It is the dream of every web-master to get truckloads of visitors to his site.
If you are not getting visitors you may as well not have a site.
There are many ways of getting visitors to a website.
Almost everyone tries traffic exchange programs, safe-lists, banner exchange programs, classified sites, FFA sites and message boards because each one of them has a free version.
These programs do bring visitors but they are all untargeted hits meaning, people do not visit your site looking for something but just see your site so that you see theirs.
It is unlikely that you make any sale through such programs.
You may use such programs to advertise splash pages and free to sign up affiliate programs.
A targeted visitor on the other hand is one who comes to your site expecting to find something he wants.
He is likely to buy something because he is searching for it.
Hence getting targeted hits to your site is extremely important.
As people looking for something on the net use search engines your site should be search engine friendly.
This is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
The search engine compares the key word string used by people with the title, description, and keyword Meta tags in the head section of your web page.
If the two match then the search engine software lists that page.
If on the other hand your Meta tags do not have those key words then it ignores your page.
It is also important to have good content on your pages.
Hence it is very important to keep track of what keywords people are using while searching for a specific information or product.
Word tracker is a very useful tool for determining what keywords people are using in various search engines.
It also gives you the Keyword Effectiveness Index (K.
E.
I) for all the keywords.
A keyword that is used very frequently but has fewer competing pages will have a high K E I.
You should make use of such keywords to get targeted hits to your site.
This also helps you in the AdWords campaign where you have to bid for keywords.
Another way of getting targeted visitors is to get links from other related sites by providing a link to each of them (reciprocal link).
People visiting a site usually look for links to related sites and visit those sites as well.
Joining a web-ring also helps you in bringing visitors who are interested in what you are offering.
You can also write articles on the topic of your website and submit them to article directories.
People reading those article are likely to visit your site for more information.
Do not ignore offline methods of advertising your site.
Print your URL with a brief description of the site on your visiting card, letterhead and any other stationery your use.
If you are giving a talk on any subject which is directly as indirectly related to your website tell your audience to visit your site.
If you are using slides make sure to add your URL to the first and the last slide.
Advertising in PPC in also an effective way of getting targeted hits to your site but requires investment of money.
Posting in forms can also get targeted visitors if you make useful posts on topics related to your site.