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So, affiliation is extremely important. Not only will visitors of an affiliate see and possibly visit your link, but you’ll increase your search engine ranking as well.
SOTM, SOTW features! There are tons of websites (Pixel2life.com included) that have a featured Site of Month or Site of Week section, usually on main page. This is a great way to get some free exposure, assuming you have a site that would earn this kind of regard. If you’ve got quality, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t win a few of these features. How to find them? Easy as pie! Get on Google and do a search for any of following:
“Site of week” “Site of week” subject* “Site of Month” “Site of Month” subject*
* Customize subject with whatever your site is about – like graphics or programming etc...
Here’s a little cheat for you… I won Site of Week at FTP Planet (http://www.ftpplanet.com) and received 3000 unique visitors day it was posted in their newsletter, and I still get hits from archived link. You can post your entry at http://www.ftpplanet.com/cgi/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum=Your+Web+Site&number=10&DaysPrune=1000&LastLogin=
Innocent advertising is a non-obtrusive way to plug your site IF you do it properly. Check out http://www.big-boards.com for large forums that are in line with your interests. Sign up and check signature guidelines… staying within guidelines, plug your site in your sig and start posting! Now, here’s catch… post relevant information to forum and genuinely contribute to discussions. Don’t just fly on there and start plugging your site or you’ll probably get banned. Just go shoot shit with forumites and let your sig do rest. This is guaranteed to get you additional traffic. Same thing with every place you would leave a signature. Email, forums, blogs, newsgroups etc… but actually post something worth reading, otherwise you’re just another spamming asshat.
The bottom line is that you need to get involved in community that your site revolves around. Talk to people, learn about your community and make adjustments as you go. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, so you have to work at it. The harder you work at it, better results. You’re not paying for anything money-wise, but you will be spending quite a bit of time in front of screen, especially at first.
Sign your work! If you create wallpapers or post photography (YOUR photography) sign your work with your website address. If people like what they see, they know where to go for more.
Tell a friend script, and a newsletter is also important (Yeah, I know I haven’t got one, but we’re working on it). Tell a Friend is a little script that allows a visitor to send a pre-made email to someone he or she knows that tells them about your website. The person just types in email address they want notice to go to and click submit. This is a nice simple way for your guests to share your site with others if they like it enough and want to share their find :)
A newsletter is a great reminder tool to previous visitors to come check out your site for new features and content. Many of your visitors will visit your site and forget about it, even if they really enjoyed their first look. This is natural and a common internet fact. By keeping an opt-in newsletter, you can send a monthly email to anyone that has joined list and that will remind those “one night stand” people that you’re still around and site is better than ever.
Well, that’s about it for time being, I hope this helps you get your new site off ground, or lift your old site even higher. Feel free to post your own traffic grabbing suggestions or comment on pointers in my article.
Remember, be polite, be personal, get to point, and don't be shy. If your site has quality content updated on a regular basis, there's no reason why you should feel intimidated when trying to share it with others. Just don't spam and annoy people, and you'll be amazed at what happens over next few months.
All best, Faken
Dan Richard is the owner of http://www.pixel2life.com - a tutorial search engine site catoring to webmasters, graphic designers and programmers.