“If you build it, they will come.”

Can you say Hogwash! That magic only works in the movies, and no matter how wonderful your website, if you don’t take a few basic steps, it will just sit there and gather virtual dust. The only way to get traffic to your site is by learning the basics of website promotion. Online promotion is totally different that traditional promotion, but if you can grasp and use the secrets, a line of virtual headlights will be heading towards your field.

1. SEO is the starting point. SEO or search engine optimization is the core of any good website promotion plan. SEO involves using keywords which are words that are part of an article on a webpage that are specific in describing what is on eht page. There should be inbound or incoming links from relevant sources, and URL submission to the major search engines like Google and Yahoo to let them and the world know that your site exists.

2. Social networking sites need to be visited to create relationship with like minded individuals. These communities have become a huge part of getting inbound links, building credibility and networking with people in your field. Many of the social networking places include familiar names: Facebook, Youtube, Flickr, MyBlogLog and the like, which are community forums that will highlight and introduce your website and it’s products and services to the world. These posts should be themed, not random or you’ll rapidly build negative credibility for spamming. There really is no need nowadays, because social networking is so easy and it’s fun.

3. Write articles and give them away. Seriously. A good article given away for free stands a fair chance of being reproduced on multiple websites. The trick: your articles should each end with a resource box containing a little about you, and good anchor text with a link back to your site. More free links, more potential customers.

4. Write ebooks and give them away. The power of giving away ebooks was one of the first things discovered by online viral marketers. You won’t get inbound links in most cases, as search engines don’t normally spider ebooks; however, a good book will be shared over and over. On every page, insert your website address in a discrete part of the header or footer. Readers will know where to come for more information.

5. Get other sites to link to you. This is usually done with the free article trick, but you can offer hordes of other free goodies: ebooks, online tools, free software downloads. You may also be able to guest blog for someone with good traffic, or just pay them to run your link somewhere on their site. Just make sure their Google rank is high before you spend all that time and money.

6. Giveaway free services, recipes, calorie counters, charts and exercise kits and reports. Free content and tips are always appreciated and used. If they can post it on their site, so much the better. Ask yourself, what can you offer for free in your niche?

7. Create an affiliate program. Affiliates are like your salesman and cheerleaders. They get a percentage of each sale they make, each referral gives them a little. You, in turn, make more sales and they will do promotion for you.

8. Contests and games are real winners. There are tons of contest clearing sites. If you let them know you have a contest, they will link back to you. Come up with a prize related to your niche so that the traffic that arrives to sign up, will be interested in what you have to sell.

There are plenty of other ways to generate traffic for your site, but this will get you started. Remember, if you ADVERTISE it, they will come. And come. And come.

Learn tips for marketing an online business, or how to start a home based internet business. Visit the website marketing tips blog at http://www.nitromarketing.com/blog

- Kale McClelland

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