Have you ever been contacted by online marketers who promise to deliver a "ton of traffic" to your website" ? I get these emails every day. Here's a quote from one I used to get 10 times a day (until I automatically filtered it to trash):

"Hi I visited www.metamend.com, and noticed that you're not listed on some search engines! I think we can offer you a service which can help you increase traffic and number of visitors to your website.

I would like to introduce you to thispromotioncompany.com. We offer a unique technology that will submit your website to over 300,000 search engines and directories every month.

You'll be surprised by low cost, and by how effective this website promotion method can be.

To find out more about thispromotioncompany and cost for submitting your website to over 300,000 search engines and directories, visit www.thispromotioncompany.com. (...)"

Have you ever received one, and wondered why they were contacting you? First off, how did they find your web site? What search engines are they referring to? If they really could deliver on their promise, then they would have so much repeat, and word of mouth business, that they wouldn't have time to be calling or emailing you. Lastly, how many people actually believe that there are 300,000 search engines?

While it's true you need traffic from search engines, you don't need to use spam techniques to get it. You need real results, and not false hope.

Increase Web Site Traffic,.. Naturally

It is true that best way to obtain lots of targeted traffic (customers) is to acquire it based on relevance, via search engines. Various studies show that anywhere from 83% to 92% of first time visitors to a web site find it through search engines. That's an incredible statistic. If you are not acquiring those customers as a result of a relevant query, then they will be disappointed. They may be disappointed with search result, but more likely, they will be disappointed with your web site.

In online world that's your first impression. We all know how important a first impression is. You can never get a bad one back, and a good one will carry you a long way. You have to make sure that search engines are sending you visitors that are looking for your products or services. If your web site matches their interests, they will remember it, and come back, even if they do not make a purchase on that visit. If they find it irrelevant, they may have subconsciously formed a negative opinion of your online business, through no fault of your own.

Search engines provide a continuous stream of targeted visitors to your website, and for most part, it's free of charge. Some engines do charge a listing fee, but most do not. The only thing search engine asks is that each web site operator makes an effort to provide relevant and good information to web surfers for a particular search phrase. If a web site does so, search engines will reward site with increased good quality traffic.

Where there was once a myriad of ways to confuse and manipulate Google, one thing is now becoming apparent. The aim of Google is to present a fair and unbiased return for your efforts, genuinely rewarded whether large or small, wealthy or poor. The aim is to eradicate any form of cheating and manipulation, in favour of pure results which reflect genuine attempts to put your infant website on adult web.

By and large, and much to Googles credit, this goal is being achieved, step by step, yard by yard. Meta tags are now all but redundant, multiple repetition becoming useless. We all know scams and tricks, and we all know they are becoming less effective.

I was a systems programmer for many years, quite a few of which were in designing and building efficient indexes for huge concerns. Armed with this perspective it is easier for me to see where Google is headed in long run, their ultimate goal being a real index for real people with real websites, I think a very laudable concept in a very monetary world, where they are no doubt deluged with offers of remuneration for consideration.

The good news for all of us out here with a semblance left of fair play and level playing fields is that ultimately this should lead to two factors becoming predominant. The first will be content, pure and simple, so if you can take time to actually write about what it is you sell, enjoy doing, wish you were doing etc, then chances are you will be heard. The more interested you are in your subject, longer missive, and more likely it is you will be judged as a real and actual site rather than a manufactured effort to manipulate ether in your favour. Content will be practically all, and that is how it should be in my book, so if your website strays off your said concept to include a can of worms on many other subjects thrown in, expect no mercy.