Affiliate Referral Sources

How to Get Free
or Low-Cost Website Traffic

In addition to the website developing I do, I also test different methods of generating traffic to my websites. When those methods begin working, I add them to this list for your benefit. Listed below are some things that I have found that work well and are low cost or free. When it comes to advertising, I upgrade after knowing if the system works for me.

You are probably wondering, out of all the sites that have Internet marketing advice, why you should listen to me. The screen shots below will answer that question.

Website Managers Traffic Report (look at #4)
Website Managers traffic report

Affiliate Referral Sources Traffic Report
Affiliate Referral Sources traffic report

Prevent Foreclosure Traffic Report
Prevent Foreclosure Traffic Report

Now Learn How to Achieve Those Search Engine Results

  1. Do Not Submit Your Sites to the Search Engines
    2.
    1. You get higher rankings by letting THEM find YOU. Read on to learn how to do that.

  2. Get Your Own Domain Names
    3.
    1. Use the Linguatron at DirectNIC to find names
    2. Order 3-5 domain names to be hosted either free at DirectNIC or on another server like Website Managers for $7 per month.
    3. Make each page different with various ad copy
    4. Include either a link to your web site or lead capture form
    5. On one of the sites include a blog to post articles
      1. 1. The articles will be picked up by the search engines by either links from your discussion forums signature files or by using the built-in 'ping' function that tells the search engines there is a new article. This is the only time you will notify search engines of your sites.
    6. CAUTION: Redirecting domains to other websites can lower your search engine ranking!
      7. Google Drops Sites Completely if they are simply redirected to another site. That's how mine disppeared from Google. However, Yahoo and MSN could still list it.

  3. Get Your Own Blog
    4.
    1. After getting your own domain and web hosting account, add a WordPress blog.
    2. Post articles at least weekly that are relevant to your site topic.
    3. Add the Recommended Plugins For Your WordPress Blog
    4. Even if you do not know how to write well, you can do this using the Instant Article Wizard.
    5. When your article is written, record yourself reading it, post it as a Podcast attached to your article.
    6. Whenever possible, add a video to your article. It can draw more attention and traffic. Videos can be recorded by you or added from YouTube.com or Google Videos.

  4. Participate in Discussion Forums and Blogs
    5.
    1. Discussion Forums Can be ANY topic that interests you.
      1. Does not necessarily have to be about the program you are promoting
      2. Should be a subject you are familiar with so you can share intelligent information
    2. Use the built-in signature option on each post to link to your program or affiliate site
    3. The more forums you participate in, the more links to your site
    4. Start with Net Profits Today to interract with many other affiliate marketers
    5. Search for forums to join at Yahoo Groups, Delphi Forums and Google Groups
    6. Continue your ventures at these forums:
      1. Affiliate Programs Community
      2. Associate Programs
      3. ABestWeb Affiliate Marketing Forum
      4. Work At Home Moms
    7. If you read blogs, there is usually an option to post comments on them Use that option to provide constructive feedback and link to your site.

  5. Exchange Links With Related Sites
    6.
    1. Look for website related to yours. If you have a site about stopping foreclosure, look for sites such as:
      1. Real Estate
      2. Mortgage brokers
      3. Consumer debt counseling
      4. Work-at-home sites providing they do not run 'link farms'
        (Link Farms are sites with hunderds or thousands of unrelated links on them such as Free For All Links (FFA) sites. An exception is if those links are all categorized.)
    2. Look for criteria such as
      • Number of links on their site
      • Stay away from 'link farms' - (see above for description)
      • Google Page Rank - available with the Google Toolbar and online in the Website Managers marketing section.

  6. Use Social Networking (Web 2.0) Sites
    7.
    1. Set up accounts on the following services and put your content on them. Make sure that each site has something different on it. Each site offers something unique about their services.
      • FriendsWin - Built for Video Networking.
      • MySpace - See MySpace Secrets.
      • Qassia - Gives you marketing credits for posting unique content.
      • Squidoo - Built multiple lenses with interesting content.
      • Twitter - Short messages to thousands of people at once. CAUTION: Addicting!

  7. Create and Market Videos
    8.
    1. Videos are favored by the search engines when good descriptions and keywords are used to describe them.
    2. Videos can show you and/or screen shots of web pages or software that you are describing.
    3. Videos can be stored and searched for on YouTube.
    4. An alternative to YouTube is Traffic Geyser. This is a service that will store and promote your videos for you.

  8. Use Email Signatures
    9.
    1. Just as you use a signature in your discussion forum posts, include one in your emails
    2. See the Email Utilities section and look through the Email Signatures page for ideas
    3. Choose a pre-written signature or model yours after some of the ones provided in other emails.
    4. Set your email program to automatically use one of the signatures in every outgoing email

  9. Continue Learning
    1. Marketing strategies are constantly changing so you must always stay on the lookout for new and improved strategies.
    2. Not all of them will fit your marketing style or intended markets, so choose the ones that will help you reach your goals.
    3. Some of the most influential resources I learned from include:
      1. Jimmy D. Brown's List And Traffic - Learn to build your mailing list.
      2. Rosalind Gardner's Super Affiliate Handbook - The ultimate affiliate marketing reference guide.
      3. The Rich Jerk - He is bold, rude, crude and very smart when it comes to marketing online.

  10. Secure Your PC
    11.
    1. Since you will be visiting many websites, you MUST make sure your computer is secure from intruders and viruses. The software I use is PC Security Shield. It costs less than the big names like Norton and McAfee, yet does an excellent job. It has Virus, Adware and Spyware Protection Designed & Certified for Windows.