Generating Traffic to website

What would you say is the absolute best way or necessary things to do, to generate traffic to a website?

They say offering a Free gift is a good way to generate traffic! Is it really true?
Would you say that a free gift is a good incentive for you? Does a Free Gift motivate you to action?

The free gift offer is a proven way to stimulate interest and get the traffic ball rolling. It can provide several long term benefits for the prospect as well as the marketer... if presented correctly.

The method is effective for several reasons:

- Only people who have a particular interest in your offer will be attracted to it. (You get targeted prospects only)

- Prospects must leave their contact information in order to obtain the gift. (You get to build a list)

- The quality/relevance of your gift should be useful to the prospect. (You get to show your authority)

- Follow up emails should contain more useful content. (You get to build a relationship and establish trust)

- As trust builds, buying resistance is lowered. (You get to influence prospects to follow your recommendations)

Repeating this sequence helps you to lay the foundation for generating a strong traffic flow around the clock.

Hermas

I would say in the long run, it's SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Search Engine traffic is usually quite high quality as people were already looking for things that led them to your site.

I'm almost shocked to see that no one here has mentioned having a blog and connecting with like minded individuals. Above all else, the "regular Joe" out there interested in trying online earning wants to know that the person they join under is a "real person" who knows where they are coming from and knows the steps to get them where they need to be. Connecting with people and then getting them to your blog with good content will drive traffic to your opportunities.

I definitely recommend having a free gift and submitting it to a JV Giveaway

I agree. I have a blog and put my own content on my blog. If find I have more targeted traffic because it is what they are interested in.

Having a free gift doesn't generate traffic. I've been willing to give away a free date to a single nurse for the last 3 years, yet no single nurses have come strolling by to take me up on the offer.

You have to get eyes on the giveaway first. I think you're really asking how to do this, and there's no "best" way to get it done. For a long time, I was like Payment Proof and I thought that SEO was the way to go. The problem with SEO, though, is the repetition and details. I'm not a details guy nor am I a repetition guy. I like to have some variety in my daily routine, and SEO requires consistency and management of minutiae.

I dove into PPC a week ago with a new site I'm building and it's doing wonders. I setup a semi-sorta-kinda squeeze page as the home page and I've started listing articles, one-by-one, each week in the sidebar. In 18 months with SEO, I never managed to build a list. In 8 days with PPC, I'm up to 14 or 15 people already. That's very exciting to me.

You might also do the blog idea, or true article syndication, or even print out drop cards and leave them all around town so that people visit your sites. You really need to assess your specific offer and then see what methods make the most sense versus your goals.

-- j

I think the question is misleading, it's conversion that matters unless you only want traffic instead of sales.
"Traffic" can be bought very cheaply but it doesn't generate income unless it's targeted correctly.
SEO generates traffic that is already searching for what you have to offer, free or otherwise.
PPC is really just another form of SEO since you are bidding on keywords or placement.

Traffic,

It all comes down to traffic in my experience, and yes, of course, targeted traffic is always better than broad based traffic, but this is not true when you are promoting a broad based product or service or like most here, a business opportunity. Traffic rules, the more traffic, the more sales, targeted or not, the numbers tell it all.

As to the Free Offer, yes, the most powerful word in advertising has always been FREE. I have used FREE incentives for years, and this too will increase traffic to your site which will enhance your sales and convertions over time. You have to offer a FREE product or service of value, no value, no conversions is what I have learned.

If you advertise on BackPage which most do, this is where I generate a ton of traffic over the years, and depending on the ads I place, it can be targeted and if you use the right search terms in title, it can be one of the most effective ways to build traffic fast, and if you value your time, then you should evaluate Business-Blaster.com software which will post to hundreds of cities even worldwide depending on your market. I have recently focused on an international market and am amazed to see worldwide results like I never imagined.

We all want to build traffic to our main sites with the hopes we can convert the traffic to sales, nothing new here, everyone has the same goals I am sure given this is a topic everyone is interested in. Like most, we no longer focus on one product or service to promote for the very same reason I focus on saving business owners money, as well as saving consumers money, this way it makes no difference who you target or who you don't target, everyone is looking to save money and is interested in value in this down economy. Targeted traffic always costs more, and that is why I no longer waste the money on high cost targeted traffic, I focus on broad based traffic worldwide given the market is so much larger than U.S. or CAN alone. Live and learn.

Free gifts are not going to get you traffic for a longer duration of time. The best thing you can do is Off page optimization of your website. if you do not not what is off page optimization, search for the same on Google. Make it a habit and soon you will have your website flooded with visitors.

Quality content that is SEO friendly is the best way to generate traffic. I assume you are referring to general website traffic form search engines, etc. If you are promoting an affiliate page, i suggest you start a blog, preferably with your own domain name and work on SEO on that website, so people who are interested in what you are selling/ doing can find you more easily.

All your feedback was helpful.
I find that by marketing to your list and other trustworthy lists will bring you in tons of traffic.
Most of all keep it simple

There's too many variables to say one way is the absolute best way.

The best way is the way that get you:

1. opt-ins and most importantly
2. sales

You will have to test (which is part of being a marketer - hate it or love that's what we're supposed to do )...

Drive traffic to a squeeze page with a free gift and to one without a free gift and just note what your results are. How many people opted in with the page with the free gift vs without the gift.

Then just test different free gifts. You must first of all know what types of products appeal to your niche.

Just to put a fly in your soup...

There are marketers who don't use squeeze pages at all...at least not upfront. They lead with a low priced ebook etc.. on a salespage...and then AFTER they buy, they are put on their buyers list. Some marketers prefer having a list of proven buyers than a list of people who opted in for a freebie.

You can test that too and see which way you prefer.

Happy testing!

It has been proven that offering a free gift is a good way to generate traffic. People love incentives and it gives them motivation to grab whatever products/service you offer.

I like the new Facebook feature where you can spend a minimal amount to promote your post/website high in the feeds. I have been getting some great results.

Ive always found that posting on forums just like we are doing helps a lot. Just make sure your signature is updated for the site you wanted to promote.

For free traffic, you can use:

Forum marketing
Article marketing
Video marketing

For paid, you can use:

PPC
Banner ads
Solo ads.

It is when you combine all of them at the same time that makes the difference.

Tweet at least 5 times a day, write a blog and make videos about your personal success with proof are very effective ways to promote yourself