Underestimated Income Sources
Looking for some quick website traffic? Put down your Adwords for a moment and let's talk about some of the most underestimated sources of traffic out there. These are sources that my website has benefitted greatly from, and will cost you nothing more than a little time and effort.
1. Link Exchanges - One of the most underestimated traffic sources is the link exchange. I don't see nearly as many ad campaigns that feature link exchanges as I used to. It's a sham...
...e too, as this can be a great source of free traffic, and it doesn't cost you a cent.
Usually I initiate a link exchange by going to a forum like Money Maker Group and finding people who are promoting websites with content that is relative to mine. I tend to get best results from people who have just launched their site, as they're looking for any way to get free traffic. I offer to put their link on my front page if they'll put mine on theirs. As a result of our agreement to display one anothers links, we have created free sources of traffic for our websites. And...it works.
I recently made a link exchange for my home business site that brings me several visitors per day. While it's not as impressive as being featured in Yahoo or Google's top 10 search results, it is a good way to secure a steady source of traffic that you might otherwise not get. If you have just recently launched your website, I would highly recommend this method to you.
2. Forum Promotion - My website is still not listed on any of the major search engines, because I'm too cheap to pay big bucks for a sure listing, and it hasn't been up long enough to be listed via the free submission method. Because of the fact that I'm cheap, I'm doing everything I can to promote cheaply. Other than link exchanges, the best method I've found is forum promotion.
While a link exchange is a way to passively bring more traffic to your site, forum promotion requires more activity. Put your URL in your forum signature if it's allowed. Your signature alone is enough to guarantee some visitors. Better yet is to find forums pertaining to the product that you're selling on your website and promote your site there. New threads will bump old ones to the bottom, so you have to work in new ways to promote your site without spamming the forum. This can be tricky, as many forums will have rules for advertising your website. With proper care, and a little trial and error, you will see the traffic begin to pour in.
Getting traffic to your website can be a big job. Yes, there are easy ways...which cost big money! If you've got the time and the inclination, I think you'll be pleased with the results that you can get from these two free methods.
Gordon Adair is the founder and webmaster of Home Income Depot, a resource for aspiring entrepreneurs who are trying to make money online.
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