Traffic is a pretty good indication of how well you are doing online because without visitors, how can you sell anything?

The problem is to get more traffic to your site you're going to have to advertise your online presence which will cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars without any guarantees of how effective that advertising is going to be.

The beauty of Internet is that it was designed to be free, so this means there are an incredible number of opportunities for you to "advertise" your business online...for FREE!

With that, I'm going to go over some of best ways you can advertise online for free.

Email Signature files:

This is such a simple and easy way to promote your business. Yet, I find it amazing how few people use their 'Sig file' to promote themselves. Every e-mail you send out should be accompanied by a four to six line "advertisement" for your business.

To get maximum response from your 'Sig file' you should offer some incentive to visit your site. If you offer a free report or ebook you are more likely to generate interest and click thru's than if you simply ask them to come to your site.

Another good use of your 'Sig file' is to promote your newsletter or e-zine. Let people know that they can "Get an informative monthly newsletter by visiting www.yoursite.com and signing up now!"

Even though email signatures are extremely basic, and even though it will not single-handedly create your online success, it won't hurt. So, start including a 'Sig file' at end of all your emails.

Tell-A-friend:

Using a "Tell-A-Friend" feature on your site is a great way to get qualified traffic. Because it is a personal referral from one of your visitors it is very powerful. If they didn't think your content was useful they wouldn't recommend your site.

Anybody who is referred to your site by a friend is less skeptical and more likely to buy. That's visitor you want, right!

One more little trick to get people to refer your website to their friends is to offer an incentive. Similar to how you got people to click through from your 'Sig file'. Are you starting to notice a pattern here? If you want people to do what you want (click thru's, refer a friend, or buy your product) you have to give them a reason, an incentive, a BRIBE!

It's completely ethical; you're just giving your prospect a little push in right direction ;-). It's difficult to get people to do what you want on their own accord so you have to answer "what's in it for me?"

by Robin Nobles

New Web sites are springing up online by millions. However, when they don’t reach a level of success, Web site owners assume that they can’t make money off Internet.

Wrong.

The one thing that is important to know, however, is that you do have to work to make money online. Just like having a regular offline business, online business needs to be taken care of, Web site continually updated, and customers made to feel safe and secure when doing business with you.

So, let’s devote this article to simple things you can do to have a successful online business. Remember that books have been written on this subject, so this article won’t be all inclusive by any means.

But, for average Web site owner, it will give you simple steps to take to turn your online business down right path toward achieving success.

Future of Internet --

In January of 2003, Roy H. Williams, who is widely known and respected as “Wizard of Ads,” finally declared, "Now is time to get in." For years, Roy has been watching and predicting Internet's future. Back in 1996, he declared, "The Internet is a baby born premature." He even predicted great dot com crash that we’re still recovering from.

So what does Roy have to say about future of Internet? Roy says that buying public has finally figured out how to use Internet and what it's good for: specifically, "information gathering and features-based comparison-shopping."

What does Roy suggest for Web sites today?

1. Ignore heavy graphic sites and focus on providing information for your visitors.

2. Build confidence by interacting with your Web visitors and anticipating and answering their questions.

3. Don’t think “advertising” – think information delivery.

4. Focus on Web site architecture (a simply designed site) and exceptional writing.

5. Help your visitors find what they’re looking for within a few minutes of landing on your site. If you make them hunt for information, they’re gone.

For more information such as what was mentioned above, subscribe to Michael Campbell’s newsletter. Michael is one of most well-known Internet marketers, and his newsletter is exceptional. http://www.internetmarketingsecrets.com

For more information about Roy H. Williams and his advertising philosophies, visit: http://www.newsbios.com/wizard_of_ads.htm

So, with Roy’s predictions in mind, let’s look at some ways to make our Web sites stronger, more visible, and have a better chance at being successful.

Purchase your own domain name –

Having a professional image is very important on Web, and it begins with having your own domain name. Having your Web site located at AOL or one of free Web hosting companies takes away a level of professionalism.

Let’s face it: purchasing a domain is cheap! Did you know that you can purchase a domain name for $21.95 a YEAR?? That’s it! From there, you’ll want to use a professional hosting company, which will provide an address for your Web site. Combustion Hosting will be glad to take care of purchasing your domain name for you, moving your “old” Web site to their location, and hosting site for you. Their rates to “host” your domain begin at only $15.49 a month, which is an excellent price. “Hosting” a domain simply means to provide an address on Web for your site. http://www.combustionhosting.com/moreinfo

Naming your domain –

Before you rush off to purchase a domain, let’s talk for a minute about naming your domain. Most businesses want to name their domain after name of their company, which is understandable. However, if you can name your domain using keywords that people might be searching for when looking for products or services you provide, you’re giving your site a small edge with search engines.

For example, if name of your company is Simply Southern, and if you purchase domain name simplysouthern.com, you’re not using any keywords in that domain name, and someone seeing that domain name will have no idea what your site is about.

So, why not purchase simply-southern-catering.com, which will give engines (and your visitors) a keyword phrase that describes your site: catering.

Your e-mail address --

When you set up your own domain name, be sure to use that domain name in your e-mail address, such as:

Robin@searchengineworkshops.com

Again, this adds a level of professionalism to your business. In my case, I have an e-mail address through my local ISP, which is how I access Internet. I use a nickname in that e-mail address. Therefore, rather than use that e-mail address, it would be better for me to use above e-mail address that’s connected to my domain name and online business.

Professional image –

When you have a Web site, you want to portray a professional image. You want your visitors comfortable enough with your online business to purchase whatever it is you're selling.

So, don’t let your 12-year old nephew design your Web site with cutesy graphics of cartoon characters. Instead, have it designed by a professional. To save money on Web design, you can always have designer create main page of your site and maybe one or two interior pages, and then develop a “template” for you. Templates are “skeleton” Web pages containing just basic design, and you can then cut and paste rest of your pages into template and finish up site yourself, if you’re comfortable with working on your own site.