How To Get Free Traffic
by Stuart Reid
FREE Traffic.
Like anything else in internet marketing you get what you pay for, so free traffic isn't really all that it's cracked up to be. I still believe it's worth using though because invariably some of it will stick and generate a true site visitor. The trick is to use a combination of tactics.
Search Engines.Most search engines still offer free submissions and even though it will take time and effort to get listed its well worth doing. The main one that doesn't offer a free entry is Yahoo! but a listing in Google gets you into the Yahoo results. The best way I know of to get into a search engine is to get listed in DMOZ, the Open Directory Project. This is a volunteer moderated directory and the databases are used by a LOT of other search engines. http://www.dmoz.org - as usual drill to the category you want and click Add Url. If you need to automate search-engine submission and get the best chance of being listed well then theres only one software worth trying:http://www.webposition.com/d2.pl?r=M8D-55CA
Free Link Directories.These are only good as long as the sites listed in them generate visitors to the entire directory. Sometimes smaller sites can benefit from the activities of the larger ones, so it's worth trying them out. A lot of them sell themselves as search engines and directories but they don't really get the traffic to be anywhere near the big boys. http://www.links2u.com/?2375824 Also try the big list at http://www.ecki.com/links/cdlst.shtml
Start Exchanges.These require you to set your start page to the exchanges home page. Then, when you launch your browser, you'll see a random site. This will generate a hit for you so someone else will see your site.In practice the system is abused by people using page rotators and auto surfers to generate themselves hits without looking at other pages. It's up to you if you try this, but the traffic is ( again) free so at least try it. http://www.startblaze.com/cgi-bin/intro.cgi?10426 and a lot of links at http://www.netpreneurnow.com/links.shtml
Exit Exchanges.I'm currently getting a LOT of hits from exit-exchange. I prefer this to the start exchanges as its automatic. Invariably, again, a lot of people will just close the popunder that your site appears in but some will take notice. It's up to you create an eye-catching page!http://www.exitexchange.com/affiliates/1112481
Specialist Exchanges.These are like exit exchanges but use smaller, unobtrusive windows where you earn hits for your e-zine or whatever. The more you display the window, the more time your own link gets displayed in other peoples windows. http://www.subscriberdrive.com/a/c.cgi?1623
Zeus.This is an impressive, and free, software project that will build a personal, tightly-themed link directory and e-mail site owners for reciprocal links. There's some time spent learning this product but it's well worth it! http://www.cyber-robotics.com
Banner Exchanges.These have been around a long time and there are literally millions of pages that could display your banner. The best one for marketers is Banners Go MLM because since the banner holds two ads you get a better ratio than older single banners like one of the originals, link exchange (now part of Microsoft bCentral). Also, as the MLM implies, you get extra hits with Banners Go MLM from any sign-ups you generate. Theres also a lot of free banner generators out there like http://www.addesigner. com to create an attractive banner for you. http://bannersgomlm.com/cgi-bin/ref/index.cgi?dist=essjayar http://www.bannermatrix.com/?5S++4bp83g
Safe Lists.This is a kind of legal bulk mailing. In exchange for receiving e-mails, you can send them. The main problem here is you get to receive hundreds of e-mails for everyone you send out and the entire list usually falls apart because no-one ends up reading the e-mails and people use dead e-mail boxes to recieve them too! http://money.themailblaster.com/ http://optinemailblast.com/ I know I keep on about E-Zine Blaze, but that is a good alternative to this system. http://www.ezineblaze.com/index.php?21379
Ad Networks.Or whatever you want to call them. Basically they use a page of ads where your own will start in slot one. Each person that joins will shuffle your ad to slot two and put their own in slot one. Like MLM, this means over time your ad will appear on thousands of pages in various positions - IF you get enough people to sign up!http://www.freelinksnetwork.com
FFA and Classifieds.In these you can place a simple ad and link that will shuffle down the ranks and eventually fall off. In practice it slides off the bottom almost immediately due to the prevalence of auto ad-blasters and although millions post to these pages, hardly anyone reads them!If you must try them then try ours: http://www.netpreneurnow.com/cgi-bin/links.cgi http://www.netpreneurnow.com/cgi-bin/classified.cgi
Internet Auctions.They used to be good for getting free links, but if you're selling something online you can still use them, even if its an e-book or something. The big name is obviously http://www.ebay. com but you could also try Yahoo! Auctions and others.
Reciprocal Links.As well as increasing traffic this will also increase your site ranking on search engines such as Google. Basically, email a webmaster of a similar site, ask to swap links, then put his link on your page and he'll put your link on his page. If you run an e-zine you can do the same thing with e-zine ads. This is one of the oldest and best free traffic tips that definitely works. Unfortunately, it also takes a lot of time and effort.
Free E-Zine Ads.A lot of e-zines give free ads to new subscribers, so you could try subscribing to a few. You can also get a free ad by writing an article and submitting that to a few e-zines. This will also grow your reputation.
I hope this article gives you some idea of the free resources for traffic you can try. As you can tell a lot of the apparent hits you receive never actually generate a "real" visitor but by using them all you should get at least some hits! Just dont go overboard :-)
--------------------Stuart Reid is the publisher of Netpreneur News and webmaster of Netpreneur Now! Visit us for weekly tips, reviews, recommendations and more. Free ad and 30 Top E-Books to new subscribers! mailto:signup@netpreneurnow.com http://www.netpreneurnow.com/ --------------------
More articles by Stuart Reid:
