So you've got your spankin' new website, have loads of content, your color scheme is sweet, your graphics rock.....what else do you need?

More traffic, of course. You can never have too much traffic!

There are several ways you can go about driving more Internet users to your website. Some are more effective than others. Below we've listed our 10 favorite ways to increase traffic to your website and make sure it stays on the search engine map.

1. Keep your Code as Clean as Possible
   If the search engines have to dig through too much...ahem.....crap.....to get to the good stuff, they'll bounce back out just as fast as they came in.


2. Affiliates Linking
   Link to sites that have subject matter that is related to yours but has different content. Then ask them to link back to you. You'll be surprised at how many will. Why? Because they want more traffic too! The more links you have out there on good, reputable sites, the more Internet users can find you. Caution: Don't link to sites that are in direct competition with you. For example, if your website sells chocolate, don't link to another website that sells chocolate. Link to sites that sell chocolate recipe books or specialty kitchen utensils for cooking up those chocolate recipes.


3. Meta Tags and Alt Tags
   Your description and keywords are also an important component to your website, although keywords are not as important as they used to be. Do make sure that the keywords you do use are relevant to the specific page you are creating them for. Remember not to use exactly the same keywords or description for every page of your site. The search engines will penalize you. In addition to meta tags, don't forget about the alt tag. Always use intelligent alt tags for your images where ever possible.


4. Search Engine Friendly Content
   Make sure your meta tag keywords show up in an intelligent manner in your content. Don't try to hide keywords on your page using the same colored font as your background. It doesn't work and will simply result in Google ignoring you.


5. Directory Submissions
   Submit your website URLs to free directories. Just Google for them. You'll be surprised at how many you can find.


6. Become a Writer
   Write and submit articles to article or content-banks which link back to your site. If you can manage to pull off some well-written, informative articles, this works really well.


7. Discussion Forums
   Participate in Internet forums. Don't post useless additions to the discussions. Think before you post and offer intelligent, valuable information on subjects you do know something about. And make sure to use a link to your website in your signature file. The combination of both of these methods works wonders.


8. Keep your Content Fresh
   We can't say it enough times: fresh fresh fresh! Keep your old stuff but regularly add new stuff too. The search engines do take notice of this.


9. Maintain your Website
   Don't get lazy! Web pages that are kept interesting and current are more likely to get repeat visitors. Those visitors are also more likely to refer their friends to your site. You should also regularly check for broken links to outside sites. Internet users hate broken links, and so do the search engines, so make sure to check them from time to time, otherwise your visitors will shove off and look elsewhere for a site that's better maintained.


10. Free Classifieds
    Advertise your services there and leave a link to your website. Google a few. One very well-known and widely-used free classified ads service is Craig's List. There's a ton more out there to get you started.


11. Search Engine Friendly URLs
    Use appropriate URLs for your web pages eg. If the subject of your page is Website Design Tips, make your URL http://yourdomain.com/website_design_tips.html


12. Use Unique Titles for every Page of your Site
    Don't use the same page title throughout your site - the search engines are looking for new stuff, every page. Name your pages according to the content they contain. And make your page titles catchy!

Okay, so we lied....a few more than 10, but who's counting? Now stop staring and get out there and make your website a thing to behold!