10 ways to increase web traffic

Write a Description and Keyword META Tag. The description should be a sentence or two describing the content of the webpage, using the main keywords and keyphrases on this page. If you include keywords that aren't used on the webpage, you could hurt yourself. Place the Description META Tag at the top of the webpage, between the tags, in this format: Some search engines include this description below your hyperlinked title.

Make Sure Your Keywords Are in the First Paragraph of Your Body Text. Search engines expect that your first paragraph will contain the important keywords for the document. Other places you might consider including keywords would be in ALT tags and perhaps COMMENT tags, though few search engines give these much if any weight. When weaving keywords into a main page, don’t keep using them over and over again. This is known as "keyword stuffing." It's a big Google no-no that can have your site removed from the index.

Linking Strategies. Links to your site from other sites bring additional traffic. Google and other major search engines consider the number of incoming links to your website ("link popularity") as an important factor in ranking, more links will help you rank higher in the search engines, too. Google has introduced a 10-point scale called PageRank (10 is the highest rank) to indicate the quantity and quality of incoming links. All links, however, are not created equal. Links from popular information hubs will help your site rank higher than those from low traffic sites.

Submit Your Site to Industry Sites and Specialized Directories. You may find some directories focused on particular industries, such as education or finance. You probably belong to various trade associations that feature member sites. Ask for a link. Even if you have to pay something for a link, it may help boost your PageRank. Beware of directories that solicit you for "upgraded listings." Unless a directory is widely used in your field, your premium ad won't help -- but the link itself will help boost your PageRank and hence your search engine ranking. Marginal directories come and go very quickly, making it hard to keep up. Don't try to be exhaustive here.

Blogging & Blog Comments. Regularly blogging about your industry, passion or profession can have enormous payoff if done properly. There's a host of considerations, but for the purposes of this short list, it's enough to simply blog well and take advantage of the inherent traffic provided by blog & RSS feed directories. You will get clicks and attention if your comments are intelligent and provocative. A successful blog can be the biggest marketing tool and online traffic source for many small and medium business websites.

Online Tool. Tools aren't always able to attract visitors independently, so you will need to do some promotion. Fortunately, there are dozens of online tools. The tool itself needs to serve a real purpose to those who visit your website and it also needs to be unique. If you're in the retail industry, imagine a tool that could be used to help visitor’s custom create a product, or display the products in the different styles, sizes and colors that are already available. For B2B, cost calculators for customers can be useful as well as product packaging and shipping options. Imagine how you can expand the use of your services to fit a wide audience, and make it fun and interactive. Tools can generate traffic slowly over time, or they can have huge bursts. Often, they spread virally through email and social networks if they're built right.

Submit Your Webpage URL to Search Engines. Next, submit your homepage URL to the important Web search engines that robotically index the Web. Look for a link on the search engine for "Add Your URL." In the US, the most used search engines are: Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL Search, and Ask.com. Some of these feed search content to the other main search engines and portal sites. Avoid registering with FFA (Free For All pages) and other link farms. They don't work well, bring you lots of spam e-mails, and could cause you to be penalized by the search engines. If your page is already indexed by a search engine, don't re-submit it unless you've made significant changes; the search engine spider will come back and revisit it soon anyway.

Reporting Remarkable News. This is the same process that sells newspapers. But, in the case of the web, the news can be smaller, as long as it's deeply tied to your industry or sector. Being the first to report is good, but by also being the best report on the subject, you firmly establish yourself as an excellent source for the current news and the future. Some of the highest traffic boosts possible come from news reports as thousands of popular sites write about their own experience or opinion with the story and credit you, sending what can often be tens or even hundreds of thousands of visitors over a few days.

Publish an E-Mail Newsletter. While it's a big commitment in time, publishing a monthly e-mail newsletter is one of the very best ways to keep in touch with your prospects, generate trust, develop brand awareness, and build future business. It also helps you collect e-mail addresses from those who visit your site but aren't yet ready to make a purchase. Ask for an e-mail address and first name so you can personalize the newsletter.

Ask Visitors to Bookmark Your Site. It seems so simple, but make sure you ask visitors to bookmark your site or save it in their Favorites list.