Need more traffic for your webpage or business, but don't have the bank account to pay for professional help? You've come to the right place. Listed below are some basic tips for getting traffic for your site.
The Signature File
Almost all email programs out there today have what is called the signature file. This is simply a file that places something that you have prewriten at the end of each email message you send out. This is very helpful in that it gets your address out to everyone you have email contact with. So find your email signature file and use it! Ex.
********************************
Market-Tek
http://www.market-tek.com
Online Promotion Services
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Search Engines
This one's a no-brainer. You simply must submit your site to at least the top 20 search engines. If you're serious about promoting your website you should submit to all of them that you can. We've put together a list of a few hundred where you can start at http://www.market-tek.com/frame.html or we offer a service at a very resonable rate where we do it all for you at http://www.market-tek.com/submit.html. Either way, you must get your site submited.
Meta Tags
These are tags that are placed in the Head of your HTML Document of each page, that tell the Search Engines what is on your site. I cannot stress enough the importance of these tags. Learn all there is to know about them at http://www.market-tek.com/engines.html.
Banner Exchanges
Banner exchanges are a good way to bring in small amounts of traffic to your site. The only drawback is you have to place a banner from the exchange on your site. If you run a business site this may not be the best thing for you because it tends to take away from the professionalism of your page. Here are a few of the better exchanges out there, go check them out.
BannerClicks
Link Exchange
BannerSwap
SmartClicks
Web Rings
Dito the Banner Exchanges except that webrings tailor to your site more. Web Rings group sets of similar pages together. Excellent if your page pertains to a highly target audience like say model airplanes, then you would join the model airplane webring. Check them out at www.webring.org.
Linking
Linking your page with other pages on the net that are similar is one of the best ways to gain traffic. No really! Most people dont realize this but it is true. Go to the Major Search Engines and search for pages similar to yours. Goto these pages and send the owner an email telling them your page address and a description of your site. Ask them to put a link to your page on their link page in exchange for a link back to them on your link page. Most people will be glad to do this, and it really will increase your traffic.
Start a Newsletter
Start a newsletter on your homepage. Put a form up that allows viewers to send you their email address to join your free newletter. Then every few weeks or so send out your newsletter. It doesnt have to be much: updates to your site, small article related to your site, anything really. This creates a sense of community for your site and also keeps people comming back!
News Groups
There are hundreds of newsgroups and listserves out there related to hundreds of different topics. Find one that relates to your site and join. Newsgroups are free and available to most Net surfers. Take an active role in each newsgroup you join by submiting letters to them on a regular basis. Remember your signature file?? *grin* Use it!! Each time you submit your signature ALSO gets submitted. Get the picture??
Awards
Awards are a great way to gain short bursts of high traffic. Submit your site for all the awards you can. Each time you win one your site will gain a temporary burst of traffic because most award sites place you on their winners page. The bigger the award the more traffic you will get. There is a great list of over 200 award giving site at http://www.market-tek.com/awardsite.html. Also, why not start your OWN award? Great way to gain traffic!
Guestbooks
Most sites have a guestbook. So while you are surfing the net, if you ever run across one, sign it! Be sure to add your homepage address as well. Ex.
Great site! Check out mine at http://www.blahblahblah.com
It wont generate much traffic, but every little bit counts!
Page Title
You know the <title> tag in your html document? Well change it every few weeks! Then resubmit to the Search Engines. This will allow your site to be indexed over and over under different titles. Say you ran a Homepage about dogs. One week have the title as "Dogs" Next week change it to "Dog info" Then change it to "Learning about Dogs" Etc Etc Etc. The Search Engines will think these are different pages and place them differently, while optimizing your listing on them.
Free Stuff
Offer something for free to your viewers. Free info, a free report, anything. Offer a free listing on your link page. Try to keep it within the bounds of your sites subject matter. This will make people get in touch with you, and create a sense of "realness" to your site. This way you get to interact with the people that come to your site, and they can get a feel for you as a person, not just a website.
Ezine Advertising
Advertise on all the ezines you can afford! Ezines are a great way to target your market, and they offer the highest response rate for your money. Some ezines charge as little as 10 bucks per add, a very wise investment. Soon we will post a list of ezines for you to choose from, so check back soon! Till then, you can find them by going to your favorite search engine and typing in "Ezine"
Offline Free Advertising
Are you an expert concerning the subject matter of your site? Why not write an article about it and send it to your local newspaper editor? Be sure to weave your website address and info into the article. If they like it, they may publish it in their paper. If not, no harm done! Give it a try! You may be surprised!
