You might have an attractive web site with great products, but your site will sit untouched in cyberspace without one key factor.

Website traffic.

Traffic to your website is what you turn into sales, so check out the following promotional strategies and start sending visitors to your site in droves.

Strategy # 1 - Publish your own newsletter

Publishing your own newsletter is one of the greatest ways to keep in touch with your visitors. The basic idea is that once you have taken the time and/or money to direct a person to your website, you want to get their name and email address so that you can keep in contact with them.

In my newsletter, the RLB Marketing Essentials Newsletter, I send out an informative, valuable article twice a month. That is what the subscriber gets out of the deal. In return I have part of the newsletter to recommend products or place advertisements.

More on newsletter publishing at: www.redlionbooks.com/1emailmark/nwsltrpublish21.htm

Strategy # 2 - Write articles

Most people browse the Internet for information first, and to shop second. Writing articles can satisfy their need for information and help you out in two ways.

First, putting articles full of information on your website is great content for your website. It gives a reason for people to come to your website and also builds a relationship with your visitors.

Second, you can get traffic from other sites by letting them use your articles. Let anyone use your article on their site, in return they have to place a resource box at the end that directs readers to your website.

More on writing articles at: www.redlionbooks.com/1promo/promoarticles51.htm

Strategy # 3 - TrafficSwarm

This idea is great because it really does bring in some targeted traffic. It's also free, easy to setup, and requires little work after words.

More on TrafficSwarm at: www.redlionbooks.com/zlinks rafficswarm.htm

Strategy # 4 - Offer a GREAT affiliate program

An affiliate program is like having your own sales force working for you. Affiliate programs have become a big trend on the web lately, but good affiliate programs are still few and far between. If you have your own product, don't just start an affiliate program, start a good one.

You should recognize that an affiliate that sends you a sale is your partner. Without them, you probably would have never received that sale, so treat them right. Offer a high percentage of the sale to affiliates (around 20%-30%) if you can, or some type of monthly commission if it suits your product. Paying your affiliates well will pay off in the long run.

More on starting an affiliate program at: www.redlionbooks.com/1affiliatemark/startyourown01htm

Strategy # 5 - Search engines

Search engines and directories are a great way to get free traffic, but you have to get a decent ranking to really see the benefits.

I believe that getting a great ranking in search engines starts with the way your web site is made. First, all of your pages should be properly meta-tagged. Although not a magic solution, meta tags will help your ranking if done properly. See this in-depth meta tag guide at searchenginewatch.com:

www.searchenginewatch.com/webmasters/meta.html��

Next, you should have keyword rich pages and page titles. Your writing should reflect what your site is about. You'll notice that if you scan this page you'll see words like "promotion" and "traffic."� Those are the words that I would want this article to come up under in a search. I also put the most important words in my page title.

Also, be sure to submit to search engines the correct way. There are services that will submit your site to hundreds of search engines every month, for a fee. That can be great for the hundreds of smaller search engines, but be careful when submitting to the more important search engines. Submitting too often can get you banned with the major search engines, so submit to them manually.

The really important search engines can be responsible for thousands of visitors every month. Although it won't make or break your business, having a good rank in many of the major search engines and directories can be enormously beneficial.

Search engine tips at: www.redlionbooks.com/1searcheng/sitesoltips61.htm

Strategy # 6 - Viral Marketing

Viral marketing has become a fairly important subject lately. For those of you new to viral strategies, viral marketing allows you to multiply your marketing efforts without actually doing more work. Here are the basics.

First off, we'll start with the (probably overused) example of Hotmail. When Hotmail started out with its free email services, it attached a footer to every email message sent out. That footer said something like "Sign up for your own free Hotmail account now and send free email." Every time any user of Hotmail sent a message, that footer was at the end. A lot of people who received those emails signed up and sent more emails which signed up more people. It is similar to tipping over the first domino and watching the rest fall over.

The best viral tools are products that are valuable so that people will want to spread the word. For example, a free ebook that is packed with great information and points to your site can spread as people refer the ebook to others, who visit your site, download the book, and the process continues.

The key here though, is that the product really has to be desirable, a great deal. My free ebooks have a retail value of $34.94 but I give them away in exchange for subscribing to my free newsletter. That is a great deal and many people wouldn't hesitate to tell their friends about it.

Strategy # 7 - Giving away value

This is similar to my viral strategy involving free ebooks. But besides the viral aspect, I also have another reason for giving away two valuable ebooks.�

I want to sign people up for my newsletter, and they are a lot more likely to do that if I am giving them something valuable.

It's all about what's in it for the customer. I want their contact information, so I have to put something of value up for the customer. If your site has something valuable, the visitor will show their appreciation.

Best of luck to you,

JC Anderl www.Redlionbooks.com, [email protected]

Visit my site or email me if you have any questions about marketing or website promotion.

About the author: JC's website, Redlionbooks.com, specializes in advice about Internet marketing and web site promotion. Free access to articles and ebooks, learn how to market your product or service online at Redlionbooks.com