As the search engines are evolving each and every day, it's getting harder and harder to get top search engine rankings. The search engines now, highly favor, websites that have a large number of quality, one way links pointing to them. Because of this, it's absolutely critical that we consistently try to get other websites to link to us, WITHOUT us linking back to them. Yes, reciprocal linking is becoming less and less valuable. Submitting your website to website directories is an excellent way to get, quality, 1 way links pointing to your websites. You see, many of the website directories online have a high amount of page rank and have been online for several years. These are 2 of the most important criteria for determining what a good link is, vs what a bad link is. These two criteria are: The age of the website linking to you The Page Rank of the website linking to you With that said, many of these directories have both a high Page Rank AND are old websites, giving them more authority and power in the search engines. Not only that, but there are literally thousands of website directories on the internet that are absolutely free for you to submit your website to! While it does take time to find these directories and then manually fill out all of the required criteria to submit your website, it is an excellent way to help increase your search engine rankings. There are some good website directory submission software products on the market. The best of which is a product called Directory Submitter created by Brad Callen. Esentially you simply enter your website details into the software program 1 time, and then click on any of the 1600+ website directories in the software and it wil automatically fill in all of the submission criteria for you. Click the submit button and then your site has been instantly added to the website directory. So, not only does it save you time in finding all of these directories, BUT it saves you an incredible amount of time filling out each and every website's submission criteria. To learn more about Directory Submitter, visit the link below: http://vur.me/LT810/homebiz But, please keep this to yourself, as I'd like to keep this our secret weapon :-) Enjoy! - LT

Traffic is the lifeblood of any internet based endeavor. Without web traffic, the webmaster or business’ time and efforts are almost wasted. Yet with so much competition in every area, it can be a challenge to generate any sort of meaningful traffic. For those who are just starting out in the world of web design or internet-based business, it can be near impossible to make a success. Most people give up about as soon as they’ve started.

But the prospects needn’t be so grim. There are a few relatively simple ways to increase website traffic, the key component to all of them being perseverance. One of the best ways to generate traffic to your website or blog (and targeted traffic at that…) is through article marketing. Whatever your area of interest or whatever your website is catering for, you can write short articles about it. As an example, if you have a shop selling flowers and related things, and you’ve recently set up a website, you can increase website traffic (and therefore possible customers…) by writing short articles for an article directory. These articles can be about anything related to your business. They could be about how to make a flower arrangement, of which flowers to use for which occasions, or how to care for your flowers at home; anything related to your area of expertise. These articles then get posted in the article directory and get circulated around the internet as people reprint them for their own website content.

“How does this increase traffic to my site?” you may ask. Well, when you post your article in an article directory, you get to include your details at the bottom of the article. These details have to be included in every reprint of that article. So you will, at the bottom of every article, include some information about yourself and your business. And this will obviously include the URL of your website. In this way your website will be promoted all over the internet, and will get targeted traffic sent to your website.

Adding Keywords To Your Post Title

Your post titles should have the keywords you are targeting. Catchy titles that get users attention only lead to a short surge in traffic and if the title is misleading then you can be losing valuable readers as well.

Always think long term and how you can continually get traffic to your blog post. For example let’s say you are going to blog about how to reduce bounce rate, you can go for a flashy title like “How to get that second click” which is much more appealing than “How to reduce bounce rate”.

But users don’t search for how to get that second click they search for how to reduce bounce rate, so always remember to add keywords to your post title. If you are creative you can add keywords and make it appealing too.( eg – How to reduce bounce rate in two minutes ) .Maybe I should change the title of this post to “ how to increase search engine traffic in five minutes”

Modifying Your Permalink Structure


If you don’t know where to find your permalink structure you can access it in your Wordpress dashboard under setting -> permalinks. By default the structure is like abc.com/?p=123 which doesn’t have any keywords at all.

There are various options and by far the most popular seems to be selecting the custom structure and then adding %post_name%, there are many other tags for you to try out as well. But adding only text in a permalink is not recommended.

It will be a problem if you only have 20-30 posts but as your blog grow and you have many posts, this could lead to a performance problem. I have %post_id%/%post_name% as my permalink structure but you have to decide for yourself what the best permalink structure for your blog is. If you have a blogspot blog you don’t have to worry about this much because blogspot formats the permalink using the words given in the post title.

Doing the last step will take you two minutes so I suggest you go and check your Wordpress permalink structure right now. The first step you have to do every time you write a post but considering the SEO benefits it is worth your time. Hope the above tips help you improve your search engine ranking and search engine traffic.

Domain name selection is the first step in Web hosting. A domain name is the identity of a Web site, and in most cases, the identity of the business itself. Almost all companies run their business through online channels, so the domain name has got a lot of significance in commercial perspective too. An intelligently picked domain name can contribute significantly towards the success of the business.

Domain names can contain letters, numbers and hyphens; however, hyphens are not allowed in the beginning or the end of the name. Spaces and special symbols are not allowed. The name can have 2 to 63 characters, excluding the domain extension. Domain names are not case sensitive.

Here are a few tips suggested by popular Web hosting companies on selecting the best domain names.

• Try to get a domain name that is exactly the name of your company. If your company is XYZ, the domain name should be like xyz.com, xyz.info, xyz.uk, etc. This is one of the best ways to draw your customers directly to your company Web site, even if they do not know what exactly your domain name is. Users usually type in the name of your company in the URL column of their browser. Therefore, by providing the exact name for the URL, you can attract even the new customers.

• Get your domain name extension ‘.com.’ This is because of the popularity of the .com Web sites. Many users are habituated to enter ‘.com’ at the end of the URL of their favorite Web sites, so if you want to catch them faster, be prepared with a .com Web site. If you are left with no option, then go for alternatives such as .info, .biz, or country specific extensions such as .us, .uk, etc. Extension .org is used for non-commercial Web sites.


• A unique domain name is a worrisome concern in Web hosting. Many service providers, therefore, ask their clients to register alternate domain names that look similar to their registered names. This method will avoid creation of similar-looking domains. For example, if you registered your Web site as ‘idslogic.com,’ you may also register alternate names such as ‘idslogic.com,’ ‘idslogic.info’ and ‘idslogic.com.’ This method will not only help you direct all prospective visitors to your Web site, but also keep your competitors, who are trying to grab your business by imitating your brand, at bay.

Web hosting India professionals advice that the domain name be simple to read and understand. It should not be too short or too long. Avoid using abbreviations as users often fail to recognize them.

Affiliate marketing is a great online business. It has fewer worries but lots of benefits as compared to building one’s own online product or business. One of the best ways to promote affiliate products is through traffic exchanges. There are numerous traffic exchanges nowadays and they are considered as powerful internet marketing tools.

There are various niches and most of them have their own traffic exchange system. Whatever type of product one carries, there is surely a traffic exchange program that caters to it. Joining traffic exchanges is a door to many benefits for an online business. The main benefit that one can get from traffic exchange is the driving of huge traffic to the site. This is very important as traffic is the lifeblood of online businesses.

It is best to check on the recognized traffic exchanges as they are the ones that give very reasonable credit point system. Credits are the numerical value representing how many views can be allotted to the member’s assigned site. These credits are gained through surfing other sites within the program. A member gets more credits if he or she gives more time surfing. This is the usual situation in a free membership setting within the traffic exchange program.

One of the best things in traffic exchanges is that one can engage with it through free membership. One can experience the benefits it can give without spending a dime. There are options to upgrade to pr membership at a minimal cost in order to enjoy more of its benefits and perks. There are also options on buying credits, referrals or downlines; to reduce surfing time and get enough credits and continuously get streaming traffic to sites.

Since traffic exchange is being used by a lot of internet marketers, it is definitely a good avenue to promote an affiliate product. However, it is important to take note of the character of the individuals who will be viewing the product. The fact that internet marketers are the prospects in this marketing strategy, there are things to consider in order to effectively capture their snobbish attention.

In relation, the landing page that will be used in traffic exchange must surely be enticing and attention hooker. It must be fresh and interesting to awaken the sleepy eyes of the member that has been browsing for his or her one thousandth credit. It is also best to have a free offer with this landing page in exchange of the viewer’s contact details. This is helpful in building a list or capturing leads, which will be very useful in future internet marketing schemes.


Moreover, selling through traffic exchanges must be the least goal in joining the program considering that almost everyone within the program are internet marketers simply aiming to get traffic towards their sites. It has a least probability for people to make a purchase at the onset of seeing a product. They may sign up or leave their contact details to take advantage of a free offer, but not to buy upon seeing an advertisement for the first time.

Traffic exchanges are a great avenue to expose products, making them popular to a group of people. It also a great way to gather contact details for future marketing use. Once details are kept and a list is built, keeping in touch with the potential customers who took advantage of the free offer would be best. Pre-selling is next until they feel comfortable with the business. When enough trust is supposedly gained, it is time to sell the affiliate product.

It is a proven fact that traffic exchanges generate traffic to a site. It also gives opportunity to get more future sales, capture subscribers to newsletters or whatever offer, and to build mailing list that is very useful for future marketing plans. Traffic exchange is such a powerful marketing tool. Aside from using it properly in order to take advantage of its benefits, there are also things that must be avoided in order to make it more effective.

These mistakes must not be done by internet marketers in order to achieve the targeted revenue, and to meet the aspired success. These are mostly simple but very common mistakes that ruin the strategy of an internet marketer, especially in using traffic exchanges.

It is a big mistake to show long sales pages in traffic exchanges. There is no problem with endorsing affiliate products within the program but the page to use must be considered. Promoting using one long sales page is not recommendable in traffic exchanges. Most of the people within the program are fellow internet marketers who surf for the main reason of generating traffic to their sites.

The viewers within the traffic exchange usually take the minimum timeframe to view a page then click on the link to see the next ad and gain another credit. They don’t really browse a lot on the contents of the page. a long sales page will not catch the attention of the visitor, and just pass along the page; thus, the credit will just be trashed for nothing, and the product or service will not be exposed properly.

It is best to use a simple landing page in traffic exchanges. This page must contain an attention grabbing headline, a brief list of benefits, very simple graphics, a photo of the owner, and a signature. The page must be as enticing as possible but must be kept as simple as possible at the same time; so that the page could load within the minimum timeframe allotted for every page to be viewed.


Furthermore, it is also not a good idea not to aim for list building in traffic exchange. This program is a great avenue to capture leads for future marketing techniques. The landing page that must be used is at its best if it has a free offer that the viewer can get once he or she leaves his or her contact details on the space provided within the page. This type of landing page is also called a squeeze page.

Lastly, it is not enough to use the generic page to promote affiliate products or services. It is better to create a unique landing page. This is also called branding. This does not only promote the affiliate products but also one’s own business and name as an affiliate. This is important especially when there is a long term goal in the online business, which is what almost all well-focused affiliate marketers desire. Being popular in the online business is also a good foundation to the internet venture.

Communication is the line which bridges the website and the reader. This line of communication is what must be elevated to a level where the user experience is positive so that the user will decide to come back to the website. Functional web design dictates the following elements of communication which one must keep in mind in order to make an effectively designed website which looks nice, clean, and easy to navigate: text, images, titles and headers, icons, design styles and colors. Needless to be said, visual appeal is one of the most fundamental elements of the website. As this has the capacity to make impact in the first few minutes of encounter.

While the content and information on the website is as important at the design, it can not be denied that web design demands that all the aforementioned elements are not overlooked and well attended to. Web designers and website owners have a responsibility to the users, as well as to their product, to be able to present and communicate their message effectively.

Web design puts premium on the aesthetic value of the website, while content management handles the content and the articles. Web design demands that the visual impact created is significantly appealing. More of use of multimedia elements is becoming the trend in web design. Web designers use more than just texts, charts and graphs as images, website colors, audio and video are being tapped into to make for more effective communication and website design.

The addition of content would be futile if the text of the website is not readable, non-cohesive and unoriginal. This is the most direct way for the website owner and the user to communicate. It is important that the content is original as the user is looking for more fresh content and a new point of view. The approach for each type of website is different, however what remains the same is that the text and colors of the text are set in a very readable font face, font color and font size.


As the old adage goes, a picture paints a thousand words. This suggests that what cannot be said and uttered in words can be well described by images. This is the reason why more and more people are putting images in their website to make their web design more appealing and attractive to the eyes of the users. For communication purposes, images are put in order to dramatically communicate the message without having to result to more words. Beautiful images are also considered as a lovely break of scenery from all the texts and charts and graphs.

Engaging in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising has its own benefits and drawbacks.

Business nowadays is doing different kinds of austerity measures when it comes to advertising their products and services. This is because of high rates of placing ads on print and on television. But there is a fast growing approach that businessmen can utilize to bring their services closer to the people and that is through Internet Marketing.

One tool that is causing Internet marketing popularity is PPC advertising. This is a technique used in search engine marketing that requires one to pay a fee every time someone clicks an ad on your website. Usually this placement is done through a bidding process. If you are a top bidder for your keywords/phrases, you are sure to be on the number one spot on all search engines. Just be sure of the effectiveness of your ad copy to get the most number of clicks you need for your business.

PPC - The Pros 1. You need not be a genius in computer and technology to be able to run this ad campaign. 2. Immediate results are seen after a few days. 3. No need to make a website conform to the SEO rules. 4. Nothing to lose even if you do not top the pages of different search engines. You can still always choose PPC advertising. 5. You can make use any search engine available. 6. You can type in any keyword you like.

PPC - The Cons 1. Fixed payments every month to the search engine you choose. 2. Pay for each click received by your website. At times, visitors are just competitors or people playing pranks on search engines. This hassle wastes money you put in to this advertising. 3. Inability to pay for the fees next month would mean removal of your website on the paid listings. 4. This advertising can only be used temporarily because it is difficult to handle in the long run. 5. Pay-per-click pricing can be costly for long periods of time, therefore, this should be stopped after an ad campaign.

But how exactly PPC advertising can increase traffic, leads and sales?

PRE-QUALIFIED TRAFFIC. All visitors of your website are already considered as a qualified consumer or buyer of your product. PPC advertising leads your customers to you for a lesser cost.

INSTANT EXPOSURE, IMMEDIATE PROFITS. PPC search engines enable you to get your desired results fast. They will have your website live within just a few hours which means immediate increase in sale.

CONSISTENT TOP LISTINGS. This is to get your website on top of the sponsored search results for free. You just have to choose the keywords related to your site and business and place them within your web pages. After this, you are done.


PPC advertising enables advertisers to control their advertising campaigns. Advertisers have effectively targeted their audience and set their own price per click. PPC advertising networks provide the platform to identify the desired audience by geographic setting, topic and industry. These networks have a list of websites of the publishers where the ads will be placed.

Tools are provided by the networks to check how the pay per click limit is working for a certain advertiser. If its still competitive, would it be even listed among the paid search lists or does it generate sales? Of course, if the advertiser made the highest bid, the better chances the ad will be seen in the search engine. These networks too provide protection for the advertisers against click fraud. This advertising set-up allows advertisers to set a daily budget for his ads, thus, less spending for unnecessary clicks. Advertiser will never go over his budget.

In PPC advertising, what are important are the keywords and phrases. You have to select at least 10 "very specific" keywords that would give you the best traffic in the search. Then, write the ad creatively but straightforward. Tell the truth about your product or service and do not lie. Good thing if your product or service will not disappoint those that are relying on your ad's promise - but what if it did otherwise? Important too is the clarity of the ad. Do not use very vague languages. Include important details like the price.

Important! You should also remember to budget your bids. Do not go overbidding because you will only lose your money and do not go so low that your ads will never get the chance to show up. Check your profit against your spending. If you see no progress then most likely you have to drop your ad campaign. More and more advertisers have been using PPC advertising and it will continue to grow faster than any online advertising techniques. From revenues of $2.6 billion in 2004 to $5.5 billion in 2009, cost per click will dramatically go up as well from $0.29 to $0.36.

PPC advertising is new in online marketing and it is going to continue in the years to come. For advertisers, this means increase revenues with fewer advertising expenses, savings, more sales, good return of investment (ROI) and effective ad campaigns in the days to come.

There are actually two types of PCC affiliate programs - those who pay a commission based on the number of clicks and the other based on the sales. The pay-per-click scheme is much more popular than pay-per-lead because the affiliate gets paid by just clicking the ad, regardless of whether the visitor buys from the affiliate merchant or not. Plus the chances of a visitor purchasing something from the affiliate merchant are not really that high.

Important! In choosing an affiliate program, read the fine print carefully - some pay-per-click programs get the ratio of the number of people who went to your site and the actual people who clicked on the ad. If you have a heavily targeted website, this can hurt your earnings.

How do I start?

Of course, you need to have a website. Depending on your target audience, choose the best affiliate merchant that is most related to your topic. For example, your website is about Carpentry then you can search for affiliate programs that sell tools used in carpentry.

However, if you don't have a website, that's not a problem. You can put up a content site about absolutely anything under the sun like 'Taking Care of Dogs' or 'Decorating your own Home.' But wait, its not over yet. We are faced by a dilemma - on how to increase traffic! You first need to get Internet surfers to see your website, then the ad.

How do I increase my traffic?

First, design your website in such a way that it will attract Internet users. A user-friendly site is always recommended so that the customers will know which one to click. Take into consideration the look and feel of the advertisement. If it doesn't look professional, most likely, users will just ignore it. Place the ad on a strategic location - one where users can see it clearly. Visibility of the ad is always important.

Another way is to post a link to your website in forums, web communities, ezine articles or bulletin boards. However, this method requires a lot of effort - that defeats your purpose of getting easy money in the first place! The key is to do something once and forget about it. It's like putting your business on autopilot. To maintain you pay-per-click business, be sure to track down site activity, so you are updated on how much money you are making.

Can I make more money?

If you think you can go to the next level, you can try a two-tier affiliate program. This gives you the power to recruit affiliates. Other than the money you get from your website's clicks, you will also get a percentage of what your affiliate generates. Some companies give 30% to a soaring 50% commission on all referral sales.

Remember, you should be able to manage and monitor your affiliate program. If you can recruit more affiliates, then you can get paid more without even moving a finger! Choose affiliates that can most likely attract more Internet users and bring more traffic. You just have to know the right people.

In Closing: To SEO or To PPC?

The online community is definitely a large market place that you cannot ignore, especially if you have an Internet business. There are thousands if not millions of consumers that you can tap in the Internet.

At the same time, the Internet also poses a quite different challenge. The easy access that Internet provides also gives you as much competition as you can imagine. It is too crowded and congested.

Having a website is not enough to make your business running and able to compete. You must take other alternatives to give way for the online community to access your website at any rate or chance possible.

You have to expose your website. Make it known. It has to be visible. It has to be frequently targeted by consumers and surfers.

Invest in marketing your Internet site. There are basically two options available to you, the SEO and PPC. These two are probably the most desirable alternatives you can get for your Internet business as strategy for search engine marketing.


1. SEO

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Some researches indicate that 60% - 70% of Internet surfers and users actually resort to using the Google search engine to find and locate web sites and pages, for any topic they desire. SEO is the process taken to make sure that the Internet uses will find your website when ranked among the top results of a search. This way you can make sure that you will be visible and can clearly stand out from the rest.

To get a search engine optimization, you will have to build on your own Internet site frequently hit Internet links to web site pages. The process will involve IBLN or Independent Back-Linking Network, wherein hundreds or even thousands of pages will be utilized to promote a particular website of a client.

In SEO, there is no need for you to pay for the clicks although it will require you to spend time doing research to get a favorable combination of ads and target audience. The SEO process is a long term one. It requires months, 6 months at the least, before the proper outcome is fully achieved, but once the goal is accomplished, you will definitely get a steady source of profit.

2. PPC

PPC gives way in advertising on a search engine. These are sponsored listings that you see whenever you make a search. There will be a charge whenever a visitor or web surfer clicks on any of your ads. There will first be a bidding process. The highest bidder for the price per click will definitely get the chance to be first listed in the search engine.

With this kind of advertising, you can still basically control your campaign as you get to create your own ad. You will also manage the target audience and still stay within the bounds of your budget. Most of the providers of PPC advertising will allow you to specify the target market, either by topic, industry or geographical location. You can also very well check if your ad gets to be shown at all and if it is competitive with the rest.

There are some guaranteed benefits when you get to maximize the PPC strategy.

*PPC lets you advertise to the whole of the online community. It is also relatively easy to set up.

*At first glance, PPC advertising may seem very expensive. Could it possibly happen that someone out there will go on clicking on your ad? This will definitely give you a large bill without the expected profit on your part. If this provides a lot of worries, be rest assured that there is a protection for you. Networks are able to recognize fraudulent clicks. *You can also set a budget for a certain period. The moment your budget has been used up by the target number of clicks, your ads will no longer be displayed until the next period you want it again displayed.

*You will also be able to adjust well to changes in market demands and trends.

In deciding which of the two strategies will work right for you, think of your goals and of your resources. They definitely offer benefits and advantages that will work for your good. The better way to approach this two is to evaluate according to your short term and long term plans. Take the PPC course for your short-term goals and choose SEO if you have long term ones.

There world is out there for you now. Just make sure you do what will work best for your entrepreneurial endeavors and visions. The secret to success lies in your hands. Just study your options well and you'll get exactly what you want!

There are actually two types of PCC affiliate programs - those who pay a commission based on the number of clicks and the other based on the sales. The pay-per-click scheme is much more popular than pay-per-lead because the affiliate gets paid by just clicking the ad, regardless of whether the visitor buys from the affiliate merchant or not. Plus the chances of a visitor purchasing something from the affiliate merchant are not really that high.

Important! In choosing an affiliate program, read the fine print carefully - some pay-per-click programs get the ratio of the number of people who went to your site and the actual people who clicked on the ad. If you have a heavily targeted website, this can hurt your earnings.

How do I start?

Of course, you need to have a website. Depending on your target audience, choose the best affiliate merchant that is most related to your topic. For example, your website is about Carpentry then you can search for affiliate programs that sell tools used in carpentry.

However, if you don't have a website, that's not a problem. You can put up a content site about absolutely anything under the sun like 'Taking Care of Dogs' or 'Decorating your own Home.' But wait, its not over yet. We are faced by a dilemma - on how to increase traffic! You first need to get Internet surfers to see your website, then the ad.

How do I increase my traffic?

First, design your website in such a way that it will attract Internet users. A user-friendly site is always recommended so that the customers will know which one to click. Take into consideration the look and feel of the advertisement. If it doesn't look professional, most likely, users will just ignore it. Place the ad on a strategic location - one where users can see it clearly. Visibility of the ad is always important.

Another way is to post a link to your website in forums, web communities, ezine articles or bulletin boards. However, this method requires a lot of effort - that defeats your purpose of getting easy money in the first place! The key is to do something once and forget about it. It's like putting your business on autopilot. To maintain you pay-per-click business, be sure to track down site activity, so you are updated on how much money you are making.

Can I make more money?

If you think you can go to the next level, you can try a two-tier affiliate program. This gives you the power to recruit affiliates. Other than the money you get from your website's clicks, you will also get a percentage of what your affiliate generates. Some companies give 30% to a soaring 50% commission on all referral sales.

Remember, you should be able to manage and monitor your affiliate program. If you can recruit more affiliates, then you can get paid more without even moving a finger! Choose affiliates that can most likely attract more Internet users and bring more traffic. You just have to know the right people.

In Closing: To SEO or To PPC?

The online community is definitely a large market place that you cannot ignore, especially if you have an Internet business. There are thousands if not millions of consumers that you can tap in the Internet.

At the same time, the Internet also poses a quite different challenge. The easy access that Internet provides also gives you as much competition as you can imagine. It is too crowded and congested.

Having a website is not enough to make your business running and able to compete. You must take other alternatives to give way for the online community to access your website at any rate or chance possible.

You have to expose your website. Make it known. It has to be visible. It has to be frequently targeted by consumers and surfers.

Invest in marketing your Internet site. There are basically two options available to you, the SEO and PPC. These two are probably the most desirable alternatives you can get for your Internet business as strategy for search engine marketing.


1. SEO

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Some researches indicate that 60% - 70% of Internet surfers and users actually resort to using the Google search engine to find and locate web sites and pages, for any topic they desire. SEO is the process taken to make sure that the Internet uses will find your website when ranked among the top results of a search. This way you can make sure that you will be visible and can clearly stand out from the rest.

To get a search engine optimization, you will have to build on your own Internet site frequently hit Internet links to web site pages. The process will involve IBLN or Independent Back-Linking Network, wherein hundreds or even thousands of pages will be utilized to promote a particular website of a client.

In SEO, there is no need for you to pay for the clicks although it will require you to spend time doing research to get a favorable combination of ads and target audience. The SEO process is a long term one. It requires months, 6 months at the least, before the proper outcome is fully achieved, but once the goal is accomplished, you will definitely get a steady source of profit.

2. PPC

PPC gives way in advertising on a search engine. These are sponsored listings that you see whenever you make a search. There will be a charge whenever a visitor or web surfer clicks on any of your ads. There will first be a bidding process. The highest bidder for the price per click will definitely get the chance to be first listed in the search engine.

With this kind of advertising, you can still basically control your campaign as you get to create your own ad. You will also manage the target audience and still stay within the bounds of your budget. Most of the providers of PPC advertising will allow you to specify the target market, either by topic, industry or geographical location. You can also very well check if your ad gets to be shown at all and if it is competitive with the rest.

There are some guaranteed benefits when you get to maximize the PPC strategy.

*PPC lets you advertise to the whole of the online community. It is also relatively easy to set up.

*At first glance, PPC advertising may seem very expensive. Could it possibly happen that someone out there will go on clicking on your ad? This will definitely give you a large bill without the expected profit on your part. If this provides a lot of worries, be rest assured that there is a protection for you. Networks are able to recognize fraudulent clicks. *You can also set a budget for a certain period. The moment your budget has been used up by the target number of clicks, your ads will no longer be displayed until the next period you want it again displayed.

*You will also be able to adjust well to changes in market demands and trends.

In deciding which of the two strategies will work right for you, think of your goals and of your resources. They definitely offer benefits and advantages that will work for your good. The better way to approach this two is to evaluate according to your short term and long term plans. Take the PPC course for your short-term goals and choose SEO if you have long term ones.

There world is out there for you now. Just make sure you do what will work best for your entrepreneurial endeavors and visions. The secret to success lies in your hands. Just study your options well and you'll get exactly what you want!

One always wants to drive traffic to their website or blog on a daily basis. This is normally achieved by performing various SEO traffic techniques that help in driving traffic by either doing it yourself or hiring an expert. In the former case, you will end up spending too much time doing it yourself as the processes are time consuming and cumbersome while in the latter case you will save on time but end up spending a lot of money to the provider.

However, there is one technique that can achieve a lot of traffic without having to spend too much or investing a lot of time. Article Writing!

Now the next question that may come to your mind is how does Article Writing drive traffic? It’s quite simple! The Internet comprises of a lot of information and there are millions of visitors, researchers and webmasters who are looking out for content for their blogs and websites. They have a choice where they can either create their own content or search on the Internet for a good quality article which they can utilize easily and quickly. This is exactly where you come in.

This article will describe the points that you need to keep in mind while writing your article:

Choosing the Right Headline:
It is important to create a headline that is appealing. A catchy headline will attract the attention of the viewer and will appeal them to read the article.

Preferred Word Count:
A good article is one that can convey a message, strategy and tips in 500 to 750 words. Making an article too long will dilute the attention of the reader and may be considered as a drag.

Preferred Software:
The best software is Microsoft Word as it has a spell check, word count option, synonyms option, etc. If you don’t have Word, you can use Open Office Word (which is free) or you can use Notepad.

Resource Box:
This is where one hits the bulls-eye. Use this box to the maximum possible extent. Write about the author, place a link of your website, add a freebie if possible, create a call to action phrase (Download now, Submit now, Click here, Submit here, etc).

Editing the Master Piece:
Once you have written your article, don’t forget to proofread and edit it. Ensure that the article is grammatically correct and free of any spelling mistakes, etc.

Now that you are done with writing the article, the next step would be to find an online website where you can submit your article. In this way you will be able to create an online archive of all your articles. If the site has an article content management system, then it will be excellent as it automates the submission of the article to your website.

Strategies for building the traffic through the article
This involves submitting your article to the top page rank article submission directories that will publish your article on their website.
Create a blog if you don’t have one and post the article there.
You can register with Yahoo Groups and post your articles there as well.
Create an eBook on a collection of articles that relate to a topic and give it away for free. When you give it away for free, you are actually engaging in viral marketing which brings in wide exposure.
Add the article to your website and if possible do generate some extra revenue by adding Google AdSense to it.
You can also create an e-course on the articles that you have written and send it out through an auto-responder. Example, Free Auto Bot.
Use any social media to build awareness around your article.
Submit your article to various article announcement groups. For example, Yahoo Groups. These groups give a lot of eyeballs to your article as they can be used on their own websites.

By adopting the techniques listed above, you will be able to get loads of incoming links which boosts traffic and also the performance of your website.

Worried about the next Google slap? Do you only rely on Search Engine traffic? Don't know where to start when you need to drive traffic to your site? If yes, this article is for YOU! Whatever you do on the net, you will always deal with Traffic Generation...the holly grail.

To make it short, you have 2 main types of traffic :

1) Search Engine traffic

What is it? : organic traffic coming from search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN

Pros :

- This traffic is free
- Traffic is highly targeted
- Volume of traffic can be very high

Cons :

- you don't control it
- you rely on robots to analyze your site and deliver some traffic
- you need to get indexed...without being de-indexed (once again, you rely on search engines policy and algorithms)
- short term

2) Referred Traffic (I know Search engine traffic is also a sort of referred traffic, but let's put SE traffic apart from this category)

What is it? Traffic coming from third party sites (other than search engines) and is a result of a "manual / human" action.

Examples : article directories, social bookmarking services, forums, partners, text link ads, banners, directories, rss...

Pro :

- you control it
- you have a lot of means to develop it (almost unlimited ; a lot are free)
- it's highly targeted
- You can pay to get better targeting and control over your referred traffic
- Long term

Cons :

- Time & resources consuming
- Repetitive tasks

Now, through my membership, my forum, my readings of other forums, I know that most webmasters mainly rely on search engines traffic, our first category.

The aim of the present article is to throw the light on a different angle of the Traffic Generation big box!

Summary : the right way to get into traffic generation is to forget about search engines.

Focusing on search engine traffic gives a too narrow vision of traffic generation. It does not reveal all the opportunities existing outside of the search engines (understand all the way to generate Referred Traffic).

In addition, as you've seen from the cons above, you accept to rely on something you never control, and this is a HUGE risk in your marketing strategy.

Warning : I do not say, you should not care about search engine traffic. I say that it should not be your priority, and the first door you try to open when dealing with traffic generation. It's a question of point of view.

Now, on the other hand, focusing on developing what we called Referred Traffic is a more positive, constructive and profitable attitude and marketing strategy.

Not only will you build traffic for the long term, but you will also "manually" control your traffic, either by submitting your content, your sites, your feeds, or by exchanging links, content, traffic with partners, being active on forums, blogs...

Doing it this way will give you a lot of power and effectiveness. Those sources of Referred Traffic only vanish...if you decide to let them vanish. Once again, you control everything.

Now, you have some positive side effects :

- By building Referred Traffic, you give a lot of food to search engines to index your site, understand them, and rank them well...

- ...thus developing naturally your Search Engine Traffic!

Try to develop Referred Traffic by submitting your sitemap to Google, and you will understand the difference between the 2 approaches :-)

Google and other search engines tend to change their algorithms quite often to produce more relevant content for users of their engines. Sometimes, your site is getting de-indexed in a day just because of this.

Are you lost, is your site dead? It could if you only relied on Search Engine traffic. It has no impact if you focused on building Referred Traffic.

In one case, you feel bad and like if you had wasted your time. In the other case, you don't even notice it (on the long run ; of course, you can see a fall in traffic coming from a given search engine)

But even then, your site has a lot of chances of being re-indexed when you've build Referred Traffic, simply because the search engines food is still there! And this is a HUGE difference and one of the most valuable asset you can develop.

If you're still with me, you should now understand my point : when dealing with bots, you need to act as a human...which means you should not try to talk to them :-) Give them some "bot food" that you build naturally by developing a Referred Traffic Generation Strategy.

Here are 10 easy "pieces" to do what we described above :

Once you have a site...

1) Find some related blogs, read them, identify trends, and post comments (no stupid comments, no spam of course) with a link back to your site where you're also discussing the topic

2) Do the same with related forums. Use search engines (!) to find relevant forums. Register and start being active on these forums. Use your signature to put a link back to your site

3) Create a blog (if you don't have one) and post on a regular basis on it. Use a service like feedburner to syndicate your content with other webmasters.

4) Submit your feeds, blogs, and site to niche directories

5) Find "authority" sites in your niche, analyze them and contact the webmasters to :

a) propose a link exchange (you should first put a link to their site),
b) if you're selling a report or an ebook, propose them to become an affiliate (give them a fre.e copy of your ebook first), and make it easy for them to manage their promotion
c) if they have a newsletter, read it, understand it, and then ask the webmaster if you can have a sponsored ad into it, or even better a solo ad where you could advertise your site, newsletter, ebook...
d) propose content exchange with link back to each other's website
e) build a relation with them

6) The most effective : write articles and submit them to article directories (some with big traffic, and some niche related ones)

7) Social bookmarking and social networking :

a) build a Squidoo lens (see Squidoo Profits for more details: http://www.squidoo-profits.com). You can find many sites like Squidoo and build pages about your niche on these ones too. You can link them to your main niche sites, you can link back to your blogs, or even to your other "squidoo" like pages, thus creating a "niche social net" all relevant to your niche.
b) build a myspace account and create a profile around your niche, then build your "list" of friends around this profile
c) submit your site to social bookmarking services (digg, technorati, del.icio.us ...)
d) You can also comment on the most popular entries with a link back to your site, blog, or squidoo lens.

8) Use videos and sites like youtube.com (and similar) to drive traffic to your niche site. Produce a short video (2-3 minutes) around your site, your niche and you. Link to your Videos from your "niche social net" (see 7) ) Also, ask webmasters to put a link to this video (once you have build a relation with them) - Or they can upload it to their server and brand it with their affiliate ID, if you have an affiliate program

9) Make it viral : your best source of (new) traffic...is your (current) traffic!

Use some "Tell a friend" features on your site to have them promote your site. You can provide incentives (such as a free report, a coupon for your ebook...)

10) Paid Traffic : yes...all the above techniques do not cost a penny...(unless you pay for advertising on a partner's site)

You can pay to get targeted traffic : you can advertise through text link ads, banners, that will appear on high traffic sites.

You should seriously consider paid traffic. Do not see it as a cost, but rather as an initial investment to boost your site. Also, if your site is correctly monetized, then paid traffic is the easiest way to get some quick metrics about this, and to make it profitable quickly.

As you see we could easily expand this list. But, those are, in my opinion, the most important sources of Referred Traffic.

Now, compare the above list with Search Engine traffic, and you will see why your approach should focus on generating Referred Traffic and not Search Engine Traffic. This type of traffic will come naturally anyway...

Targeted traffic is more likely to respond to your website promotions. Without a targeted traffic campaign, you are limited to reaching your audience through search engine results. Recent statistics from Nielsen rating show that internet users return to a visited website where a purchase was made around 60% of the time. When you buy targeted traffic through a quality traffic service company, that 60% increase can be yours.



Increased web site traffic is possible with a targeted traffic campaign. An effective targeted traffic campaign will increase your web site traffic from first time visitors that are likely to buy. It is up to you to keep your increased web site traffic intrigued enough with your website to stay. The staying power of a website is the website’s “stickiness.” Having a well-developed profile of your targeted audience during website development and when you buy targeted traffic will build stickiness - and revenue.



The longer new visitors stay, the more likely they are to opt-in on your promotions or return to your website to buy. In order to create valuable content to increase web site traffic, you must be able to define what your targeted traffic considers valuable. Saturn, a General Motors car, learned this first hand. Originally, the Saturn website contained content that flattered their cars, boasted of the company’s reputation, and provided a list of dealers. Their website traffic found little reason to stay unless they had already decided to buy a Saturn car, or were in the decision making process of deciding which car to buy. Additionally, the behaviors of their customers were not considered. Their stickiness rate was poor. Repeat visitors were few. Saturn revamped their website, filled it with interactive content more valuable to their users - and their website traffic tripled. Their website traffic has now increased to account for over 80% of their buying leads.



A company with such heavy branding must also invest money and buy search engine optimisation services to increase web site traffic. For a smaller company however, it is cost effective to buy targeted traffic to increase web site traffic. Search engine competition is high, and when you buy targeted traffic it will give you a significant advantage over your competitors. You will have the means to capture that first time customer and turn them into a returning customer. Once your increase in web site traffic is satisfied with your product or service, they won’t be searching for your competitors.



To increase web site traffic from your targeted traffic market, making the choice to buy targeted traffic gives you the first opportunity to capture the customer for good. A company to buy traffic from must offer you the choice to buy targeted traffic that will be interested in your well-developed content. Website stickiness can turn into sales when you choose to buy targeted traffic services. A targeted customer is likely to be a returning customer. Returns build revenues. The targeted website traffic you buy will increase your sales, your reputation, and even your word-of-mouth advertising. Your increase in web site traffic from your strategy to buy website traffic will increase future direct visits to your website – and won’t increase the future traffic to your competitors.