Free Traffic Sources

Free Classifieds
Post advertisements on websites that offer free classified ads. Most traffic gained by this method will be highly targeted as users were most likely searching for the product or service you offer. Here’s a list of some popular sites for posting free classified ads:

1. Craigslist.org – By far the best choice. They have quite a few restrictions on posting ads in multiple cities and linking to commercial sites, but Craigslist is by far the most visited classified ads site on the internet (the 8th most visited site on the web to be exact!).
2. ClassifiedAds.com – This site has many categories to choose from. I haven’t personally seen much traffic come from this site, but it’s usually worth the minimal effort to post an ad for the chance of increased traffic.
3. BackPage.com – This site offers free classified ad postings by city. A friend of mine (an online marketing guru) swears by it!
4. freeadvertisingforum.com – A large forum offering free postings in one of three categories – business opportunities, products & services, and income opportunities.
5. kijiji.com – Organized by city, this site also offers a wide variety of categories and lets you post a picture in the title.

For additional sites, just do a Google Search for “Free Classified Ads”

Article Marketing
Write articles and have them published on major websites. This works best when the subject of the article relates closely to your website theme. If people like your article, they may be inclined to visit your site. Websites like ezinearticles.com will let you submit articles on any subject and allow you to include your name and a link to your website.

Forum Marketing
Post in community discussion forums. It’s a great way to let people know who you are and establish credibility in your industry. Be sure to post relevant answers to people’s questions, and avoid blatantly posting spam. Also, to generate traffic to your site, make sure you include a signature in your post with your name, title, and website address. To find relevant forums for your industry, search Google for “X Discussion Forums” (replace the X with your industry when you search).

Traffic Exchanges
A traffic exchange program is another method of increasing traffic to your website. However, to be effective, it requires that you visit other people’s sites. Usually, exchanges occur at a ratio of 2 to 1, so you have to visit 2 sites for them to send 1 visitor to yours. While this is a viable option, it can be time consuming and the traffic you receive may not be targeted.

Web Directories
Submit your website to directories. There are hundreds of directories on the internet, but in my opinion only two have enough clout to matter: dmoz.org and dir.yahoo.com.
Dmoz is free, but it can take 3-6 months to get listed. Yahoo may be faster, but you’ll pay $299 annually. I highly recommend listing your site in the Dmoz directory, but give careful thought before spending almost $300 a year for any directory. Think of it this way: When was the last time you went to a directory to find a website?

Link Exchange Program
Create a page on your site for links. Then search the internet for related websites willing to participate in a link exchange. This strategy will also help your search engine placement as the number of inbound links plays a part in your ranking. Be sure you are trading links with relevant sites, otherwise the traffic won’t be targeted, and therefore won’t be nearly as beneficial.

Joint Ventures
Find other companies with similar services and partner with them. This is accomplished by placing a page on your site which advertises their services and includes a link to their website. In return they do the same for you. If you partner with a site that enjoys high traffic volume, it can be very beneficial to you. Convincing the other webmaster that your services are equally valuable is often the challenge.

Tell A Friend
Software is available that allows you to strategically place “Tell a Friend” links on different pages of your site. After it’s installed, when users click on the link it opens a pop up window with a form they can complete with the names and e-mail addresses of friends that may be interested in your services. Personal recommendations are valuable and word of mouth advertising can’t be beat. MPS offers a simple “tell a friend” script that can be inserted into your web pages, for more info please e-mail MPS Sales.

Yahoo!Answers
Answer queries on Yahoo!Answers and include a link to your website at the bottom of your response. Other users may find this response and visit your website.

Paid Traffic Tactics

Press Releases
Your website can be overloaded with visitors when your website address is included in a formal Press Release. One site, famous for this very thing is prnewswire.com. I’ve never personally used prnewswire.com in this capacity, but they are known for sourcing the latest corporate information and news. Keep in mind that your press release must be “news worthy.” This means that you must have something significant to share. In addition, it must be very well written, which usually involves hiring a copywriter.

Google Adwords
Google Adwords will be covered in detail in another article. In the meantime, I recommend going to the library and checking out a book on Google Adwords (or buying it off of Amazon.com). I’d strongly recommend “Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords” by Perry Marshall and Bryan Todd. You can find it on Amazon by clicking here.

Search Engine Optimization and Placement
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is by far the most important part of your online marketing plan. Search engines are users’ primary choice for finding information on the internet. Your website needs to be ranked in the top 20 listing for keywords related to your website. SEO is a process that involves researching keywords and then hand tailoring your web pages to use these keywords so that when the search engines “spider” your page, they will list your webpage under the search results for that keyword. You can only realistically optimize one page for a maximum of about 5 different keywords (depending on how much content is on the page). Keywords must be used in the page text, headlines, images’ “alt” tags, and must be properly defined in the pages’ META tags.

SEO is a long and drawn out process that can take 12 months or more before any results can be seen. Be leery of companies offering a top 10 ranking in 30-90 days. Oftentimes, they achieve these results by using uncommon keywords. While this strategy may achieve a high rank for the keywords they used, these keywords are not searched for as often, and therefore will not generate the traffic you desire.

To learn more about SEO, I suggest visiting seobook.com. This website has many online resources for learning everything there is to know about SEO.

In Closing
Hopefully this installment of Generating Website Traffic will get you started and on your way. We will be covering more topics next time, so check back soon. Also if you have any suggestions for ways to generate website traffic, feel free to leave a comment.

-MPS Team

MPS offers two options for website design. Either choose a template and customize it to suit your needs, or utilize the MPS Design Team to create a completely custom design from start to finish.  Once a design is created, it is combined with a website design package of your choosing.

Website Templates

Starting with a website template allows you to save time and money.  Templates usually include about 5 pages for content, colors and fonts that match the template’s overall theme, and a dummy logo (which we’ll replace with yours).  The template acts as a foundation, which our Design Team builds upon to create a hand tailored site suited to your specific needs.  MPS offers a wide variety of templates in many categories, including industry specific designs.

Template Customization

Please keep in mind that templates are fully customizable.  Fonts, colors, images, and layouts can all be changed at your request.  It’s not uncommon for a client to fall in love with the look of a certain template, even if it isn’t themed for their specific industry.  Our Design Team is happy to assist you in customizing any template to create a website that reflects your company’s image and style at its best.

Custom Design

If you’re looking for a completely unique design, the MPS Design Team will work with you from start to finish, building a custom website from scratch. Usually, we’ll request that you provide us with a few existing websites or templates you like so we can get a general feel for the overall design and color palette you’re looking for.  Then, you specify the colors, and provide images and logos to the Design Team.  A custom design adds an additional 2-3 days to the overall project turn around time, and may take longer depending on how many revisions are necessary.

After the design is complete and you’ve approved it, we will convert it from Photoshop .psd to xHTML/CSS.  This involves creating several images and formatting them to work with standards-compliant web browsers, like Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox.

Cost Comparison

There is a significant cost difference between a website designed with the use of a template and having MPS create a custom design.  Templates begin at $65 ($150 for E-commerce).  Custom designs start at $250 and can be as much as $500, depending on the number of revisions required and the time spent on the project.  For most clients, starting with a template can save them time and money.  Many of our clients start with a template and use the savings to purchase other services such as Search Engine Optimization and Submission, Google Analytics Setup, and Google Apps Integration.

Regardless of which option you choose, rest assured that MPS will handle all aspects of the design process and work closely with you to deliver a site that exceeds your expectations and positively conveys your company’s image and professionalism.

Our websites are built with Search Engine Optimization in mind. We develop the “header” information with the Title, Description, and Keywords you provide. We also setup the appropriate Meta tags which enable search engines to properly “spider” your site and allow it to be indexed within search engines.  MPS is committed to providing you with a website that will help you reach your goals and achieve the internet presence that consumers desire.

To view our Website Design Templates, please click here:  Website Templates

To view our Website Design Pricing, click here:  Website Design Prices

For a custom quote, please visit our contact page by clicking here:  Contact Us

We are now proud to offer our clients a solution to manage communications, projects, invoicing, and online ordering. MPS has implemented a software package called Freelancer Panel written by Xyche Web Solutions. This new solution will provide customers with the following features:

1. View, print, and pay invoices via Paypal, Check and Credit Card via Authorize.net
2. View all current and previous projects
3. View information about project status such as work completed and work needing to be completed.
4. Submit tickets to our online help desk system
5. View knowledge base articles
6. Update contact information (stored securely)
7. Purchase additional services and products

MPS believes this solution will streamline communication with our customers and allow customers to access information 24 hours a day via our website.

For existing customers access to this new system is available from our home page via the Client Login section of the left navigation bar.

For new customers please visit our online ordering system and make a purchase to become a client.

If you have any questions regarding this new system, please contact MPS Support at: support@reallyfastwebsites.com

-MPS Team