| The act of making a website and the process of maintaining one can be a lot of hard work, and it can cost a lot of money. When a website is first conceived, designers and writers come together, consult with marketing strategists, and plan out a website that is easy to navigate, calming to the eyes, exciting to the senses, and food for the brain. In other words, the best websites have to be a breeze to go through, visually stimulating, and filled with great content. Without these elements, a website will not be profitable, and it might even be considered useless.
Even the best laid plans, however, cannot easily drive traffic to a website, and it is this traffic that spells the longevity of a site. People have to keep on visiting a website in order for it to prosper, but even then, visits are not enough. People have to translate their visits into profitable activity, say by clicking on ads and giving the website owners commissions; or by downloading software from the site, or by buying products or services from the website. Moreover, people have to spend a long time on a site, exploring it, reading through its contents, and looking at it from every angle. Traffic, therefore, is not all about website hopping: it is staying at a site and translating visits into money.
The main aim, therefore, of website owners, is to not only create a site, but to drive traffic to the website and have as many visitors as possible. Thankfully, there are free techniques that can allow traffic to move past other websites and into the website of interest. All these techniques need is a bit of web savvy and a lot of people skills.
The Paradigm of Web 2.0 is all about social networks, and this entails the fact that people now interact with each other more ? and not just through email. There are social networks online where you can make new friends and stay in touch with old ones. There are forums and groups where you can post your opinions for all to see. Now imagine, if you could use these networks and post your URL for people to see, then how many visits might you get? All you need to do is to join these networks, which are most often free, and join a forum or group that contains members of your target market.
There are also free video posting sites online. Sites such as YouTube will allow you to post your videos for free, so if you have an advertisement that might be exciting and entertaining to web users, add it in video format to your free YouTube account. If you like, you can even make videos about tips and tricks that are related to your products and services, and then put your URL up for your video viewers to see.
Another free way to direct money to your site is to make your URL as visible as possible, say through email or ezines, also known as electronic magazines. When sending out emails, attach your URL; better yet, pick a select group of your target market to send an email campaign to. Offer incentives for bringing in more customers. This may not sound like it?s free, but any incentive is also a great investment for your company?s longevity in the long run.
These are only a few free ways by which you can redirect traffic to go to your website. The key is to know your market well, and to meet its constantly changing needs and desires. If you are able to tap into your market, and if you are able to identify immediately who your target market is and what its needs are, you will be able to earn more from your online endeavors.
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