| Combinations of two or more of the tips below are | | | | can be very expensive. Use a separate business line if |
| being used by many successful sites today. Use your | | | | you use the phone or you will have calls coming in to |
| imagination and see what you can do with them. | | | | your home phone around the clock as the world turns. |
| Because there are so many web sites on the internet | | | | If your site becomes known for this service you may |
| today visitors are spread quite thinly and web traffic is | | | | need to employ people to help keep up. If this happens |
| one of the scarcest commodities on the internet today. | | | | you can bring in a two tier system whereby you have |
| Without it your online business does not exist. | | | | a free service and a paid service offering something |
| 1. You could give people a free subscription to your | | | | extra. |
| newsletter. Almost everyone is publishing a newsletter | | | | 7. Give visitors a free entry into a contest you are |
| nowadays so it is important to give something extra | | | | running. The prizes should be something of interest or |
| with the free subscription. You need to set yourself | | | | value to your visitors or relevant to your site's topics. |
| apart from the other internet marketers out there. This | | | | Most people who enter will continually revisit your web |
| might be done by offering a gift or free advertising | | | | site to get the results. Do not be discouraged if the first |
| when people subscribe. | | | | one or two contests do not set the world on fire. The |
| 2. Provide your visitors with new and original content. | | | | word has to get out. People will talk to their friends |
| Your content will be more attractive to your visitors if it | | | | about this site that is running this great contest, and |
| is up-to-date or original. You could also offer people | | | | before too long your site will have a name for running |
| the option to reprint the content in their newsletter or | | | | contests. There are people out there who really go for |
| web site. You will need to change your content | | | | that sort of thing and will visit your site regularly. |
| frequently if you do this. But the benefits are worth the | | | | 8. Let visitors download free software. It could be |
| effort. The search engines will love your site and keep | | | | freeware, shareware, demos etc. You could even turn |
| coming back. Your site will rank highly in their results | | | | part of your site into a free software area and let |
| and your visitors will keep coming back for the latest | | | | other people sell it or give it away from this area. You |
| updates. | | | | do not need to produce the free software yourself. |
| 3. Use PPC directories. You can advertise in pay per | | | | There are plenty of sources on the web. All you have |
| click directories. With PPC you only pay when some | | | | to do is link to them. If you gather a significant amount |
| one clicks on your link. If no one clicks you pay nothing. | | | | of software of a type relevant to the topic of your |
| This method is very good if you are selling a product | | | | site you will make your site a valuable resource for |
| at your site. It is easy to assess the cost of each sale | | | | your visitors and they will keep coming back to get |
| and measure you success. | | | | more. |
| There are lots of PPC sites out there now. Google | | | | 9. Offer free online services or utilities from your web |
| and Yahoo! are not the only ones. You can often get | | | | site. They could be search engine submitting, copy |
| a better deal at these other sites depending on the | | | | writing proofreading etc. The service or utility should be |
| competition for the keyword you are using. Shop | | | | helpful to your target audience. |
| around. There is probably a site out there with your | | | | 10. Give your visitors a free membership to your online |
| keyword going cheap. But, Make sure that it can | | | | club. People like to feel that they belong to something, |
| deliver the traffic. You can do this by checking its | | | | why not your online club. You could also give away a |
| Alexa rank. If it is not getting much traffic itself, how is | | | | free newsletter for club members only. The members |
| it going to direct traffic to you? | | | | will very likely want to contribute a large part of its |
| 4. Give your visitors a free ebook. You could write | | | | content making it easy to source articles. If you offer |
| your own and include an ad in the ebook linking to your | | | | them a link back to their own site your members will |
| site and allow other people to sell it or give it away. If | | | | be queuing up to put content in your newsletter. |
| you don't want to take the time to write one, you could | | | | I goes without saying that all of the above should be |
| ask other writers permission to use their articles and | | | | relevant to the topic of your site in order to be of |
| assemble an article eBook. Or commission an eBook. | | | | interest to your visitors. Do not keep changing the topic |
| There are plenty of writers around willing to write a | | | | of your site. I see this happening all too often. The |
| fresh eBook for you at a fair price. | | | | webmaster has a site for three months or so and |
| 5. Hold free online classes or seminars. They could be | | | | becomes disheartened because his site not taken off |
| held in your web site's chat room. The idea of "live" | | | | as he hoped, so he decides to try a different topic. |
| information will entice people to visit your web site. You | | | | Doing so he loses the regular visitors s/he had and has |
| will become known as an expert on the topic. | | | | to start at the beginning again in the new topic. Also, |
| 6. If you have expertise in a certain area you could | | | | the search engines will very likely be slow to change |
| offer free consulting to people who visit your web site. | | | | to the new topic, confusing everyone who visits from |
| You could do this via e-mail or by telephone. People will | | | | there. It may also affect the PR of the site as the new |
| consider this a huge value because consulting fees | | | | topic may initially be viewed as unrelated content. |