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Internet businesses can be very profitable, tapping the vast resource that is the World Wide Web. But it is not as simple as simply setting up a website or an online shop and watching the money come in! The importance of generating traffic for your website cannot be stressed enough, and almost all articles you will read about online success will agree.

Traffic generation should be planned along with the plan for the website itself, and should start as soon, or even before, the website itself is published online. The following are some surefire ways to increase your website traffic.

1) Invest in good advertisement with the popular search engines.

Google and Yahoo are the top two search engines on the Internet, and these two sites draw huge amounts of traffic. They also offer great advertising schemes, Google with its Adwords and Yahoo with Overture. A lot of websites feature these advertising schemes, and you can be assured that your ad will be displayed quite widely, and will get readership.

Of course, advertising with Google or Yahoo will not come free of charge. If you have the money to spare, and feel that better advertising will benefit your online business, then by all means deal with the best and sign up with Google Adwords or Yahoo Overture.

2) Trade links with other sites and online shops.

Link trades or link exchanges are when two websites agree to feature hyperlinks to each other?s websites on their respective websites. These links can usually be found in a list, or sometimes on a separate page on the website. Link exchanges can benefit both parties, as the traffic to each can then ?cross over? to the other website.

These are also free, requiring only an agreement between the two parties. This means that you can work on creating a lot of link exchanges (thus drawing more traffic) without having to spend a penny!

3) Market virally.

Viral marketing is a new form of marketing that originated on the Internet. Viral marketing is different from conventional forms of advertising by being undercover, as it were. Usually, creative videos or games, or interesting articles, are spread on the Internet through blogs and other sites. The company?s name is actually attached to these viral pieces (even just a logo and tagline at the end of the video, or on one corner of the game window).

Viral marketing is low-cost, but depends heavily on the creativity and attractiveness of the viral pieces you use to market your company.

4) Determine and use the proper search keywords and keyword phrases for your site.

Search engines are essential tools for anyone on the Internet, as they allow easy access to desired information or services. Online businesses should take care to make their websites search engine friendly ? that is, easily accessible by these search engines. The process of improving a website with regard to search engines is called search engine optimization. This usually consists of creating new content for the website which includes the specific keywords and keyword phrases associated with the business of your company.

5) Create articles to spread awareness and increase interest in your site.

Similar to the previous tip, you can write articles about subjects related to your company?s field. For instance, a car dealership can create articles about car sales or car parts. These articles can be put up on the company website itself, or submitted to other sites that deal with the same subjects as the company.

6) Participate in forums and create your own online communities.

Forums are great ways to advertise your site. If more and more people become convinced that your company provides quality service, then you can gain an online following. Take advantage of this and try to lead it to form a full-blown online community. This community will not only maintain your current market, but also attract new customers.

7) Finally, make newsletters available.

Newsletters are another way of increasing awareness of and interest in your company. Just be sure that you can provide good information and quality content, and people will subscribe to your newsletter and help spread the word about your company.