Driving traffic to your site.

Driving traffic to your site By Robert Jillie
http://GreenMountainMoney.com
Search Engines
There are many ways to drive traffic to your site but the best way is to use Search Engines and Directories, however, this is also the most difficult traffic generating method for most folks to grasp.
It takes time because with the tremendous growth of the Internet most SEs and Directories are backlogged with their site listings and this means it will take some time to get your site listed.
If you can learn to use the Search Engines and directories to your advantage they will deliver very targeted traffic to your site for very little investment, some are still free
According to most Internet studies search Engines (SEs) and directories are the most important way for your visitors to reach you.
If you really want to get up to speed on search engine optimization then I highly recommend getting The Search Engine CD at:
http://www.1stchoiceshoppingcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=24363
This CD will get you up to speed on how to get your site placed high in the big Search Engines including Yahoo.
While you tackle the task of generating search engine traffic let me mention a few other ways to generate targeted traffic to your site.
Pay Per Click Search Engines
By utilizing a Pay Per Click Search engine, such as Go-to, any online business can bid on (and Keep) a top position. You simply bid on key words and by out bidding the competition you can gain a top ranking on key words that will bring you very targeted traffic to your site.
But be careful here, the idea is to get targeted traffic so you will have to research your key words and keyword phrases carefully, and it helps if you know your customer and the phrases she/he will likely enter in there search for your product or service.
You will also have to write great head lines that will further qualify your potential customer into highly targeted traffic.
Ezine marketing
If you have been online for any length of time, you have no doubt seen and subscribed to Ezines, and if you have even a small talent for writing or a passion about your subject you can write articles and submit them to Ezines.
This is an excellent way to generate traffic to your site because;
1). It's free.
2). You will get good results for your efforts. 3). You will start to gain "expert status" as a knowledgeable authority in your field.
Almost all Ezines need good content so your work will be in demand and if you watch where your articles are placed you can generate very targeted traffic to your site.
You will generate traffic to your site by using a "resource box" at the bottom or top of your Ezine article. This resource box will contain a link back to your site and a short info-sales-message about your product or service.
A great resource to help you find Ezines that will accept your articles is Top Ezine Adds There program is well worth the few bucks it costs.
http://www.topezineads.com/index.html?7864
Ezine advertising
Advertising in Ezines is a fantastic way to drive targeted traffic to your site. You can place an advertisement in an Ezine for as little as $2.00.
Another big advantage to Ezine advertising is that you can place your add today and see the results in only a day or so.
Remember that if you are going to try Ezine advertising, you will want to target your consumer group and I highly recommend "Top Ezine Adds" Their database is huge and it will save you a tremendous amount of time searching for Ezines that target your demographic group. You Can Get it at; http://www.topezineads.com/index.html?7864
Link Exchange
There are mixed thoughts on how well a link exchange program works to drive traffic to your site, and there are various ways to set up a link exchange program for your site.
This is how the basic link exchange works; you contact other web sites and offer to give them a link on your site if they will give you a link on theirs.
There several major problems with this method
1). You are creating a way for your visitor to leave your site.
2). It is very time consuming to set up, you have to find a site that attracts your type of targeted traffic but one that is not your competitor (never exchange a link with a competitor, it's self defeating)
3). You must draft a compelling letter, convincing the site owner of the advantages they will receive by giving you a link exchange.
4). Very few sites will agree to exchange links and the vast majority that do will most likely be low traffic generating sites.
This method is also a real pain to monitor, you have to constantly check the sites that you have exchanged links with to be sure they still have your link on their site.
With that said keep in mind that some SEs do give more weight to a site that is linked to other sites, as long as the other sites are relevant, in other words if you sell widgets and link exchange to a site that sell gidgets you will gain nothing.
My advice on a systematic link exchange program is don't bother with it when you first start out unless you have a lot of time on your hands.
But you will want to keep your eyes open for that occasional site that has good relevant content and an "add URL" form. You can add your link without having to add their link and while this link may not generate much traffic it will help you gain a few points with some SEs for link popularity.
Banner advertising
Here many experts will tell you the "don't bother" rule applies
This is how banner advertising works
1). Design a banner.
2). Negotiate with the web sit you want to advertise on. 3). Place your banner.
4). Hopefully your target audience will click on your banner. 5). Then you have to find some way to track your results for each banner add you have placed. 6). Then you must decide if each banner was worth the time and expense involved
7). Then you must try to improve your results
In my personal experience banner adds do work but you must be willing to test the results of every banner ad you display and constantly strive to get a better click through rate an each one, either through design or placement or both.
To help you track all of your advertising campaigns (and to be cost effective you must track each one) I recommend Roibot Because it is so versatile, it will track every single advertising campaign as well as follow-up Atoresponder service FFA submission and much more.
If you join their affiliate program and promote their product it will cost nothing to use the system. In fact you can earn a decent income promoting Roibot. You can get Roibot at;
http://www.roibot.com/r.cgi?R54059_campaign
With few exceptions you will be paying more per click through when using banner advertising than you will when advertising in ezines and the pay-per-click search engines.
E-mail sig file
If you aren't using a sig file on every single email you send out then you should be.
A sig file is a short info message or sales message attached to the end of you emails and they are very powerful if used when posting to news groups forums and mailing lists.
A sig file is simply something you must have but it must be properly designed.
Your sig file should look professional and you must avoid the "get rich quick" feeling that is so prevalent on the Internet today.
Example
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Green Mountain Money
Your Internet Marketing Resource Center
Why waste time on marketing strategies that just don't work, are out of date, or don't help you grow your Internet business in a cost efficient manner.
Visit us at;
http://www.GreenMountainMoney.com
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Your sig file can drive a lot of traffic to your site and there is no reason not to have one on Every Single Email you send out.
========================================================= Robert Jillie
Subscribe to; "Profits On The Net" at;
http://GreenMountainMoney.com/Subcribe.htm mailto:rjillie@greenmountainmoney.com
for a wealth of information to help you grow your Internet Business.