I - Introduction II - Web Directories III - Search Engines - Rankings III - Link ahoy! IV - Messageboards and Forums V - Conclusion

I - Introduction --------------------------------

The one thing that webmasters wish for is a steady flow of web traffic to their website.

My aim with this article is to give you a few ideas for bringing web traffic to your website. Once your web traffic is up and flowing, what you do with web traffic is up to you.

First and foremost, web traffic mainly comes from following areas; in no particular order 1. Web Directories 2. Search Engines 3. Link ahoy! 4. Discussion Boards/Forums

We go into each of these in detail below.

II - Web directories --------------------------------

A web directory is not my favorite medium for building web traffic; but it can be useful to build PR which can help to achieve better rankings in Google Search Engine. PR (range of 1-10) is one of factors Google uses to rank its results when someone does a search. Basically, with a higher PR; it is believed that your listing should rank better than those with other PR.

With a quick overview about PR; PR is determined by how many backlinks you have, and quality of those backlinks. The more backlinks you have from quality websites you have, higher PR you will generate; and as a result; better rankings.

Thats beauty about some web directories and link pages. According to how high PR values are for webpage where you want to place your link; your webpage PR value would increase. If you could manage to get many links on various PR6 websites for example; your PR value should increase and your rankings should get better and should drive more traffic.

How to find web directories you ask? Its a simple task: All you need to do is to go to www.google.com and type in your keyword and word directory For example, if keyword was 'Cat', search term would be ‘Cat directory’ are various Cat directories should come up.

III - Linkahoy! --------------------------------

Ebaumsworld is a very popular website for finding jokes. It currently enjoys over 750, 000 unique visitors a month. Yet, on typing ‘jokes’ and performing a search, ebaumsworld is not present in top 100 results. How then can Ebaumsworld enjoy so much web traffic a month?

Ebausmsworld mainly achieves this through backlinks. Interestingly enough, on doing a backlink count with Google, Ebaumsworld chalked up 9,550 in backlinks.

Now lets face reality: Manually creating 9,550 backlinks by manually going to web pages and submitting your link is a very tiring task.

The only way to create so many genuine backlinks is by having GOOD CONTENT.

After studying major websites, I've found that they are two great ways of creating this:

1 Media/Downloads 2. Articles

With Ebaumworld.com, their key is loads of media, not necessarily article writing. Web surfers are attracted to downloads and media in general; It’s a much welcomed difference to all of text found on web pages.

Top Search Engine Ranking

There are no hidden secrets on how to rank high with major search engines. All that is needed is a basic understanding of how search engines work and a bit of know how. Perhaps biggest contributing factor to a successful web site is incoming links or Back Links. Without links, your website will more than likely go unnoticed. So how should you accumulate these links? Below are a few basic methods to accumulate quality back links.

Before you get started

You MUST understand how search engines work. Over 90% of your business will likely come directly from search engine results. Therefore, it is absolutely essential to optimize your site for search engines. You could have greatest deals in entire world, but if no one knows about them then your efforts are wasted. Do a search on google for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). You will find tons of great information on how to create a website that is both user friendly and search engine friendly. There are also countless numbers of companies and freelancers out there who offer SEO services. Just be cautious of their offers and do your research first. Remember, NO ONE can guarantee top placement in major search engines, no matter what they say.

Where should back links come from?

1. Articles are a fantastic source of links and additional traffic to your site. There are countless sites online that want your articles. It’s a win win situation for everyone. When you write articles and submit them online, you are able to leave a link to your own site and sometimes even anchor text. I know what you’re saying, “I can’t write about anything.” I use to feel same way. But truth of matter is, anyone can write. You just have to find a topic that interests you. You can write about anything from dogs, to computers, to personal training, to web hosting, heck you can even write about writing. The bottom line is, articles are a valuable source of “relevant” back links to your site.

2. Submit to directories. There are literally hundreds of “free” and “paid” directories online. With 3 hours of painless work, you can have your site submitted to hundreds of great directories. There are many quality lists of directories that are regularly updated. One of my favorites is http://www.best-web-directories.com/ which is always updated and maintained.

3. Develop link exchanges with relevant sites. The major search engines such as google see incoming links from relevant sites, and give them more rank compared a link from an unrelated site. For example, if you have a website about pet care products, your link strategy should target pet related sites. Again with a bit of hard work and determination, you can develop a great deal of “relevant” back links.