Submitting to search engines/directories is a smart idea, but it seems like an eternity before you see results of your efforts. Meanwhile, you're anxious to get traffic and make sales, right?

I have just site promotion technique for you: pay-per-click (PPC) search engines.

PPC programs work like this: you bid on keywords related to your site's content/products/services. The higher you bid, higher your link appears in search results. One of great things about PPC is that you don't pay unless someone actually clicks your link - in other words, you pay only for results. PPC campaigns can be surprisingly affordable, even for sites on a limited budget.

Another benefit of utilizing PPC is that you begin generating traffic almost immediately. There is no 6-8 week waiting period for your site to appear in index - it's usually more like 2-3 days.

Before you rush off to open an account, though, there are a few basic things to do beforehand to maximize your campaign's effectiveness.

First, calculate how much you can afford to pay for each visitor to your web site. If you have a product that sells for $100.00, 1 out of every 100 visitors buys product, and you pay $1.00 for each visitor, you'll break even on campaign ($1.00 x 100 visitors = $100.00 spent/$100.00 sale). If you pay more than $1.00/visitor, you'll lose money and if you pay less than $1.00/visitor, you'll make a profit.

Know what you can afford to spend per visitor (per click) before making your bids. Armed with this knowledge, you'll be better equipped to execute a profitable campaign.

Second, create a list of keywords related to your site/product/service. Develop a list of at least a few hundred keywords; preferably 1000 or more. I realize that's a lot, but as a general rule, a list of 10-20 keywords won't net you much traffic.

If you're having trouble brainstorming keywords, many of PPC engines have tools to help you. GoTo's Search Suggestion Tool generates a list of search terms related to keywords you enter and ranks them in order from most to least popular. Try GoTo Keyword Wizard at JimTools.com (http://www.jimtools.com) too.

Here are steps to increase your search engine rankings:

1. Check your listings If you are going to see an increase in traffic to your web site, you need to be listed in top 20-30 sites. Go to http://www.marketleap.com to see if you are listed in top 30 sites on major search engines. If you are not listed in them, you should at least submit your site to major search engines (read “How to get listed in major search engines”. http://www.isitebuild.com/majorsearchengines). If you are already in top 10, then keep monitoring your site's rankings to maintain your position. If you are not in top 30, continue with next step.

2. Select right keywords and phrases Go to www.wordtracker.com or overture suggestion tool (http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion) to find most popular words and phrases that suit theme of your web site.

Weave these words and phrases into your meta tags (title, description and keyword tags), web copy (particularly first 200 words of your web page) and links (i.e. if your site is called camping.com and you have a page for camping tools, name link www.camping.com/campingtools.htm, instead of www.camping.com/generic.htm).

Optimize each web page with different keywords. Visitors can then enter your site from different pages, depending on what keyword they entered in search engines.

3. Exchange reciprocal links Search for other sites that compliment your own site and ask for a link back to your site. Ideally site should have same keyword phrase as yours and already have a high search engine ranking. These are quality links.