Increase Traffic 5 Ways

We are all trying to increase traffic (visitors) to our sites. More than traffic, we want visitors to bookmark our site, explore the different pages and, hopefully, sign up for our newsletter, buy our product or contact us for a bid for services.

These 5 tips were in a previous issue of Traffic Tips from TrafficZap.

1. Add interactive features to your site, such as guestbooks, message boards, online polls, postcard services, or chat rooms. These features increase the "stickiness" of your site, that quality that causes user retention ... in other words, repeat traffic.

2. Encourage your visitors to participate in the creation of your site. For example, add a classified ad section, or a links submission page, or a feedback form that allows users to post their comments.

3. Provide valuable information. This may sound like an obvious piece of advice, but it is surprising how many websites really don't offer much else than a glowing tribute to themselves. Do some digging, offer real information about the topic of your site, like recipes for a cooking site, or a photo swap service for an automotive site.

4. Add a sweepstakes, or prize draw, preferably by giving away something pertinent to your site. If you have a travel site, a digital map or a downloadable gift certificate could fit the bill.

5. Offer links to other sites that offer services you may not be able to provide. An example might be a link to a free search engine submitter for a webmaster-related site; or a link to a currency converter on a travel site; or a link to a mortgage calculator on a real estate site. It's amazing but true that people will remember your site as if you were actually providing the service.