Have you just started your website or need more visitors? I am sure I already know the answer and here are some tips to help spread the word about your site and drive traffic to your site.

1. Great content

The old adage is “Content is King” and this is so true in an online world. Nothing gets you to the top of the search engines faster than great content that people want to link to. Some ideas for getting links through content is guest posting on blogs related to your industry, writing tutorials for your industry, or writing article and submit to article directory type sites.

2. Start using CPC advertising

CPC advertising or Cost Per Click will allow you to immediately be at the top of search engines. You can start small with a budget of a few cents a day and spend all the way up to thousands of dollars a day. We have been using Google Adwords and Yahoo Publisher for several years now and haven’t found any other type of advertising that gets as much bang for the buck.

3. Use web directories

Submit your site to all the major directories. There are lots and lots of free directories that will link back to you without having to link to them. Keep in mind some do charge and some take FOREVER to actually approve your link (think dmoz) but I would recommend submitting early and just forgetting about it. You could drive your self crazy trying to figure out why your site isn’t approved yet.

4. Run A Competition

Lets face it, people like winning things. Some competition ideas could be for people registering at your site, joining a newsletter, posting a listing, or commenting on an article. The possibilities are really endless and you can find some cool in-expensive product to give away. I would probably find a product in your industry to give away. If you have a horse classifieds site your users probably wouldn’t want to win a toy boat.

5. Find Partners

You can find partners that are in the same niche and trade links or advertising. In this same category can also be posting in related forums and including a link to your site in the signature. When you do this add some thing relevant to post or thread or you could get banned.

6. Create Buzz

Come up with lots of wild ideas and you might find one that actually works. Look at the million dollar home page!

7. Advertise Locally

Don’t forget about car stickers, road side signs, t-shirts, or sponsoring an event. A lot of not for profit companies hold events that allow sponsorship. In our area sponsoring a small event costs a few hundred dollars.