Actually, there are more than 3 and none are really free. They all cost you at least your time.
Write A Blog
If you want free traffic, you create a blog. Write posts on your subject that are at least 250 words long. Try writing posts so that they are in a series of 5 or more posts.
Then Comment on Other Blogs
Find other blogs that are close to your target audience and comment there, linking back to your own site. Each time you comment, click that little thumbs-up from stumble upon and if you are the first to hit the site write the past name as a description and include it in the correct category. Include as a part comment of your comment that you stumbled the post. This will give the blog owner reason to visit your site and hopefully pay you back with a stumble.
Create Articles
About a week after posting your blog entry or series, submit each post as an article. Either:
- just submit to ezinearticles – the best place for articles on the net
- submit to multiple article directories
- use article submission software.
All 3 cases you have at least an author bio box that points back to you. Done right you have have either links back to your site or refer to your site by name for article directories that don’t allow links.
Then Use Social Media
Form (or join) a social media group. Having a dozen or more people in a list that you can share your links with means that other people can regularly submit your blog posts to the different social media. Better yet, join at least 2. Give yourself the largest support group possible.
I have an account in just about every major social media site (114 different sites, I just counted). Every time someone asks that I do a social media thing for them, I do. I also have no problem asking for return favors. I have one login “richmcl” an email alias from a company I no longer work for. When I started using it I searched Google and it was on the internet a dozen times. Today Google shows 17,600 results. Make an unusual login that you can track. Great for proof, I am using it here to prove that I post A LOT.
Last, don’t submit your own site to too many social media sites, have others do it. I have 2 IP addresses so I can use one as a posting address and one as a submitting address, but it is better to always ask someone in your social media group to submit for you.
Join StumbleUpon Exchange.
The standard social media, sphinn and stumbleupon are great for getting traffic, and easier than article writing or blogging. The traffic is not as targeted as we would like, but better than nothing. 5 good visits out of 100 people from stumble is better than 0 out of a million.
Use Forums
Join forums.
Join more than one.
Link to your blog and to your articles in different article directories. Forums are also a great place to meet people that will start a social media group with you. Make sure that you have links to your site in your bio box and in your posts link to your sites.
Consider asking forums for help on a site – this is an old trick and a lot of forums don’t like it, so make sure you see others doing it before giving it a try.
Make a List
As often as you logically can, make a post about the top 100 of something related to your market. Here is a site (A European Marketing Resource List – PowerAge Europe 110) that took the AdAge top 100 blog list and made a list of the top 110 European blogs on Marketing and Sales.
People love to be called out for being great at something and I am sure this list has been referenced by nearly everyone on the list (Hey! Look at me, someone thinks I’m great!)
Don’t Forget Entrecard
Low end, use Entrecard. This also takes a bit of time, but not much. There are sites like mine (Entrecard Drop List, or the You Drop I Follow List) that have ways to ‘drop’ your Entrecard quickly. The dropping is not important – getting on the drop-list is important.
Search people that make these lists and follow whatever small requirements they have and you will be getting a lot of traffic. Entrecard is like Stumbleupon, not every targeted traffic.
Ask Others to Help, Offer Them Your Help
Want to form a social media group with me? Mail me that alias I listed above richmcl at live.com and we can start a new group today.
Ask For A Stumble
Liked this post? Stumble it.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Do you have any more information about article directories. I was thinking about using them but am not too sure.
I do, I’ll post about it tomorrow. I have a rather large list of article directories and opinions about some of the better ones. For now, I’ll just say that they do work.
Just found my list, it is by page rank and I have over 60 Article sites. I’ll verify PR and that they are still live before posting.
How about the relation between “bounce rate” and entrecard dropper list? Do you have any idea?
I have my opinion, but have only recently started following that as a stat – and only half heatedly. Here is my reason:
1) This is a blog and people that come to read my latest post hit one page, and then move on.
2) Entrecard droppers hit one page and then move on.
There is no statistical difference for me between a regular reader who comes from an email update and an EC dropper. Since this site has nothing for sale, I have no conversion to measure.
Here – when I say conversion, I mean number of daily or weekly sales.
If my site was a sales page and adding the EC widget shown an increase in traffic and conversion remained the same I would say EC had no value except lowering my Alexa rank.
If adding the EC widget caused a drop in conversion it would be bad and I would remove it.
For a blog (maybe in general), I place a low value on a bounce rate unless there is also a change in the conversion rate.
I have a bounce rate of 76% on this site & 55% on a more technical site where I post less often. Both have the EC widget. EC seems to send the same amount of traffic to both sites. In my opinion that other site merits more time reviewing the subject.
Simple yet effective strategy, i am using some that are in your list except social media which i am no longer active. I am now active with Entrecard, leave a comment when i have too and not expecting any return some does, some don’t but at least i multi-task while dropping (Reading and commenting) it saves me time.
I also agreed with your explanation with bounce rate, i run a blog therefore no longer worried with bounce rate, Entrecarders are very much worried about it when they first notice it but now blogger’s seems like not worried with it anymore.
Stumbled.
Hey, paid you back with a stumble.
I noticed that you didn’t include SEO as a traffic generator. Given all things equal, it’s the optimized post that ranks high in search engines, and eventually gets more traffic.
You are right. I only included the things that are “easy” and anyone with a blog can do.
I did not include other things, directories and search engine submission for example. Thanks for reading.
Your EC drop list sounds like a good idea.
Include me in: http://slightlydrunk.com
Cheers!
I also think this is a good idea. Will check it out.
ps thanks for the comment on my blog.