All Webmasters share one common desire… Traffic, and lots of it. Traffic, essentially is where the money is, so the more traffic you get, the more money you make. For this reason, lots of people go about getting traffic however they can, oftentimes using PPC or programs which charge per visitor. There are ups and downs to both of those methods, but most importantly to employ those methods you must have one thing…money!
Of course, a new webmaster is probably more than lacking in the funds department. So how does one go about getting quality traffic on a non existent budget?
First, you have to have the right mindset.
What you are lacking in funds you'll have to make it for in time and effort. Remember the old rule, when it comes to time and money, you have to spend more of one to save some of the other. So, you must have the drive and perseverance to work hard and research to generate more traffic for your site.
Take advantage of forums and social networking sites
The beauty of this is, you can target certain groups of people who fit the demographic your site is based upon. Thus, if you have a site geared towards middle aged women, join a few forums, Yahoo and MySpace groups where your demographic would be likely to "hang out" Start threads and discussions the niche that your site represents. Include a description and link to your site in your signature. Don't advertise blatantly, but have real conversations with people. With this, you are also building your sites reliability and relate ability.
Write articles related to your niche. Writing articles that provide quality information is a great way to get your site noticed. There are a lot of article directories (such as ezinearticles.com) which allow you to submit your articles.When people find and read your articles, there is a very good chance that they will want to know where the article came from, and where they can find out more information. Include a link and brief description of your site in a bio with the article, and if they liked your article, chances are they will visit your site.
Constantly add quality content to your site
Usually, when someone wants to find something online, they visit a search engine such as Google or Yahoo to find it. In turn, the Search Engines
use keyword searching to help find results relevant to the query. Search Engines monitor the keywords and phrases your site uses and how you use them. The more you add content, the more they will visit, and the more they visit the better your chances of getting a good position on the Search Engine Results Page.
Update your site at least 3 times a week with high quality content. Try to make your content extremely informative, and somewhat entertaining. You want your visitors to feel as if they actually gained something by reading your site, so they will visit again.
All of these methods will increase your traffic without you having to spend a dime. All it takes is a bit of hard work and patience. Implement these methods and perfect them, and soon you site will have a steady flow of quality traffic minus the high cost.
