When it comes to generating income for your website, one thing above all is necessary: a steady flow of website traffic. If no one goes to your site, you have NO CHANCE of generating an income.

Basically, making a success of an Internet business is a numbers game. Many a would-be entrepreneur has tried and failed to build a site that attracts traffic only to give up for lack of business.

It takes time, effort, and yes, cash, to maintain an income generating site – as they say, it takes money to make money. However, that doesn’t mean you have to go and pour your life savings into the great gaping maw of the Internet in order to generate website traffic for your site. If not spending enough money on traffic is a big mistake that newbie Internet marketers often make, unwisely spending too much is an even bigger mistake!

Have you ever wondered how the big hitters drive traffic top their sites? Well, yes I admit, it is a fact that most of them do spend a ton of money on driving traffic to their sites. They have sufficient leverage to invest in many advertising campaigns and different forms of marketing schemes and methods. For them it is all worthwhile because, well, they are what they are now, high earning, big hitting websites.

But for the inexperienced newbie, you really shouldn't try to do that even if you have their resources, because you do not have their experience. Also, there are many ways to generate low cost website traffic without having to spend more than you can reasonably afford. Many people have staked everything on high cost methods and have ended up losing their shirts.

So, in order to avoid those pitfalls, here are the top five ways to generate low cost website traffic that could help your site a whole lot without breaking the bank. Even if you only manage to convert a small percentage of visitors into clients, these techniques are still worth pursuing as they will help raise the number of visitors to your site and therefore the odds on your getting conversions at all.

Exchange Links

This is a popular method of building a presence on the Internet. Remember, the Internet is exactly that, a huge INTER-related NETwork. Rarely would you see a site where there is no link to another site. Many webmasters are willing to exchange links with one another in order to produce more public awareness about their sites. In many cases a commitment to link exchanging results in a marked upsurge in the traffic being directed to your site from other sites.

A major prerequisite in exchanging links with other sites is having the same niche or content as the other site. Both sites should share a common subject so that the traffic that arrives on your site will find information that is relevant and interesting.

Exchanging links also boosts your chances of getting a high ranking in search engines. It is common knowledge that search engines ranks sites more highly when they have inbound and outbound theme-related links. With a good ranking position in the search engines, you will generate more traffic in your website without the high costs.

Traffic Exchange

This is a bit like exchanging links but on a higher level. It may cost a bit more than exchanging or trading links but on the other hand, any costs you incur are offset by the credits you earn. You can earn those credits by viewing other people’s websites. The credits are used when someone visits your website.

So Traffic exchange services involve the viewing of other sites or pages and having your page visited in turn. Each party benefits from the efforts of everybody else to generate traffic. In this way, public awareness of your site's existence is boosted.

Write and Submit Articles

There are many e-zines and online article directories on the internet where you can submit articles free of charge. If you want to save costs, you can write the articles yourself, but there are also many freelance writers who are willing to write copy for you for a small fee. If you are on a tight budget, however, it would be wise to get into the habit of writing articles yourself to save money.

Write articles that are related to the content of your site. Write something that you have expertise on so that when people read it they will get a sense of your knowledge about the subject and will be eager to go to your site. Write articles that produce tips and guidelines pertinent to the subject of your website such that a visit to your website will seem to be the next best move by the reader.

You can get the reader to move from your article to your website by including a resource box at the foot of your article. The resource box includes a link to your site. Write a little about yourself and your site, making it clear that the site provides resources or solutions related to the subject of the article. If you provide a clear and concise article with relevant information written in an interesting way readers will go to your site for more.

Make a Newsletter

To make a newsletter sounds like hard work because of all the articles you'll need to create, but actually, it need not be so difficult. There are many writers and websites that are willing to provide free articles as long as they can get their name in on your newsletter. This will also provide free advertising for them as well.

Build an Opt-In List

As your newsletter circulates public awareness of your site will increase and you will get more traffic. Make sure you have built an opt-in list and invite visitors to sign up to it so that you can send them news and updates on a regular basis. This is something you should give a high priority to. Offer an incentive for people to sign up, such as a free e-book or some other freebie with a high perceived value. Remember, the real value of many an online business is in its list.

Join Online Communities and Forums

This method of publicity only requires your time and nothing else. You can share your knowledge and expertise with many online communities as well as spreading awareness of your website. You can get free advertising when you go to forums that have the same subject or niche with your site. Each time you post a message in the forum you can display a "signature file", like a resource box at the end of an article, with your link to your website and a short message attached.

Share your two cents worth of knowledge on a given subject - give some value back to the forum with every post you make by offering useful information. That will also enhance your reputation as an expert and let the other forum participants see how knowledgeable you are with the subject. As you build your reputation, you also build the reputation of your site, making it a reputable and honest business that could be frequented and trusted by many people.

David Hurley
Grasp-The-Nettle.com

Labels: article submission, e-newsletter, exchange links, internet marketing forum, traffic exchange

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