprises me how many people don't use articles to grow their website traffic.
All it takes is a few hours each week or month to write about what you know and then have
it looked over by someone with editing skills. Then, you tack on a small footer with your
URL and fire it off to a list of ezine and magazine editors who publish material related
to what you're marketing. That's it!
You can also post the articles at your own site with re-publishing permission for other
webmasters. See http://www.bizweb2000.com/articles.htm
for an example of how I do this.
Anyone who reads my stuff regularly knows how much I like this promotion method. The fact
is, it was responsible for a large part of my traffic early in my web marketing campaign.
So if you're on a limited marketing budget, you should start committing time to writing at
least one article each month. Then grab a good email merge program like the one I use
called WorldMerge, it will let you keep a list
of editors and contact them personally via email. It's a great tool for establishing
relationships with key people in your industry and getting visibility for your website.
Links
You've probably read about how important it is to have lots of links on the web pointing
to your website. Not only does it grow your traffic, it helps your search engine ranking
as well.
There are lots of ways to grow the number of links into your site. Some webmasters simply
search the web and then email related sites asking for a link swap. In my opinion that is
too time-consuming and tedious.
And while there are lots of automated solutions available, such as link farms and the
like, many of these are not search engine friendly. So you have to be careful when
selecting a link strategy.
Your link strategy has to include a way for people to get a link from your site to theirs,
as well as create a link from their site to your site. And if you can automate the entire
process you'll save lots of time.
With all this in mind, I set up a link strategy using a type of directory. You can see the
directory (as well as grab a high-profile link swap!) here.
What you'll find there is my "Internet Marketer's Resource Directory."
Basically, it's my link swap strategy. And it works quite well. It generated more than 250
links for me over the last 12 months, which would have taken me quite a bit of time and
energy. The links have brought fresh traffic to my site as well as improved search engine
ranking. I wish I had set it up when I was first getting started online! Unfortunately, I
did not give linking a high enough priority back then.
So learn from my mistake. Set up a link strategy at your site early on in your campaign.
It will help you more than you realize as time goes on.
Search Engines
Every month my sites receive thousands of visitors from search engines. Most of the
traffic I don't pay a single penny for. And you can do the same thing. But you have to
submit your URL's to the right places -- the top search engines and directories on the
web.
And yes, there ARE still search engines that will accept your site submissions for free.
There are actually six extremely busy search engines that have not (not yet anyway)
migrated to requiring payment for listings.
While there are also a few "paid submissions" that are worth the somewhat steep
price, you should first submit your site to the still-free search engines. Here are direct
links to the submission areas of all six...
1. Google - The new leader among the search engines. Add URL
6. Lycos - That dog is still kicking! Add
URL (Follow the InSite Select Link. The free submission option is on the far right.)
As I mentioned, those six search engines above have been responsible for sending literally
thousands of visitors to my websites and they will send thousands more.. all for free.
So take the time and get your site registered at these engines today, while they are still
a no-cost strategy!
* Tips by Jim Daniels - Read Jim's free web-based guide at Make-A-Living-Online.com, it reveals how he
makes six figures a year online in his part time, and how you can do the same!
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"Jim, we can't find
anything like your 
Start Page Networks
Webmasters/Ezine Publishers: