1. Traffic Driving - This has to be one of the easiest methods and the one I use most frequently myself. You can buy in
bulk packages targeting your category through sites such as revisitors. I prefer this method as I find pay per click (PPC) sites to be very unreliable. I am also uncomfortable with creating my own pitch for the ad and then worrying did I do it well enough.
2. SEO - Unless you are a real hardcore marketer or exist in a new category, I don't see a lot of value for you here. I do think you need to design your keyword / meta-tags appropriately. However, we have to face the facts that only the top few sites that show up in the search results will get the traffic from the search engines. I am not saying to ignore this topic altogether, just focus on targeted traffic at this time more so than search engine rank. If you want to get some hands on experience in this area, go to ibusinesspromoter. They have a free tool you can download which I personally have found useful.
3. Links - I love this one, the evolution of internet marketing at work. Basically, when the internet was young a site's traffic dictated its popularity. Then, along came the traffic providers and the picture got fuzzy. So, now we have links. The links that a site has going to its website dictate its popularity. By popularity I mean how search engines will rank the page. A big one these days is the Google Page Rank. Personally, I see the value here but guess what, you can buy links as well nowadays. I have purchased 3 links through text link ads to websites in my category that have high traffic and page rank. So, I am basically leaching off of them to boost my own site's ranking.
If you really want more detailed information on this topic, click on my link to that site to get more facts. Like SEO, I do not completely discount their use but I am really just trying to get potential customers to my site.
4. Articles - This one is probably the most interesting as submitting articles allows for you to get noticed in search engines while promoting your site. The best way I can communicate is to summarize the important elements:
Title: Use keywords related to your website first (i.e. Internet Marketing Tools Made Easy).Body - 4 main points to make this successful. Continue using your keywords in here but don't go overboard.
1. Recap your Title
2. Attention getting
3. Get to the point
4. Reason to visit your site
Resource Box: Your name, a short statement is a nice touch and of course, a link to your website landing them right into
your sales pitch.
My final recommendation for continued internet marketing education would be the Warriors Forum. I am a member of this free site and will admit that it is somewhat scary to navigate at first. Once you understand this monstrous forum's layout, you can learn new internet marketing techniques every time you visit or post to boards and get some educated feedback.
I do not want to be anti-climactic but we are at an end for now. I hope you got some practical information out of me. Just remember that avoiding the pitfalls is crucial in terms of money, time, and ultimately motivation. There are always going to be hard learnings, especially on the internet. If you learn from others and stay engaged, you greatly increase your odds. As a recap, just remember to….