Search Engine Optimization seems to be foremost on everyone’s mind. And, of course, this is an important aspect of Internet Marketing and should be given its rightful dues. However, you cannot rely solely on Search Engines for your website traffic.

The primary goal of Search Engine Optimization is to rank on Page 1 of Google. But, Page 1 is a long term goal, it is not an overnight reward.

So, while working on SEO, here are 14 ways to increase website traffic NOW and good traffic that will lead to conversions and sales.

Sources to Increase Website Traffic Now:

1. Online Classifieds – These sites are great because people are there looking for something, so the chances for conversions greatly increase.

• US Free Ads – Very high traffic site, lots of shoppers. Plus, Google loves US Free and the ads rank high in SERPS. Make sure to use good keywords in the title and H1 headers within the add, so when your ads rank high in SERPS they will rank for those keywords.
• My Space Classifieds
• Oodle Classifieds
• WebLeeg Classifieds
• Best Way Classifieds
• Lycos Classifieds

2. Relevant Forums – There is no quicker or more targeted traffic than through a signature link in related forums. Just search Google for “your niche forum.” Make sure that they allow a link to your site in the signature, sometimes they make you wait until you have a certain amount of posts. Don’t spam, leave helpful comments and interact with the community.

3. Blog Comments – Commenting on blogs can generate lots of traffic, especially high traffic blogs. Don’t spam, read the blog post and leave relevant and meaningful comments, often you learn a lot of valuable information from veteran bloggers.

Sometimes bloggers are scared of competition, and will delete comments from what they consider to be rival sites, but don’t worry, not all of them are sissy’s, just keep at it and soon you will have a list of blogs that welcome your participation. Search Google “your niche blog”

4. Social/Web 2.0 – Submitting your site’s content to social media sites can explode your traffic. See the full guide and list Here: Social Marketing – 45 Social News Sites

5. Article Marketing – Article Marketing is one of the best ways to increase website traffic, traffic that is relevant and targeted for sales. Read the full guide at: Article Marketing 101

6. Build a Squidoo Lens – How-To Squidoo – Steps to Building the Best Lens for Website Promotion

7. Craigslist - Place an add on Craigslist.org, they have huge traffic and lots of people looking for stuff. If you build an interesting add with a captivating headline you can increase your website traffic. Make sure to check the TOS of your affiliate programs some of them prohibit using Craigslist, like eBay for example.

8. Link Referral – Linkreferral.com is a free service and I always get an increase in good traffic from them and have gotten several sales on my sites, as well as several subscribers to this blog through them.

Basically it is a traffic exchange program that’s backlink to your site is also counted heavily by Google. Unlike other useless traffic exchanges, here the members review each other’s sites, and pick which sites they want to view via selected categories for which they have a genuine interest.

9. Put a Sign on the Back of Your Car – This really works, especially if you spend time sitting in traffic .

10. Email everyone you know and send them links to your sites and ask them to spread the word to their friends and family. Also let your neighbors know about your site and make some flyers announcing your website and drop them off at your neighbors doors.

11. Viral Marketing – Write a great e-book on a subject within your niche. A good e-book can spread like wildfire with a link to your site embedded in the content.

• Free E-Book Builders: Primo PDF and Dean Report Free E-Book Compiler
  

• E-Book Promotion – ebooksubmit.com has the most comprehensive information on promoting and spreading your e-book all over the web.

12. Advertise – Lots of high traffic sites and blogs offer advertising space, if it is cost effective for you this can greatly increase your website traffic.

13. Online Directories – This is not the biggest traffic source, but since you have to do it for your SEO link building anyway…

Submitting to directories can be a tedious process, I use Directory Submission Service to submit for me, it’s really cheap and saves me lots of time.

If you want to do manual submission here is a hyperlinked List of 830 Directoriess listed by page rank.

14. Pay for a Website Review – There are sites where you can register your websites and connect with bloggers that do paid reviews. Prices vary (see more details below). Usually the higher the traffic and Page Rank of the blog the higher the cost of the review.

Before you do this, be really sure that your website will hold up to the scrutiny of a review. Even though these bloggers get paid to review your site, they are usually really honest about their findings and the networks that I recommend below require high levels of transparency.

Here is a great post, from Ben at SEO Horror that can help you determine if your website is ready for a review: Is your Website the Best Thing in the World?

Bloggers, you can earn great money by registering your blog to do paid reviews.

Paid Review Blog Networks:

• Sponsored Reviews – This is my favorite! Choose bloggers by the “Sponsored Reviews Score”, based on Alexa, PR and traffic. With the other networks you can either search for bloggers and purchase reviews, or post an opportunity and let bloggers find you, this is the only network that allows you to do both. Quality blogs that are at least 3 months old and meet strict requirements. Price: Negotiable via Bidding System.




• Pay Per Post – Another one of my favorites! One of the most popular paid to blog networks, boasting a network of over 17,000 bloggers. You cannot pick individual blogs that will review your site, however, they do provide several efficient sorting methods, like Page Rank, Alexa, Niche/Content. Price: Calculated by the settings you choose, the higher the page rank and traffic the higher the cost for the review, minimum cost is $5 and a review from a higher end blog can run upto $35.




• Blogvertise – Has lots of categories for blogs and allows advertisers to choose blogs that will review their sites by relevance to their niche. Advanced controls offer sorting by PageRank, Alexa score, and other filters. Price will vary dependent on the type of advertising, and the quality of the blog doing the review. Price Range: $8-$50 per review.




• Smorty – Also uses a ranking system that is actually based on 20 different factors, not just PR and traffic, so they boast “no low quality blogs” in their network. Price: Bid for Reviews, minimum bid: $10, obviously the higher you bid the better set of bloggers you will attract.




• Review Me – Features high-end bloggers, and while pricey will expose your website to high traffic blogs that can greatly increase website traffic. Pick the blogs you want with the “Review Me Score” which is based on reach, alexa, traffic, and citations. Scrutinize and pick carefully the bloggers you want for reviews, for the price you want to pick the most relevant, highest traffic blog you can afford. Price: $40 – $500 per review.




• Blogitive – All blogs doing reviews are at least 3 months old and update consistently, this site offers a very hands-on customer service. Price: Varies, I believe they start around $5 per review.

Some of the information on the paid review list was derived from Social SEO at: A Review of the Top Blog Advertising Sites