5 Ways to Increase Website Traffic for Free

1. Submit to Google Base (Froogle)

If you sell products or services, Google Base is fertile ground for free marketing. If you're selling widgets, for instance, you can add them to Google Base and it will then show up in the Google's product search and link directly to your website. You may also submit services listings.

Adding items is fairly simple- just prepare an Excel spreadsheet with the proper header categories- examples and templates are provided. Basic product/service info, such as title, description, price, an image, and link to your website is offered on the page. Traffic from these listings may not be high, but it's free and may potentially attract new customers to your website.

2. Add to free directories and wikis

Look for directories/wikis with the highest Google Page Rank (PR) either on the home page or on the specific page your listing will appear. Also, the more specifically targeted the directory content is to your website, the better. For example, if you sell photography, try to find and get listed in a photography directory. If promoting a massage therapy website, find and list in any health and wellness-related directories. If the directory appears overly 'spammy' then it may be better to avoid. There is no proof that search engines penalize websites for being included in these seedy sites, but it certainly is a waste of time, as there are endless amounts of these directories.

The main reason for listing in directories is not for the traffic from the directories. Hardly anyone actually uses these directories. It is more about the incoming links. The higher the PR is on the website linking to you, the more value the incoming link will give to your website. The more quality incoming links you have, the higher PR you may have on your website. The higher the PR, the higher your website will be shown in the search engine results pages, or SERPs. The higher rank your search listings are, the more search traffic you will receive. And the more traffic you receive, the more likely you are to make sales and make more money. Yes, indirectly, the goal of adding to directories is to increase your traffic and make money.

When you submit information to directories, make sure you use an alternate email address, as many will make you agree to their terms of use, which frees them to send you lots of spam and distribute your email address to other companies.

Add to this directory:

www.killerstartups.com

Add to wikis (editable content):

www.aboutus.org

en.wikipedia.org

Here are some nice lists of directory sites:

www.avivadirectory.com/strongest-directories

www.autho-rity.com/Internet/Web_Directories

www.best-web-directories.com/free-directories.htm

www.forest-cafe.org/free-directory-list.php

3. Write press releases and submit everywhere

Write press releases and send to the media these social bookmarking/news sites (the more the merrier), and submit to as many media contacts as you can find. This will help increase links to your site.

It is recommended you place the original release on your own website and make sure it is SEO friendly with a comprehensive list of your press releases.

Depending on the marketing strategy of your business, you might consider translating your releases to extend your global reach. Here are a few social news sites that seem to be gaining in popularity:

www.meneame.net - Spanish

www.yigg.de - German

Submit to any media in your industry- both for print magazines or websites. If you are not sure what media are in your industry, you can first check the Yahoo! directory. Then you can go to a bookstore, such as Barnes & Noble, and ask for a list of the magazines they carry in your industry. Borders did not provide such a list, but Barnes & Noble did- many of which are prominent magazines, but could not be found online.

Plus, send to these free PR submission websites. Note that it can be tricky to navigate through the site to avoid the fees and actually submit for free, but it actually works.

Recommend submitting press releases to:

secure.prleap.com

www.i-newswire.com/submit_free.php

www.pr.com/press-releases

www.pr-inside.com

www.pressbox.co.uk

Unfortunately, other PR submission sites require a fee, despite claiming to be free. Avoid these fee-based scam sites: prfree.com, console.prweb.com, pr-inside.com, free-press-release-center.info.

For more information on free PR sites, this person made a nice directory: www.emeraldcoastentrepreneur.com

4. Write articles and distribute them everywhere

Also, you can write articles, such as what you are reading right now. Sure, I enjoy writing and sharing valuable tips with you, but the main reason for me writing this article is to gain incoming links and drive traffic. You can do it too, and you should! It's free and an easy way to get a massive amount of incoming links.

You should also add an RSS feed to allow other websites to easily syndicate your content. Make sure you include links to your own website in any article or press release you write (not just at the end), otherwise it can be a partially wasted effort if your URL isn't included.

If you don't know how to build a SEO and RSS friendly webpages to hold your original articles, I recommend either reading an RSS tutorial such as this: (www.mnot.net/rss/tutorial ), or just use free WordPress software (www.wordpress.org). Just download it and follow the directions to install on your server. Then do a search for 'SEO Wordpress' and you can learn how to change your permalinks so you will get more return on your efforts (more traffic).

Submit articles to:

www.ezinearticles.com

www.goarticles.com

www.articlegeek.com

www.isnare.com

www.articlecity.com

There are many more, but some require absolutely original content (no other postings allowed on any other websites). It may be better to get credit for your own original article, by posting it on your own website.

Remember to post regularly to popular social news and bookmarking sites.

Submit both articles and press releases to:

www.Digg.com

www.Newsvine.com

www.Myjeeves.ask.com

www.Simpy.com

www.Reddit.com

www.Netscape.com

www.Technorati.com

www.del.icio.us

www.Stumbleupon.com

5. Post to Craigslist

Post your products and services on www.craigslist.org. It is a very high traffic website and you can post every day if you want. If you're creative, you can find an appropriate place for most anything you sell- you can even customize your listing for each location too.

www.craigslist.org

Trent Mueller is an internet marketing professional and SEO/SEM specialist; he manages various websites, including http://www.turbophoto.com and resides in Portland, Oregon, USA.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Trent_A_Mueller