What Can I Do To Increase Traffic and Market My WebSite Better? This is one of the most common questions we face from our clients and the answer is of course better search engine ranking. Search engines are the battlefield of the internet.... The King of the Mountain in the Virtual World. However, we have some tips and tactics to help out and hopefully give you the edge you need increase your web business. Some of the most effective tactics and marketing tips that we have used for our clients over the years includes:

• Multi-Site Tactic
• Link Swapping
• Keyword Emphasis
• Image Keywords
  
• Pay-Per-Click Advertising

• Free Methods for Marketing Your Site
• Fee Based Methods for Website Marketing

Mutli-Site Tactic - One of the ways we have helped companies increase their exposure is by setting up additional domains (websites) that we call "Traffic Grabbers". These sites have keywords in the actual domain name and the pages themselves are packed with keywords and keyword meta tags. We also apply the "Link Swapping" technique described below to link to the other sites and main site of the company owner so all his sites link together forming a link circle.

Link Swapping - Link swapping is one of the most effective ways to help boost your sites ranking in search engines! First, Google will put more emphasis on a site that has quality links. Second, it gives you another possible listing to come up in, in the results page!  The process of link swapping is simply contacting other sites (not your competition) and e-mailing or calling them to see if they would put a link in their site that links to your site. If they do, then you do the same for them. A "Links" page is a good place to put these links.

Keyword Emphasis -Each search engine has a different set of rules for ranking a site, but most still look at the content (text) within the site and in particular, words that are bolded and increased in font size. So, one of the methods we recommend is to go through your site and bold keywords, increase their size, change the color and even use <h1><h2> tags on them.

Image Keywords - Every image in your site has underlying tags usually called "Alt Text" and even "Title". Most people forgot to enter keywords into these image tags but it is crucial if you want to help your site rank better. You can enter as many as you like but we recommend keeping these down to aroud 5-8 keywords or a small keyword phrase.

Free Methods for  Increasing your web site's traffic

We have compiled this page to assist you with promoting your website. Follow the steps below to properly list your site with the free submit search engines.

1. Go to this address www.freewebsubmission.com
   Special Note:  Always put your company name, website address and even e-mail address on anything and everything you send out..... i.e. ( e-mails, letters, newspaper ads, business cards, envelopes, vehicle signage and any other media type which other people may see).
   
   
2. Local Community Linking - Be sure to always get your site listed with your local community websites. Virtually every city throughout the USA has a city, county, chamber or local government website or all of the above. Most will allow you to list your company on their site for free or for a small monthly or yearly rate.
   
3. Message Board Ads - Join a message board or some sort of forum that concerns a topic you have a great deal of knowledge in and pertains to the goods or services your site offers. Go in and post answers to peoples questions and be sure to always refer to your site by putting in the web address and company name. Several people can look at one post and see this information which is great advertisement.
   
   
4. Auction & Classifieds Sites - Although not all are free, this is a great and inexpensive way to promote your company, goods and services. If you sell any sort of tangible good or even non-tangible items, then create listings often in sites like Ebay, Yahoo Auctions and as of late, the popular Craig's List. In your listings, be sure to promote your company as much as you can within the legal limits of the site. Some auction sites will not allow you to type in or obviously advertise your web business. Just be clever about it and put in statements like "for more information and tech specs, go to www.mysite.com". Use graphics if needed instead of static text.
   
   
5. Opt-In mailing lists -  Opt-in mailing lists are sites that send out mails to people who choose to receive mails about a certain product, service or general information. Some of these lists you need to pay for but they are excellent for getting right to your target market. Search the internet for various opt-in mail sites and use as many free ones as you can.
   
   
6. Free search engine listings - a handful of the most popular search engines still offer a free submit feature for you to get your site listed with them. DO NOT fall for the ads claiming to submit your site to hundreds or thousands of search engines. This is a waste of time and money.

1. Pay-Per-Click - Google's program is called "Ad Words".  This method of advertising your site is basically like buying customers according to keywords. These are the results that usually display on the far right of the results page. Although some disagree, we have read that being a part of this program will help your ranking in the main results section. The method involves you placing a bid on a keyword like "Stereo" and each time someone clicks on your link from this service, you pay whatever the bid amount is. Your bid amount is what directly determines your ranking in that search results. For instance, If you bid $.02 on a word and another company bid $.03 then they would come up above you in the rankings. You can always increase your bid amount and bid on as many keywords or keyword phrases as you wish. It is wise to track the number of hits you get from this service and compare it to the number of sales so you can determine if the keyword you are bidding on it generating business.
   
   
2. Marketing Services - There are several companies that claim they can get you ranked in the top 10 of all major search engines. Be wary of all these!!!. Do your research on each company and be sure to obtain documented proven results. We do not have a list of any credited services since so many fall by the wayside each year. Some are legitimate however but basically employ the same methods described in this site for a fee. Be sure you sign up with a service that will actually generate new meta-tags and other features for your pages every 2-3 months and re-submit your site to the search engines.
   
   
3. Directory Services - Some sites exist mainly for the purpose of listing companies in various markets. The Thomas Register is one of the most widely used and recognized of these services. They will list your company and web site in their directory for an annual fee which will also help in the search engine ranking of your site. This method is also a great way to get your company in front of your target market. Another directory service is the on-line Yellow Pages. If the fee is not to high, we recommend using this service. Yahoo is one of the most popular Yellow Page services on the internet.