You can never have too much traffic. After all, what good is it to have a website if nobody ever sees it? There are several proven ways to get more people to look at your pages.

Some traffic building methods are totally free, other than the time involved, and some require a little cash investment and some quite a bit. Regardless of anything else, the most important factor in attracting more visitors will be to give them something of value to look at.

You must have interesting, quality content on your site. Having great content gives people a reason to return again and to refer the site to others. Information should be offered that is helpful and useful. People only visit any particular place on the web because they want to find news, solve a problem or to be entertained.

Creating good content should always be the first priority. It should also be updated as frequently as possible to keep it fresh in order to develop a following of return visitors.

If you are not comfortable with writing your own ad copy, consider outsourcing the work. Find a friend or colleague with writing talent who might want to contribute articles. There are many dependable Internet sources that will write original content for a nominal fee.

Never copy material from another website for your own use and always be original. The major search engines are very sophisticated these days and will spot duplicate content immediately, sending you to the bottom of the engine listings. No matter what other forms of promotion you may use, you will still want to get in on the action that comes from search engines. This is where most people will look first for information.

Improve your search engine ranking through the use of keywords in your content. This is what is known as SEO, or search engine optimization. For example, if you sell dog food, be sure that those words appear in your page titles, first paragraphs and throughout all your articles, without over doing it.

Use words that people commonly think of when they want your product. Saying, “Gourmet canine cuisine” may be clever, but it will not be the first thing people will search for.

Another very important strategy to increase your traffic is the use of back links. These are links on other websites that link to yours. Using the previous example, if you are able to get a link on a site that sells dog collars or other related accessories, people will find you there.

Just as important, search engines rate sites on popularity and this will get you noticed and can bring you closer to the top of the list. Naturally, the best way to get others to link to your site is to offer to link to theirs.

Another way to get traffic and valuable back linking is through article marketing. This is where you place relevant articles on the various directories about what it is that you do.

When these are read, the reader will have the option to click on your main page for more details. This not only creates instant traffic, but also helps boost your engine rankings.

Finally, if you have a budget, consider buying advertising. The first listings you see when you do a search are not always there because they are the best. They paid for that position. The most popular programs are known as pay per click.

Companies like Yahoo, Google and others will give you better placement, for a fee. When you have someone click on your listing, you are charged a certain amount. This absolutely demands having good content, since you pay every time someone looks.

There are many important factors you should understand and learn in order to get your website ranked high on the result pages of a search engine. And it pays (literaly pays) to learn more about the most effective promotion method, search engine optimization (SEO).

Most important tip on how to promote a website is that you should and must understand how to improve your website’s ranking when an organic (natural) search is made. This is different to paid advertising which is another method of making your website more visible. You can do this by incorporating search engine optimization (SEO) strategies in your webpages.

First strategy is that for each webpage that you create write a title that is keyword rich. A title must consist of between five and eight words. A provocative title will certainly help in getting better results.

Secondly, create descriptive META tags. This is a description of your page and should be a sentence that describes what the content of your webpage is about. This sentence should be no longer than 255 words and the first sixty should be made as attractive and provocative as possible.

Next, create headers that contain your main keywords. These will help you get your page ranked higher on a search engine. It is also important to position the keywords in the first paragraph of the main text of the webpage. Search engines will look here to see whether there are any vital keywords in the webpage. However, be sure not to try and stuff the keyword artificially and also remember that more does not always mean better.

When creating an ALT Attribute of the image tab, make full use of keywords that are relevant and very descriptive. This will give the search engine clues about your website and it also helps to get the page ranked higher with the search engine. And name your images using keywords related to the page in which you display the image on.

When using hyperlinks, include some keywords in them as the search engine will always look for clues to find out what the main focus of the webpage is.

It is also necessary that visitors to your website find it easy to navigate around your website. In addition, to learn how to promote a website, also requires understanding the importance of making the website navigation system as search engine friendly as possible. Try to minimize use of Flash and JavaScript which are good for human visitors but not very helpful when it comes to search engines.

Develop a site map which has links to different pages on your website; this will help visitors and search engines find your pages easily, and this can be especially handy as you website grows.

Finally, develop keyword focused webpages relevant to your overall site’s theme. Avoid drifting too far from your website’s theme. Search Engines will be confused and won’t know what you site is about and therefore can effect your website’s ranking. The more closely related your webpages are the better.

Concentrating on your SEO efforts is probably the most effective way of doing this and should be the first thing you consider. SEO (search engine optimization) is basically the practice of inserting keywords relevant to your business into the HTML meta tags on your website and in the content of your webpage. These keywords should be the focus of  the actual content or text of your site, particularly your landing or home page.

So, if you are having someone do your content and site development for you, make sure they pay attention to this point. If your SEO is up to scratch then your site will attract far more of the right kind of traffic (targeted trafic) and your page rankings (how close to the top of any search result your site appears) will improve which will attract more traffic and so on. Once your site is as “visible” as possible to search engines it becomes a self sustaining, daisy chain process that will greatly boost your sites efficiency.

Put your website URL (website address) on all your other advertising. If you are distributing flyers or pamphlets or advertising in newspapers and magazines, make sure that your website is listed prominently. Most people who receive a flyer and are interested in your product or service will immediately look for a web address. This can be an immensely powerful advertising strategy.

Post your site details on every possible free online business directory you can find. Many potential clients visit these first before they do a generic search for a product. Many businesses, both off and online, attribute a substantial part of their trade to directory queries so don’t neglect this one.

Blogs have also become a super tool when it comes to site exposure. A blog (short for weblog) is a social platform where you can air and debate your thoughts, post business relevant articles and generally spread the word regarding your business. You can either have a blog hosted for free by companies such as Blogger or start your own on-site blog with free software applications such as MediaWiki.

Another new kid on the block regarding media exposure is the podcast. These are basically talk show format audio files which allow you to pitch your website and post the audio files to directories such as iTunes. Free podcast applications can be found readily online and should be considered as many web surfers prefers tactile audio or visual information.

Other ways of getting your site advertised are reciprocal links which is basically the practice of allowing others to advertise their site on yours in return for a like courtesy, email lists, article directories and complimentary business alliances. All are effective but should be considered only after you have carried out the basic points listed above.

So if you are wondering how to advertise a website on the cheap, follow these basic tips and you are sure to get the good word out there in no time.

1. Changing buying habits – Already a good number of people buy things online, pay for services online and do many financial transactions online. Even those who shop at the normal brick and mortar store will often check online to see if what they need is available online, compare prices and make a tentative decision. Having a website will at least ensure that if someone needs to buy something online that you sell, they will find you.
2. So simple you can do it yourself – It does not have to be flashy and have complex features. Just a simple and informational website will do and you can then develop it from there as the business itself grows. The internet itself provides a wide range of templates that you can choose from and use. Troubleshooting is simple. If you have technical difficulties your hosting company should have a support center that can help. If they can’t fix your problem from their end they can usually walk you through it with easy directions.
3. Inexpensive – You can not only do it yourself, but the tools you need to create small business website are available either free or at a relatively low cost. Even maintaining a small business website is less expensive than you might think. You can find a website host for as little as $5 per month, and an exclusive domain name, or URL for a small annual fee. You can update your website from the comfort of your own home, at any hour, without the need to hire additional personnel.
4. Go national and global – Traditionally, small businesses reach was limited to their locale. When you create a website for your small business, you increase your audience not only nationally but globally.
5. Image – A web presence is one way to drive your credibility a notch higher. Another thing to note when you create small business website is that it usually comes with an email address under the same domain name which cuts a more professional image than using an internet email account.
6. Avenue for feedback – You can create a website that includes a functionality for clients to get back to you. This may be both in terms of enquiries or even complaints on the quality of product or service the client received.
7. 24 hour access – You no longer need to keep your brick and mortar office open in order to qualify as a 24 hour establishment. With a website, someone can communicate with you any time of day from wherever they are on the planet.
8. Information Portal - One way you can establish your business is by becoming a trusted source of information not only which relates to your business but to your industry as a whole. Create small business website with this angle and people will not only come to read substantive information but a number will end up buying your product.
9. The competition – In the early and mid 90s, creating a website was considered the forte of Fortune 500 or similar sized companies. Times have since changed and it is very likely that your competitors are on the web too. Create small business website to make sure you are not at a disadvantage online.
10. The future is on the Internet - Almost everything we do today has a digital component. Increasingly, more things we do have an Internet component. Any business that does not plan to take advantage of the internet risks extinction.