Free Traffic - Seven Ways
 by: Steve Gillman

Free traffic? The other day I saw that someone had been putting post-it stickers with the name of their website on bus stop benches and telephone poles. How many ways can you get free web site traffic? Who knows, but here are seven ways to get you started.

1. Online classified advertisements. Search "free advertising" or "free ads", and you'll find there are many places that you can advertise for free. Few of them seem to be of any value, but I have been using two that work well. Place a few ads, then check your reports to see if they are bringing in traffic. Start regularly using the ones that deliver.

2. Link exchanges. Link exchanges with other web sites help you get free traffic in two ways: traffic directly from the other site, and traffic from the search engines, because the link helps your ranking with them. Find sites that have a theme similar or related to yours, and send out nice e-mails suggesting an exchange.

3. Post in discussion forums. This can be a great source of traffic for some sites. You just talk about things of interest to you, and get free traffic to your web site (always sign off with a link to your site). If you link to subscription pages for newsletters or e-courses you offer, you'll get repeat visits from the traffic. Don't spam, or you'll be kicked out but true participation makes a relevant link okay in many forums.

4. Search engine submissions. Don't wait for search engines to find you. Automatically submit to 15 of them at www.freewebsubmission.com. You can also submit manually to Google (www.google.com/addurl.html). Ultimately, search engines will be some of your primary sources of free traffic.

5. Submit to directories. First do a search for niche directories for the topic of your website. Type in "directory + online games," or whatever your site is about. Many general directories also accept submissions for free. The value of directories is not direct traffic, however (you won't get much). The value is in the links, which help your ranking (and therefore traffic) with the search engines.

6. Write and submit testimonials. If you love an e-book or other online product, tell the author, and let her know she can use your testimonial. Of course, mention that you'd appreciate it if she left the link to your site (under your name) active. Good testimonials are valuable, and you've probably seen them with a name and link attached.

7. Submit articles. This is one of the best ways to generate free web site traffic. In fact, it's why I wrote this. An article is valuable because of the "resource box," or "about the author box" at the bottom, where there is always a link. If I leave you intrigued, and wanting more, you might click through. This is a great way to generate free traffic.

About The Author

Steve Gillman didn't even know what HTML was when he registered his first domain name. Soon afterwards, he was making a good living online. To learn how you can do the same, visit http://www.TenMoney.com.

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