Print This Page
What can I do to bring more traffic to my website?
Word-of-Mouth Advertising
The first and simplest way to get someone to come visit your site is to invite them personally. Be sure to put your website's address and your email address on EVERYTHING! Always put your URL (your website's unique address such as http://www.inetusa.com) in any newspaper advertisements, house signs, roadside signs, business cards, letterhead, greeting cards, other stationery on your email messages and any other publications of any kind that you create. Never miss a chance to promote your website in person or in print, radio, televison or any other media you may be using.
Search Engines
Major search engines and directories provide an important source of regular visitors to any website and quite often this traffic is free. Search Engines use your Meta Tags and your website page content to index your website, so be sure to spend some time doing your "homework" getting your Meta Tags setup. One of the best ways to do this is to study the meta tag information on competitor's websites! To identify your search engine competition, go to several major search engines and enter a search phrase where you'd like to be listed in the results (for example: Atlanta homes for sale). Click on View Source (on the browser View menu or right click) and study the meta tags for those websites listed in the top search results. Don't copy these meta tags! Notice the words and phrases being used in the top search results and create your own list of meta keywords. If you aren't familiar with Meta Tags and Meta Keywords, be sure to review "Promoting Your Website" in the Step-by-Step Guide section under your Help menu.
Link Directories and Exchanges
One of your website promotion goals should be to get your website URL "out there" on the internet in as many other places as you can. Link Directories and Exchanges with other related websites can be a big help here, but can be a time consuming process. There are hundreds of link directories where you can add your website URL for free (DONT put your email address here unless you like spam). One of the advantages of using the link directories and exchanges is that when the directory or link page on that other site gets indexed by a search engine spider, the spider will usually follow the link and index YOUR website also. In many cases, this can get your website indexed much faster than basic "URL submissions" to search engines. Tip: Be sure you add your link only to directories that are relevant to your business. For some "getting started" ideas on using directories and link exchanges, view "Free Tips for Improving Your Website Traffic" in the Bonus Tutorial section under Step-by-Step Guides.
Website Content
Your website already contains pages of content that were specifically designed to help you with search engine visibility. These pages include the Real Estate Directory, National Property Listings, Real Estate Talk, and many other pages of content that make your site look like the "big guys" to search engines. Search Engines view all of these pages as YOUR website content and index it as YOUR content - your site literally has thousands of pages automatically! You don't need to do anything to take advantage of this feature - just leave those links available on your website.
Submit Your Website to Search Engines
Don't forget the basic website "submission" tools. Be sure your meta tags are completed and then visit the Website Promotion page (under Marketing in your intranet) and click on the "Search Engine Submission" option. This tool will submit your website to search engines that are currently accepting automatic submissions. Other search engines will accept manual submissions and you can access those links at the bottom of the page.
