Driving Traffic To A New Website

April 10th, 2007 · 41 Comments ·

Traffic Question #2
from your traffic questions

A Noni Mouse asked:
What is the best and cheapest way to get lots of people to your website if you have no people to email your link to and you don’t want to spam?

Matthew Bagley asked:
What is the best way of increasing traffic flow to your website free of charge?

10 Free Ways to Drive Traffic To A Brand New Website

Once you create a website, the next step is to get traffic! But how? You dont have an email list yet, so you cant use that method. And you dont have bottomless pockets for paid advertising. Should you just sit there and wait for people to find your new site? Certainly not! Here are 10 free ways that you can drive targeted traffic to your new website…

Article Marketing
Write 3 articles that are related to the topic of your website. Include a brief bio and link to your website at the end of the article. Submit each of these articles to article directories, and also to webmasters and ezine owners that rank well for your keywords.
Forum Marketing
Do a search on Google for keyword+forum. If you have a pet related site, for example, search “pet forum” (without quotes). Find the top 3 forums in your niche and join each of them. DO NOT SPAM, but do set up a profile (and signature, if allowed) and post an introduction. Get involved in each of these 3 forums by posting at least one thread or response each day. This will help you gain exposure in your target market, and people will naturally be interested in your related website.
Yahoo! Answers
Go to http://answers.yahoo.com and find questions related to your niche or website. If you can provide a legitimate answer to their question, you can include your link as the resource or reference URL. Again, without spamming, if you can contribute to the community you will interest them in your related website.
Viral Marketing
Write a Report that would be of great interest to your target market, and sell it cheap. Include your bio and information about your site within the report (briefly in the Introduction, and fully in the About The Author section at the end). Offer 100% commission to Affiliates, and you will have all of your competitors sending traffic to your website for you. To make this super-easy, you can get the instructions and the script to do this (here) for only $7 - it’s well worth it
Social Networking
Set up profiles at popular social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Ryze.com etc. Network with people in your niche and get established on these sites with a customized profile. It is very easy to grow your network, and people who are interested in what you offer can find you easily. If you can use “photo marketing” to your advantage (cute pet pictures for a pet site, for example), include Flickr.com in your networking list as well.
Blogging
Blogging can be considered another form of Social Networking, and enough so to be considered a stand-alone marketing technique. You want to set up a blog that is directly related to your website’s topic, and post content to it frequently (3-5x/week minimum). If you have a pet store website, for example, you can create a blog on Pet Tips (dog grooming, dog training, etc). For detailed tips see Social Networking in the Blogosphere.
Press Releases
You can write and submit a press release free of charge. While some websites charge to publish your press release (and this may be worth the investment!), many also offer a free submission option. You want your press release to be newsworthy, so you choose your angle carefully. Do a search on Google for press release tips.
Search Engine Marketing
Learn all that you can about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and take the necessary steps to optimize each of your web pages. It is not complicated or impossible, but there is a lot of mis-information out there about search engines. I can help you with this personally if you like (free) at my discussion forum - look for the SEO section.
Get Links!
Submit your new site to appropriate directories, and get it listed on niche resource pages. Link farms and exchanges on “link pages” are a waste of your time, but do seek out quality linking opportunities. You want a variety of links pointing to your site, not only to your main page but also to internal pages of your site as well.
Funnel Traffic From Other Sites
This strategy may require a little creativity, but you want to consider ways that you can funnel traffic from popular websites such as: craigslist, ebay, youtube, wikipedia, etc. These are very popular websites that are established and bursting at the seems with live visitors. Think of ways that you can add something of value, and (without spamming!) lure these visitors to your website.

Use these 10 strategies as your initial Action Plan. Once you complete all 10 steps, go back to the first and begin again. Consistently marketing your site in a variety of ways is the key to gaining exposure and getting a consistent flow of traffic into your website!

Have a question about Website Traffic?
Post it here: Traffic Questions!

Best,

Tags: website traffic, promoting a website, website promotion, marketing tips, traffic tips

Tags: Website Traffic Q&A

41 responses so far ↓

NoLibelMike // Apr 11, 2007 at 3:40 am

This post has been included on NoLibel.Com as one of 22 Killer Articles On Making Money Online. Thank you for sharing this information with the community!
Francisco // Apr 12, 2007 at 2:05 pm

Nice to see that some-one is breaking it down to simple to use steps.

I have found that by adding a monthly news letter to my subscribers that it keeps me in touch with them and builds a two way relationship so they are more likely to purchase when I use my email sales campaign.
Matthew // Apr 12, 2007 at 6:28 pm

unfortunately the forums i’ve joined don’t allow any type of linking back to my website.

i thought forums were going to be my traffic saviour, instead i spent months posting, months developing my site, only to find out i wsn’t allowed to link in anyway, shape or form.

the reason was because i have affiliate programs on my site, which would be in direct competition with the forums.

i tried to be creative and launched an article both for the readers on the forum, and on my site (blog). that got me banned, so be careful.

of course i emailed the forum first, so as to not fall foul of their rules, you have to be very careful. some forums will allow links some won’t.

so now i find other blogs in my niche and leave comments. i’ve had some good responses so far, and someone emailed me yesterday, which could end up in a joint venture…….. which is nice.

if you won’t to find like minded bloogers, then do a search in technorati.com.

i believe i’ve put some harsh comment about article writing on Lynn’s forum. it didn’t really yield enough results for me to devote my time to it. for me, there were better things i could be doing.

sorry Lynn, hope i haven’t put a dampener on things.
Lynn Terry // Apr 13, 2007 at 6:21 am

Not at all Matthew. Different things are going to work better for some sites, or in certain niches, than others.

The key is to figure out what works best for *your* site and to be consistent with your combination of marketing methods.
james // Apr 16, 2007 at 5:24 am

hi lynn
mine is about driving traffic to a “million dollar homepage” like that of alex tew using search engines.
we know search engines like content and less outgoing links from a site.
since i want my site to sell many pixels, which means many outgoing links on the homepage, which SEO technique would you recommend.
regards
Ade Lamidi // Apr 29, 2007 at 12:50 am

Lynn,

This is a very useful post. I’d just created a couple of brand new sites and was wondering the easiest ways to drive traffic to the sites. Your post explains the simple techniquest one can adopt. I have just started using Yahoo Answers to drive traffic to a niche site and I have seen a dramatic increase in traffic.

Thanks for sharing.
OnlineGist - Home Based Internet Marketing Business Blog » Blog Archive » How To Drive Traffic To A Brand New Site // Apr 29, 2007 at 1:08 am

[...] Lynn Terry over at ClickNewz has just written a very useful article titled ‘10 Free Ways to Drive Traffic To A Brand New Website’. Now when you create that brand new site, you can adopt these 10 free ways to drive traffic to your site before you even start spending a dollar. Here are the 10 ways in a nutshell. [...]
Lynn Terry // Apr 29, 2007 at 10:03 am

You’re welcome Ade, and thank you for the comment! I actually used a combination of Yahoo! Answers and niche forums to promote one of my smaller sites last year and the results were great.

Those things take time, of course, so after ideally we could find someone that enjoys the topic well enough and pay them to answer questions and become active on forums and groups - on a pay-per-link or hourly basis.
OnlineGist - Internet Marketing Business Blog » Blog Archive » How To Drive Traffic To A Brand New Site // May 8, 2007 at 10:28 am

[...] Lynn Terry over at ClickNewz has just written a very useful article titled ‘10 Free Ways to Drive Traffic To A Brand New Website’. Now when you create that brand new site, you can adopt these 10 free ways to drive traffic to your site before you even start spending a dollar. Here are the 10 ways in a nutshell. [...]
Paul Penafiel // Jun 2, 2007 at 12:25 pm

Just made a donation to the tip jar, as I enjoyed reading your traffic tip.

I’m building my list from scratch and just started a few days ago and didn’t go as well as I expected but it’s still early and got another life time to go.

I want to learn how to create a newsletter like this, so if you have a few minutes to spare, drop by my blog and give me some advice pleeeze!

Thanks.
Lynn Terry // Jun 2, 2007 at 12:38 pm

Thank you, Paul!

Are you referring to my blog (clicknewz.com, which you are viewing now)? If so, I am using WordPress and the free Presscut Theme as a template.

As for lists, are you trying to build your feed subscribers or your email-based list? I’ll stop by your blog and have a look around

~ Lynn
Best Traffic Technique // Jun 6, 2007 at 8:26 am

[...] There are a number of ways to drive traffic to a website, and they all work well - particularly when you consistently use a combination of these methods. But if I had to choose only one method for getting website traffic, it would be an easy pick: Search Engine Optimization (SEO). And I’ll tell you why… [...]
June 2007 Blog Stats // Jul 6, 2007 at 11:27 am

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Forum Signature Tip to Increase Clicks & Sales // Jul 24, 2007 at 12:37 pm

[...] Forum Marketing has always been one of the best free ways to drive traffic to a new site. Not only is it a good way to get inbound links so that the search engines will find and index your website, but it is a great way to gain exposure in your target market. [...]
Kelly Hoagland // Jul 24, 2007 at 1:35 pm

Hi Lynn! What great and easy advice for people that are just starting out or anyone that just hasn’t understood how to get visitors to their site! I applaud you for all your wealth of information. I know it has helped me.
Lynn Terry // Jul 24, 2007 at 1:48 pm

Thank you Kelly
Mara B. // Jul 27, 2007 at 5:02 pm

Great information. I’ll have to stop back by here when I’m ready to launch my website. Thanks for sharing.
Nick // Sep 9, 2007 at 4:23 pm

This information is great, the blog is probably the easiest thing to do. Sometimes just blogging about the struggles of getting traffic to a new website will hit home with other readers and result in new traffic.
Dave // Oct 3, 2007 at 7:45 am

Thanks for an informative post.
Han Boon Kiat // Nov 24, 2007 at 10:40 am

wish i read this earlier

gained a few notches on google n yahoo
*~8-)
big thanks
James Derr // Dec 1, 2007 at 11:08 pm

Thank you Lynn for sharing these simple to use steps to marketing.

I think marketers in general, myself included, forget the last point you made “Use these 10 strategies as your initial Action Plan. Once you complete all 10 steps, go back to the first and begin again. ”

Thank You, Jim
Lynn Terry // Dec 1, 2007 at 11:19 pm

You’re welcome Jim - Welcome to ClickNewz

And you’re right… that’s probably the most important step of all!
BANS FAQ: Your Questions, My Answers // Dec 5, 2007 at 1:01 pm

[...] See this link for the 10 free marketing methods that I use myself: http://www.clicknewz.com/633/traffic-tips-for-new-sites/ [...]
Devin T. // Jan 21, 2008 at 5:47 pm

That is THE best break down I have ever seen on traffic building. And I’ve been at this internet marketing thing for over a month!

I like the Yahoo! Questions idea. I’ll definitely look into that!

Sincerely,
Devin T.
Lynn Terry // Jan 21, 2008 at 8:39 pm

Thank you, Devin!

Welcome to ClickNewz
Devin T. // Jan 21, 2008 at 11:18 pm

You’re welcome!

I’d also like to point out that Wiki now has “nofollow” links…so that option is no longer an SEO way to link build.

Another way I don’t think you have mentioned is through link directories. There are a few good ones out there. I’ve got 33 of them I have rated and reviewed into an eBook… is that kind of like a viral report?

,Devin T.
Lynn Terry // Jan 22, 2008 at 7:46 am

Yes, that would make a good viral report I imagine, Devin. As for wikipedia, there are a lot of other wiki’s out there (just do a search) and also… those links are great for targeted traffic + yahoo search doesnt use the follow/nofollow, so its still worth it to publish your links on relevant wiki pages.
Devin T. // Jan 22, 2008 at 5:29 pm

I thought all Wikis did nofollows?

You bring up some good points. I didn’t know that about Yahoo! searches.
Lynn Terry // Jan 22, 2008 at 6:54 pm

Not all, but regardless the links are still incredibly value if relevant and well-placed. And Google is the only engine that uses the follow/no-follow so there is still plenty of potential there.
Devin T. // Jan 22, 2008 at 10:43 pm

Thank you. I did not know that.
Yan // Jan 23, 2008 at 1:46 am

Hi Lynn, just wanted to say thanks, you refered me here on your other page and it didn’t even took a day to get an answer from you! thanks a lot, these tips will be really helpfull
Lynn Terry // Jan 23, 2008 at 7:49 am

You’re most welcome
Robert Nelson // Feb 8, 2008 at 10:50 pm

Another great article by Lynn Terry. Did a Cut&Paste of the actual article for my swipe file. Would only add that last time I checked Lynn Terry was still encouraging links to her sites , so that is one place to have a link to.
Mikes Free Web Directory // Mar 5, 2008 at 5:54 am

I have learned that the best results comes from Articles Marketing, Highly Optimized Pages with Unique that gets indexed in no time, Links on Related sites, Blogs and Forum Posts with high PR.
Violet // Mar 22, 2008 at 7:48 pm

Thank you for your generosity in sharing information. Generating traffic without PPC to my website is one of urgent things I decided to concentrate on. I have been burned by PPC for not knowing what I was doing so now I have no choice but get free traffic to my sites.
I am also concentrating on SEO strategies.
Again, thank you.
Lynn Terry // Mar 26, 2008 at 3:09 pm

You’re most welcome, Violet - glad you found it helpful
George Tallabas // May 31, 2008 at 10:46 am

Good stuff Terry. I created my site 7 months ago and it has skyrocketed on Google using most of the tips you shared. My site took a nice jump when I posted a home listing on Ebay. I actually received over 1500 visitors from Ebay to my site on just that one listing! Another great tool that continues to help me is http://www.commentkahuna.com If you have not seen this please check it out. It is an incredible site that allows one to comment on high PR ranked sites in minutes and inserts your URL. I can’t tell you how much I love using Comment Kahuna. Not only do I love the SEO benifit but I have learned a lot by reading some of the information posted. Thanks for a great post.
Lynn Terry // May 31, 2008 at 11:28 am

I agree George - Comment Kahuna is a cool tool. I have it myself, and have it in queue to post a full review on here at ClickNewz. Thanks!
George Tallabas // May 31, 2008 at 12:43 pm

Very cool Terry. I also found http://www.seoiseasy.com/articles_back_links.php

over month ago and wrote articles like the author suggested and I have already had 3 ezine articles shoot up to the first page of Google for the topic I chose which just thrilled me! I added my URL as the author suggested and this alone jumped my site a full page on Google. Sadly, I have seen many Realtors write articles on these sites but don’t add their URL as the author suggests.
Lynn Terry // May 31, 2008 at 2:51 pm

Agreed - article marketing can be a great strategy, done right. Thanks for the friends request on MySpace too, by the way - great to add you to my personal network there!
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