Increase Website Traffic

We all want to get more visitors to our  blogs or websites. The trick is how to get more visitors without breaking the bank. These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg of free things webmasters can do to promote their website, but they are sure to get you more hits on your website without costing any money.

Add a  Social Media Share Button:
With the popularity of social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, you'd be foolish not to include an easy way for your content to be shared with others. You'll find many free services that will give you the code you need to instantly add a "share button" to your web pages so that visitors can instantly share them with their friends. To generate your own buttons see: AddThis  or  TwitThis

Create a Blog:
Create a blog and blog about your site. A blog also gives you the opportunity to add your link to your blog site and that can increase your page rank. Writing original content in your blog at least once a week gives people new content about your website and your products.

Join Clubs & Groups:
There are thousands of groups and organizations on the internet covering every possible subject so find some that have common ground with your website and join them. Be sure and write on the  group forums or blogs and of course attach your website address to the bottom of your comments. When my husband started Michael Arnold Art, he joined all the art sites listed in "Links to sell your art online" and his website gets 100,000 unique visitors a month now!

Use Social Bookmarks:
Use Stumbleupon and other website bookmarks. Stumble is a great resource and can be really fun and addictive. After you sign up and add the toolbar you simply press the stumble button and it will take you to random sites on the web that fit the interests you specify. Once your site is stumbled, it means other people will be randomly routed to your site by stumble, and allowed to give it a thumbs up or down. I stumbled my Floridian Nature and they got over a 100 visitors in less than two days from Stumble. If you're launching a new site, or new content, write an introduction and submit it to social bookmarking sites like Digg, Reddit and Netscape. See our 23 Top Social Bookmarking sites for more great places to submit your content.

Add More Content to your Website:
Add some informative pages to your website. Google seems to give higher preference to pages that offer advice or information, so be sure and add some pages that aren't just selling your wares. It can get some people to your website who may not have come otherwise and who knows they might just stay a while and browse the whole website. Add some fun and interesting widgets, YouTube Videos and other items. This is a quick and easy way to add interesting content to your website. 

Use your  Website as a Signature:
Use your web address as the signature in all your emails. Adding a signature to all outgoing mail is a quick way to get the message out to everyone you email. This is similar to passing out business cards to people you meet only it's a lot easier. We sometimes forget just how many  people we communicate with by email on a weekly basis, and this will give you a reason to keep those "forwards" moving.  If you don't know how to make the HTML tag for a link, just try this: <a href="http://michaelarnoldart.com/" target="_blank" >Michael Arnold Art</a> . All you have to do is switch out your web address between the quotation marks, and then put the words you want them to see where it says Michael Arnold art. The target=_blank part makes the link open in a new window. You can also use this code on any blog or site that accepts HTML code. Join Social Groups:

Join social groups and be sure to complete the profiles with links and information to your website. Places like Friendster, My Space and Facebook are free spots and easy to use. After you join and complete your profile try and join some groups that may be interested in your website content. On Facebook you can also add a business page and invite your friends to join it. The bottom line is is getting as many links to your website out there on the web! YouTube:
Create a YouTube video. Make a video and post it on YouTube that has a reference to your website. Be sure to complete your YouTube profile and mention your website there. I am not very talented when it comes to making a video but I was able to make three of my videos by using photos I had or found online and Picasa 3. I downloaded Picasa here. It's a Google product so I was comfortable that it was safe to use. Here is how one of Website Creations videos turned out: Dog Encyclopedia. 

RSS Feed & Newsletters:
Add an RSS feed to your blog or website. Make it easy for people to subscribe to your website by having a RSS Feed. This makes it easy for others to keep up with your most recent posts. The best service for this is FeedBurner  nbsp;There's an old saying that people won't buy from you the very first time they come to your website, so you need a way to stay in touch with them to bring them back again and again. By offering a newsletter, also known as an ezine, you'll be building a list of possible prospects which is invaluable to any site owner. You'll find a multitude of free and low cost newsletter services online. It's up to you, depending on your needs and what you can afford. If you don't want to pay anything, my favorite free services are: FreeAutoBot   and Yahoo Groups.