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Today, the biggest problem that new website owners have is: “How they can get traffic to their website?” Significant amount of time and energy is spent today on this single task. You or your webmaster need to commonly focus on:

- Get ranked well on the most important search engines (Google, Yahoo, Msn, Ask.com, etc.)
- Pay Per Click (PPC) programs
- Cost Per Click (CPC) programs
- Link Exchanges
- Directory Submissions
- And more…

All of these methods are valuable for getting traffic to your website. If you are not competent enough to rank well your keywords, you can obviously hire a SEO (Search Engine Optimizer) for this work. From search engines you can get a very large portion of traffic to your website.

Today, everyone wants to know the big secret to driving traffic to their website. Every day I see an article or an ad talking about driving people to your website; driving traffic to a website has become the “holy grail” on the Internet. People are realizing that if you build it, they won’t come… unless you give them a reason. Website traffic just doesn’t happen by itself. Your website is just one of many millions on the web and people rarely just stumble upon your site by accident.

There are many ways to drive traffic to your website. You can buy traffic from vendors that will pummel your website with hits from automated programs. This will increase your hits but will it increase your bottom line? Probably not. You can set up blogs that spider (connect to) your website increasing your traffic count. Does this drive users to your website? Only if your blog is so interesting that people are reading it. There are thousands of blogs posted on the internet and your blog is just a needle in the internet haystack.

Another trick is to create RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds for your website and subscribe to other RSS feeds. This again will increase your hit count but will do very little to drive potential customers to your website unless you’re providing valuable information. Tricks will increase your hit count but do very little todrive potential customers to your website.

People often turn to traffic exchanges. Quite simply, a traffic exchange is a program where you sign up and agree to surf sites in exchange for some credits. These credits are then used when other members of the exchange surf to your site. This traffic is not highly targeted traffic. In fact, if this were your only method of advertising your website, you’d probably fail. BUT it is a great method of getting traffic to your site in addition to the other methods listed above.

So, why do people use traffic exchanges? Here are a few of the benefits:

- Increase your Alexa rating! Did you know that some search engines factor your Alexa rating into their algorithms? More traffic means higher search engine placement!

- Increase your branding awareness. Any marketing expert worth his salt will tell you that branding is extremely important to stand out amongst the billions of websites out there. More traffic equals more sales. A percentage of people surfing will be enticed by your ads and click on them to find out more information. Another source of revenue. Many traffic exchanges will actually pay you money to surf. More importantly, as you refer other people to the network, you’ll earn a percentage of the money that they earn! It may be small amounts but if you work the system it could amount to a lot of money.

Now, before you head over to Google and search for Traffic Exchange, I’d recommend knowing a few facts:

- Some traffic exchanges are simply out to get money from you and will refer very little traffic to you.
- Some traffic exchanges have poor systems in place to stop cheaters from running programs to increase their credits faster.

Finally, some traffic exchanges will allow popup, active x controls, site rotators, etc. in their network. Any of these can stop your auto surfing from working, or even worse, allow your computer to be infected with a virus.

The best part about Traffic Exchanges is that you really have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The worst thing that could happen to you is you get a little bit of traffic which increases your Alexa rankings and you don’t get any money.

Of course, for the system to work, you’ve got to make sure that you do some surfing yourself. The makers of the exchange programs realize this and some of them even have an auto surf feature where you get a reduced number of credits while your browser happily loads page after page every 10 seconds or so.

About the Author:

Matt Bacak became “#1 Best Selling Author” in just a few short hours. Recent Entrepreneur Magazine’s e-Biz radio show host is turning Authors, Speakers, and Experts into Overnight Success Stories. Discover The Secrets http://promotingtips.com

posted by Deron Dohanich \\ tags: website traffic

While free ‘junk’ advertising has always been around, most internet marketers and webmasters have evolved and matured to focus on methods which are ethical, proven and effective both in the present and long-term. As new ideas and strategies come to the surface, others slowly die off and the cycle of life online starts all over again.

There are some methods that have remained constant though, and while people rush to jump on the latest craze, it’s easy to overlook some of the simplest ways of generating traffic that have proven themselves for years.

Such is the case with submitting to software directories. Most people wouldn’t see this as an obvious source of targeted traffic. After all, they’re for notepad clones and anti-virus programs right? Wrong. Many will accept other kinds of files and you don’t even have to know how to write a line code.

What does this mean to you?

- Interest in your website and products

- Reliable links to your website

- Reaching a greater audience

- More exposure for affiliate programs and Adsense

- Almost immediate, long-term traffic which brings wide distribution

- Often very high page ranks for pages you submit

- People will create more links for you as they recommend your site in forums, on blogs, etc.

- More pages on your website for the products you submit means more pages being indexed by search engines

- Existing visitors will come back more often and your chances of getting bookmarked by new users are increased

- Depending on the type of content you submitted, you may have CD publishers wanting to include your products on their CDs

- Submitting to most software directories is free!

This is the same strategy I used to get listed in literally 1000’s of software and freeware directories over a period of just 1 year with another site I own. There are actually over 12,000 links referencing the site, but to sort out the actual number of software directories would be impossible. I can estimate though that about 70% of them are software sites. The more freebies I created, the more listings and unique pages pointing to my website. Originally I had only submitted to about 50 directories, but a few things happened to cause the massive growth - these freebies caught a lot of attention, being talked about in forums, newsletters, blogs, and appearing in other directories which picked up the links and indexed them. Other sites too wanted to give copies away from their own website. If that wasn’t enough, magazine publishers included my work on their cover-mounted cds and a university used my content as part of one of their courses. As you can imagine - traffic galore!

You might be wondering about regular free stuff sites. I have found that getting listed in general free stuff directories is difficult, takes too long, most demand a reciprocal link and they don’t seem interested 90% of the time. Why? Because most of the ‘freebies’ listed on their site are connected to affiliate programs - and that’s all they care about. Yes, software directories usually promote affiliate programs too, but generally they want as much software as possible in their directory, and the layout is different too, so that visitors can find freeware much easier.

Here are some ideas for different types of products you can easily create so you can get your foot in the door to this huge traffic source:

1. Screensavers

An easy way to not only get listed in multiple software directories, but to get your products & links right on people’s desktops. Sure, the world is full of screensavers - so you either have to make a really cool screensaver, or focus on a niche.

You can find some free screensaver software at: http://www.zeallsoft.com/

2. eBooks

This is the easiest option for most and doesn’t have to be very complex. A simple eBook of resources is good, such as one I published years ago called “The Webmaster Freeware Guide”. With ebooks, you want to make sure you include plenty of links within them back to your website.

A good free ebook creation program can be found here: http://www.spadixbd.com/wsz/

3. Fonts, Icons, Photos, Graphics & Templates

Success with these kinds of digital freebies depend on your knowledge and skills. The idea is to create a collection of 50, 100 or even 500 files and then zip them up into a bundle. I won’t go into details about creating these products because there would far too much information to cover and there are so many different kinds of products to be covered.

One very popular free graphics editor is TheGimp: http://www.gimp.org/

If you’re looking for an incredible free webpage editor, I recommend Nvu: http://www.nvu.com/

4. ‘Faux’ Software

Faux software isn’t really software in terms of writing code. Basically, you are using simple scripts within ebook software to give the illusion of software. While not every ebook creation software supports this, you can easily add javascript to html documents (which will be part of the ebook) or host php scripts on your website (where the ebook auto-redirects to the page on your website within the ebook software provided the ebook creation software supports it) There are plenty of free scripts on the web which you can use, so don’t worry about having to create them yourself.

My favorite script haunt is Hotscripts: http://www.hotscripts.com/

5. Sticky Content

Sticky content is content which you outsource to other websites such as news feeds, a script, images, and other content. Compared to a simple link or banner, It is a great way to get visibility on other people’s websites because they usually put the content in higher traffic areas, claims more page space, and is considered a feature rather than an ad for something. Creating a bundle of 10 sticky content units and bundle them into a collection.

To get started with sticky content, here’s a great freeware tool: http://ygetup.com/scw/

An additional benefit to creating all these digital freebies and submitting them to software directories is the ability to have traffic go in two distinct directions on your website. Most listings allow you to a link to your homepage as well as the download page. My download page listed all the items I was giving away with quick download links, but also included affiliate links and Adsense ads.

How To Get Started:

The first step is to sit down with good old fashioned pen & paper and do some brainstorming. You want to think about the content and theme of your website and then consider products which compliment it.

Example A: If you run a health theme site, you could create some relaxing screensavers “that have been shown to help people ease their stress throughout the day”… ok, so maybe that’s a little bit of marketing bull - but a little hype never hurts!

Example B: If you run a template site, you can bundle up a collection of free templates that each contain a link back to your website. As a rule, people using the templates must include the link back.

Example C: If you are an affiliate marketer for software such as anti-virus programs, you could create an ebook like “50 anti-virus tips” or “How to protect your computer from viruses”. Obviously, you’ll want to include affiliate links.

The possibilities are endless and you’ll be surprised at the exposure you get compared to other kinds of directories. The more digital freebies you create, the more exposure, listings, search engine traffic boosts and page views you’ll get.

Tips For Getting More From This System:

- Encourage visitors to give away copies from their own website

- Include a ‘readme’ file in html which introduces your website, affiliate links, etc.

- Create a master download page and perhaps individual download pages for each product which include affiliate and Adsense ads.

- Don’t submit your products to these directories as if they were ads - because they’re not! Use keyword-rich titles and informative descriptions because often these directories make the filename for the page the same as the title you enter. This gives you a huge advantage in the search engines.

- If you want to update the content of the ebook on a regular basis, you can create a link within the ebook which will auto-redirect to page on your server. The page will be displayed within the ebook - so nobody is the wiser. The only problem here is if the ebook creation software you’re using doesn’t support it. You’ll only know this through trial and error.

Now the question is … where are these software directories? Oh, please don’t ask me that because I certainly couldn’t list them all. Your best approach is to Google it. Use keyphrases like “free software”, “free software directory”, “free software search”, “freeware”, “freeware search”, “freeware directory”, etc. You get the idea, right?

Before you do submit your products, check around first to see if there is a matching category and read their policies (if any) on submitting programs and files. There has been an ever-increasing demand from software publishers to submit .xml data on their products, so look for that too.

Good luck!

Carole Nickerson has been a web developer and internet marketer since 1998. She now spends her days actively filling up her new blog with all she has learned. To find more free internet marketing articles, web promotion tips, and free resources like this visit: CaroleNickerson.com

posted by Deron Dohanich \\ tags: affiliate traffic generating

I’d be willing to bet that right now, right this second, you are wasting precious online real estate.

In other words, you are not taking advantage of every “place” in your online marketing that you could be using to make you money.

The biggest one many people (including myself) often overlook:

The “Thank You” page.

Do you realize the “Thank You” page (the page you display after someone submits an opt-in form or even an order form) is some of the most RESPONSIVE real estate on your site?

You should be using your “Thank You” pages to promote some of your other products, other opt-in lists, or affiliate products.

One of the easiest ways to INSTANTLY make more money is to use an opt-in “Thank You” page to simply say:

“Thank you for subscribing. You will receive your first issue very soon.”

Then under that text you can say, “We Highly Recommend This Product…”

Then you can list information about an affiliate product that is related to your market. This is an easy way to send traffic to an affiliate link so you can earn some additional income that you didn’t already have. I.e. FREE MONEY.

You can do the same thing for your ORDER FORM “Thank You” pages. Thank the customer for their order and recommend they check out a related product. In fact, this real estate on your site will be the most responsive of all for other offers.

After all, that web site visitor just became the most qualified prospect of all — A PAYING CUSTOMER.

You know, most marketers are AFRAID to send additional offers to their customers. But why?

Well, the thinking is simple…

“I don’t want to piss them off by trying to ‘pitch’ them other products.”

We have all thought this way. *I* am guilty of this myself. But you know what? We all need to GET OVER IT.

Everyone needs to realize something — people buy MULTIPLE PRODUCTS when they are interested in something. So why shouldn’t *YOU* get paid when they do?

When is the last time you went to the bookstore to buy a book or magazine on an interest that you had and you left the store with only ONE COPY of something?

That’s right, you probably bought more than one on almost every occasion you can think of. Customers are the same way. So don’t be afraid to send offers to your customers.

This is a FACT: the more offers you send to your customers, the more money you will make.

Start displaying related offers on your order form “Thank You” pages and you’ll instantly boost your income.

I did this recently on ONE of my sites and it added an additional $3,500/month in net income. I simply took an order form “Thank You” page that had only said, “Thank you for your order.” (and some other minor stuff) and added a promotion for a “Recommended” product. This was an affiliate product that I earned a commission on when my customers visited the link and then made a purchase.

Here’s something else for you to understand…

When people are ordering from you, their TRUST and RESPECT for you is at an all-time high. If you “recommend” another product for them to buy at this time (right after they placed an order with you), not only will they trust your recommendation (by the way, make sure it’s a solid product you are recommending) but they are also still in the “buying mood” and will be more likely to buy something else at that moment.

After making this minor modification to one of my own “Thank You” pages, I am now making this additional income day after day. All I did was make use of some precious online real estate that I was overlooking — i.e. WASTING.

So take a closer look at your web site and marketing process and find places that you are not effectively using to promote your other products or affiliate products.

I’d be willing to bet that there’s some “unused” online real estate you can go take advantage of right now that would allow you to INSTANTLY make more money from the same traffic you are already receiving.

So what are you waiting for? Stop reading this email and go put up an offer on that unused space. Yes, NOW.

John Reese is an Internet Marketing pioneer that has been actively marketing online since 1990. John has sold millions of dollars worth of products and services online and his network of Web Sites have received over 1.4 BILLION Web Site visitors since their inception. You can learn more about John, his home study courses, and subscribe to his free ezine by visiting:

http://www.marketingsecrets.com

(c)2003 MarketingSecrets.com. All rights reserved.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Reese

posted by Deron Dohanich \\ tags: Online Real Estate

We all know that backlinks are the main thing when it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Long-tail keywords and keyword density are all well and good when it comes to writing and marketing articles to get good search engine rankings. But when you go that ‘extra mile’, that’s when you article marketing results will explode. And you will get more traffic, more leads, more referrals, and ultimate more sales and more cash!
So you want to know the answer to explode your results from this amazing traffic generation method?

Backlinks!

Just like optimizing your websites for top search engine rankings, backlinks are what’s going to make a BIG difference.

So here’s what I’m doing and you can follow my lead to generate huge results from your article marketing:

Take your 5 best optimized articles for search engine rankings (with keyword optimized title and good keyword density) and start building backlinks to them. Start using all the SEO backlink generating strategies that you learn about - social bookmarking, forums, blog posting and all those great link building juice.

When you spend a few hours or so building these backlinks just like you would for doing SEO for your own website, you will start seeing results in just a few days for the keywords you are targeting. Your search engine rankings will rise and you will get more traffic.

The probable result of all this little work: high search engine rankings for these articles for the keywords you target. Let me know how you get on with this surefire article marketing strategy!

Fabian Tan is the author of the free 51-Page Report:
“Murder Your Job: How To Build Cash Sucking Autopilot Businesses In 30 Days Or Less!”

Head over to http://www.MurderYourJob.com to get your free copy now before it’s gone!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fabian_Tan

posted by Deron Dohanich \\ tags: article marketing