Internet Business Society

Whether you just launched a new website or you are trying to fund a blog through pay-per-click advertising, you need to be actively involved in driving Internet traffic on a daily basis.

9 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website:

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Optimize your website so it is ranked high in the search engines like Google, AOL, Yahoo and MSN so people will find your site. Focus on getting organic search results that don’t cost any money by optimizing your website. Ensure your website’s title tag, description, and content includes the keywords your potential visitors would be searching for in the search engines.
2. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - With search engine marketing, you are paying Google or Yahoo, for example, to place your ad in the search result screen as a sponsored link. You pay the search engine anytime someone clicks the link to your website. This method of advertising produces instantly measurable results and has revolutionized marketing campaigns and made customer acquisition costs lower than they have ever been.
3. Email Marketing - Make sure all email leaving your computer (and that of your employees) includes your website address so email recipients can conveniently click the link and visit your website. Also, use email marketing campaigns to keep existing customers coming back to your website.
4. Affiliate Marketing - Start an affiliate program. Give people a commission for linking people to your site to purchase your product or service. One alternative to creating and administering your own affiliate program is to join one of the large affiliate networks like Commission Junction or Linkshare. They make it easy to get started and have a lot of registered publishers.
5. Word of Mouth (WOM) - Use word of mouth to encourage existing customers to tell a friend about your website. You can create online tools like email postcards or “email this article” links that allow them to easily spread the word about your site.
6. Banner and Link Exchanges - Buddy up with non-competing, relevant websites to trade links or banners. Consider advertising your link trading program openly on your website.
7. Offline Marketing - Make sure you are also actively marketing your website address offline. Tell everyone you know or run into about your website. Make sure all your letters, notepads and envelopes have your website on them. Print some business cards as well and network yourself wherever there are people.
8. Write Articles - Write a monthly article for a publication or website related to your website. Many publishers are content starved and would be thrilled to have your commitment. Make sure you get to include your website address in your byline.
9. Public Relations (PR) - Become famous. Issue press releases regularly about anything free you have to offer, any books you have published or any publicity stunts you have orchestrated. Make sure the press releases have catchy headlines and will be of interest to readers.