Fortunately there are more ways than one to increase website traffic. If you don't mind spending a few bucks to attract visitors, the options obviously increase. But let's examine what you can do to increase website traffic totally free of cost. It can be done and here are 10 ways to do it.

10 Effective Website Promotion Techniques

1. Search engine and directory submission: This is the first step towards effective website promotion. Don't wait for the search engines to find your site. Go ahead and submit to them voluntarily. Submitting a sitemap would be better and will encourage the search engines to examine your site more often. Visits by the Search Engine Spiders are a key way to increase website traffic.

2. Top search engine ranking: Search engines drive maximum traffic to websites. Millions of surfers depend on search engines to locate the information they want. Research proves that people won't usually go beyond 2-3 results' pages (top 30 results) in their quest. Now you know the importance of gaining a top listing.

3. Listing in the top directories: Don't ignore directory listings for your website; they get you about 10% of the traffic. You can really increase website promotion through the directories. The directories have human edited listings, and are more reliable and relevant. Don't ignore Open Directory Projects, such as DMOZ.

4. Build link popularity: Top search engines count inbound links when ranking your website. Look for free link exchange programs. You can increase website traffic by including relevant links to your site. Some website owners use free blogs as lead generation tools. These things definitely help in your website promotion efforts. They are also a direct means to increase website traffic for free! Free classified ads that allow links to your URL are also good ways to increase website traffic.

5. Article marketing as traffic drivers: A relatively new but powerful website promotion tool and excellent website traffic booster. Publish articles on Ezine and Article Directories. Articles create interest in your website as you are seen as an expert. Having your URL and anchor text listed increases your number of relevant inbound links.

6. Use forums: Forums are a good way to boost your website promotion campaign as they are opinion builders. Join discussions and include your website URL.

7. Sign-up visitors for newsletters: Signing up new visitors is a great way to increase website traffic. The more the subscribers you have, the more revisits you will get. Use links to various products and pages throughout the newsletter.

8. Increase organic and direct traffic: Give your visitors reasons for them to return to your site. Use ideas like autoresponder courses, etc. Organic increase of your website's popularity means retaining your audience while you ramp up your website promotion tactics.

9. Hire a professional to design your website: Good website design goes a long way toward retaining your visitors and increasing new visits to your site. A professional web designer knows that pages that are very long and require lots of scrolling down risk abandonment without getting read. A professional website design job will go a long way in retaining your visitors, drawing new ones and is an excellent website promotion tool. A professional web designer can give your site just the right mix of graphics and text.

10. Beat your competition: You win when your products and add real value for customers. This is the sure-fire way to beat the competition in addition to improving your site's content and appearance. Therefore, knowing your competition is essential.

Despite not finding a place in the list, choosing the right business or topic for your website and its content holds the key to effective website promotion. Popular topics drive more traffic than a Ph.D. dissertation.