How can I get more traffic or people to visit my website?

So finally you have your site up and running, but now where are all the visitors? Perhaps you thought, or were led to believe, that all you had to do was 'build it and they will come'. While this sometimes can be the case, more often than not it will take a lot of effort to generate decent levels of traffic. If you find yourself in this situation and asking "How can I get more traffic to my site? ", then it may be time to start thinking outside of the box.

In many ways setting up a site can be similar to setting up a business in the outside world. It is one thing to build a store and stock it with merchandise. You then open your doors only to realise that although you have built it on the side of a highway, there is no exit ramp to help drive any of that traffic to your store.

The obvious solution is to build an off-ramp to get some customers. Great idea, and logical.. right? At first it seems so, as the traffic starts to trickle in. But still you aren't selling much. It doesn't take long to realise most of your drive-by visitors are looking for food or gas, when you happen to be selling furniture.

This scenario is much the same in the online business world. You not only need to get more traffic to your site, but it must be targeted traffic. This means visitors to your site who are interested in, or looking to buy exactly what you are selling. Otherwise you may find that you are making a few sales here and there, but mostly you will be turning away a lot of customers.

Most people attempt to get website traffic in just four main ways:

1) Search engines - Optimising your content using keywords so that search engines can find it.

2) Paying for it - Using advertising such as Google AdWords, etc.

3) Article Marketing - Writing on sites such as HubPages, EzineArticles and Squidoo.

4) Social Media - Posting a link on sites such as Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, etc.

If used correctly these methods can all be effective to get targeted traffic, and are definitely a good start. They can also be a bit hit-and-miss, as many internet marketers have learned the hard way. The first three methods alone often involve a constant battle to retain rankings, and rely heavily on Google - who can be a fickle beast. This is often evidenced by the endless changes to their algorithm and their constant and infamous 'slaps'.

There is also a steady stream of marketers being banned for life from Google's AdWords and AdSense programs. These bans are often for making small and sometimes innocent mistakes, so tread carefully and make sure you keep fully up to date with (and abide by! ) their terms of service.

If you have tried some of the methods above and don't seem to be getting anywhere then do not despair. The good news is that there are many other ways to get targeted traffic, and almost all of them are free and have nothing to do with Google, SEO or keyword research. In fact many sites get almost all of their traffic by using these little-known methods alone.

Personally I can think of over 20 other ways to get targeted traffic. A few that immediately spring to mind are:

1) Guest blogging on high traffic sites - These opportunities are widely available on the internet, and will provide a new audience plus backlinks to your site. Type 'guest bloggers wanted' into your search engine to get an idea of what this involves.

2) Joint Ventures - This is where you team up with another internet marketer and create a win-win deal. For example - perhaps you have a great product, and he/she has a large list of subscribers. Your partner agrees to promote your product to their customers, and you agree to provide a substantial discount or special offer.

3) Posting a video - Use an existing article, and turn it into a video or podcast. This will provide you a new type of audience who prefer this medium, and may not be interested in reading articles. Creating a video or podcast is really simple these days, and can be uploaded to a popular site such as YouTube in minutes (If you don't like/support Google, or have been blacklisted, then be aware that they also own YouTube)

4) Writing an ebook - There are a couple of great sites (Lulu. com is one of them) that make it really easy to turn your articles into an ebook. Once again, this puts you in front of a whole different crowd and provides links to your site. You can even offer your eBook for free on many sites. This is great because everyone likes free stuff, and many will download your book and visit your site.

5) Commenting on high traffic blogs in your niche - This is probably the easiest one to do. Visit other blogs in your niche and leave a comment on popular posts. The trick here is to really read the article, and add to the conversation. If you do this regularly people will get to know who you are, and what you have to offer. If they like what you are about (or sometimes when they don't! ) they will follow your link to visit your site.

Needless to say there are many more effective ways to drive targeted traffic to your site than what most people realise. A lot of which are quicker and easier than what you may presently be experiencing - although they will still require some effort.

using as many ways as possible to get more traffic, rather than putting all of your eggs in one basket.

Along the way you may just experience a better return for your efforts.

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