5 FREE WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR WEBSITE TRAFFIC

5 FREE WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR WEBSITE TRAFFIC
BY: SUZANNE MORRISON
copyright 2004 suzanne morrison

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT WHEN I FIRST ENTERED
the world of internet marketing i thought i
could just submit my newly finished website to a
FEW SEARCH ENGINES, THEN SIT BACK AS THE
visitors flocked to my site.

I IMAGINED THAT PEOPLE WOULD ARRIVE ON MY
website, as if by magic, purchase goods, and
perhaps come back again for more.

a week or so later i came down to earth with a
big bump.

i realised that it would take a bit of time and
effort to see the results that i was dreaming
ABOUT!

since my reality check, i have learned all about
THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WAYS OF INTERNET
marketing.

IN THIS ARTICLE I WILL TELL YOU ABOUT MY TOP 5
free ways of increasing website traffic.

ALL THESE METHODS ARE COMPLETELY FREE AND IF YOU
spend some time on them you will find that they
work consistently.

(1)writing articles

WRITING AN ARTICLE ON A SUBJECT RELATED TO YOUR
website and getting that article published has
two major benefits:

- people who are interested in your article will
read it and often click on the url in your
RESOURCE BOX FIND OUT MORE. THIS GETS YOU
another free targeted visitor. targeted, because
that reader wants to find out more on the
SUBJECT OF YOUR ARTICLE, WHICH IS HOPEFULLY
related to the subject of your website.

- EVERY PUBLISHER OF YOUR ARTICLE MUST ALSO
publish your "resource box". adding a resource
box with your url to all of your articles will
INCREASE THE NUMBER OF LINKS LEADING BACK TO
your website, which in turn helps to increase
your search engine position

for a list of directories to submit your article
to, see article submission directories [2]

(2)forum networking

THERE ARE MANY DISCUSSION FORUMS ON THE
internet, on every topic you could possibly
imagine.

most discussion boards allow posters to attach a
"signature" with their post containing
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THEMSELVES, SUCH AS
their name, url and sometimes even an
advertisement.

by visiting a few forums regularly and
participating in the discussions, asking and
ANSWERING QUESTIONS, YOU CAN BUILD UP TRUST WITH
other forum members, whilst at the same time
getting free exposure for your website.

just try to make a useful contribution to the
forum - be sure to read the forum rules and
DON'T SPAM!

(3)reciprocal linking

reciprocal linking has two main benefits for
you.

firstly, the more links that you exchange, the
more chance there is that someone will follow a
LINK FROM ANOTHER SITE AND LAND ON YOUR WEBSITE.

secondly, your website will be perceived more
IMPORTANTLY BY SEARCH ENGINES.

the more links you have from other sites, the
GREATER YOUR CHANCE OF GETTER RANKED MORE HIGHLY
by all the search engines.

HERE ARE SOME DOS AND DON'TS TO HELP YOU GET
more out of your link exchanges.

- DO LINK WITH SITES THAT WILL BE OF INTEREST TO
your visitors.

- DON'T LINK WITH PAGES THAT HAVE UNORGANISED
link directories with hundreds of links on each
page. this won't benefit you with increased
TRAFFIC OR SEARCH ENGINE RANKINGS.

- do link with sites that have a clearly
LABELLED "LINK DIRECTORY" FROM THEIR MAIN PAGE.
you aren't likely to get much traffic from a
hidden or hard to find link directory.

- don't use link farms or ffa pages. you are
unlikely to get extra traffic using these
METHODS AND THE SEARCH ENGINES MAY PENALISE YOU.

- do use link directories to help you find link
PARTNERS. YOU CAN FIND SOME LINK EXCHANGE
resources here [3]

- DO STAY ORGANISED. USE LINK EXCHANGE SOFTWARE,
or a spreadsheet to keep track of the link
exchanges you have requested and the contact
DETAILS OF THE WEBMASTERS.

(4) EMAIL SIGNATURES

this is a very simple, but often forgotten way
OF INCREASING YOUR WEBSITE VISITORS.

most of us are sending lots of emails a day, but
MANY OF US JUST SIGN THEM WITH JUST OUR NAME, OR
perhaps nothing at all.

INSTEAD, WHY NOT END YOUR EMAILS WITH A SHORT
signature containing your name, a bit about your
website along with the url?

keep the signature short (4 lines), to the point
and avoid hype or shouting.

you may be surprised at the extra visitors you
receive through doing this. it's amazing how
CURIOSITY WILL LEAD THE RECIPIENTS OF YOUR EMAIL
to click on your link!

(5)using traffic exchanges

FINALLY, THIS IS ONE EASY WAY TO GUARANTEE
instant hits to your website. you can build up
credits for free by surfing or building up a
DOWNLINE TO SURF FOR YOU.

the downside of this method is that the visitors
YOU RECEIVE FROM TRAFFIC EXCHANGES ARE NOT AS
targeted as the visitors that you will receive
via the other methods that i have described.

the reason for this is that people surf traffic
exchanges for one reason - to earn as many
CREDITS AS POSSIBLE IN AS SHORT A SPACE OF TIME
as possible!

THIS GIVES YOU A CHALLENGE - HOW DO YOU ATTRACT
the attention of someone who is looking at your
web page for 20 seconds or less?

here are two tips -

- KNOW YOUR MARKET - SPEND SOME TIME SURFING ON
the exchange that you are advertising on and pay
attention to the types of web pages being
ADVERTISED. MAKE SURE THAT THE PAGES YOU
advertise are going to interest your target
market.

- use a short, simple attention grabbing page
that can be read in a few seconds - there is no
POINT ADVERTISING A HUGE PAGE OF TEXT THAT TAKES
5 minutes to read. the chances are, your visitor
will get bored and click on the "next" button
WITHOUT GIVING YOUR PAGE A FAIR CHANCE.

regularly invest some time in each of these 5
TRAFFIC GENERATING METHODS AND YOU WILL SEE YOUR
web statistics moving in the upwards direction
before you know it.

about the author:
SUZANNE MORRISON IS THE WEBMASTER AND OWNER OF
how to start an internet business [4] to learn
more about how to promote your website download
YOUR FREE 30 DAYS TO SUCCESS EBOOK [5]

CIRCULATED BY ARTICLE EMPORIUM [6]
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