Tips for How to Generate Website Traffic (Step 8)

The free and easiest way to generate website traffic is to submit your sites' URL or sitemap to Google, Yahoo and MSN to help you start to generate traffic. You can do this one by one or use a company that will submit for you.

Submit your URL

Google - Add URL Link (Google based search engines include: AOL Search, CompuServe Search, Netscape, MySpace Search)

Yahoo! Search Add URL Link (Yahoo! based search engines include: AltaVista and All the Web)

MSN Live Search Add URL Link

Create a Sitemap

Google, Yahoo! and MSN joined together in November 2006 to support industry standard for sitemaps. The official site for this venture is located at sitemaps.org.

If you have not created a sitemap for your site because you believe it is to difficult, now is the time to do it. There are many free sitemap generators online to help you with this process.

Here is one place that will let you create your sitemap for the major search engines. XML-Sitemaps.com. Google will even help you create a sitemap.

I used Xsitepro to build this website and they have a built in sitemap generator. I just go to the "other" tab on my menu and click on Google Sitemap. The step by step instructions walk you through naming the file (or use default), putting priority on each page, and much more.

Submit your sitemap

Google - Add sitemap (you will need to sign-up for Google Webmaster Central. It's free and they have many tools to help enhance your site.)

Yahoo! -To add your sitemap to Yahoo, you will need to have a Yahoo! ID (it's free to sign up) You can submit it with the same link for add URL above for Yahoo!

MSN - As of the writing of this MSN does not have a direct URL to sitemap submission. As soon as they do, I will post the information.

Ask.com - Add sitemap- (once you arrive on the page, go all the down to the bottom and you will see the question of "does Ask.com support sitemaps - follow their procedures)

Social Marketing/Networks

This is a great way to help drive traffic to your site, but it can be real confusing on where to start and what to do. Here is The Social Marketing Blueprint Formula - Free PDF Download to help you learn how by using social marketing so you can generating traffic.

Other Ways to Increase Website Traffic

If you don't want to manual submit your URL or sitemap one by one, use submitexpress to submit your URL to 40+ search engines and directories.

Submit original articles to Article Directories: EzineArticles, Articlesbase, GoArticles just to name a few. If you submit an article to all three of these, make sure you do not submit the exact same one to each of them, change it at least 60% before you submit so you won't get dinged for duplicate content.

Create a blog with Blogger.com or WordPress (just to name a few) about your site and link back to your site.

Create your own page on squidoo. It's free to join and you can create a lens about anything that you want. You can also make money from your lens. It is search engine friendly also, which can help with getting the word out on your product or service.

Another way of increasing website traffic, is to start helping in discussion forums that are within the theme of your website. You can find many forums by doing a search on Google (or search engine of your choice). Try "your theme forums", "your theme discussion groups" (change your theme to your keywords). Don't sign up for every forum you find. Pick out a few that you can become active in and will remain in for a long period of time.

I have not had much luck with MLM, but TrafficSwarm is very good to bring traffic to your website. As of the writing of this, it is free to join up and there are many ways to pick up extra points. Here are just a few ways for you to earn credits:

• Have TrafficSwarm set for your home page- receive 1 credit each time you open your browser
• Click on other user's link from your home page - receive between 1 - 1,000 credits for sites that you visit
• Play the TrafficSwarm Lottery with some of the credits you have
• Freebies - receive these for varies reasons

Use web site traffic statistics software to help find out how your visitors found you. This is great in helping to find out what your traffic is using as keywords to find your site.