Web Site Traffic Secret Uncovered

Where does web site traffic come from?

It is a question that leaves many new Webmasters scratching their heads in frustration and bewilderment. After all, traffic is the life-blood of any website and if your site isn't getting any then you have a problem. But it need not be that way because there is more than one solution and some are much easier to achieve than others.

The biggest secret to getting web site traffic is... wait for it..., backlinks. Yes, I know it's not much of a secret, but it is the type of inbound links and how you go about getting these all-important links that is important. Get it wrong and, at best, you will be wasting your time, at worst, you could actually damage the credibility of your Website. Alarmist I know, but true all the same.

How do you damage the credibility of your site? By procuring links from sites that have been given a black mark by search engines for using questionable SEO tactics such as hidden text or keyword spam. Such sites are known as 'bad neighbourhoods' and as the name suggests; should be avoided. In fairness, the search engines know that you have no control over who chooses to link to your site, so don't get paranoid about the idea, but do try to concentrate your efforts on links from good neighbourhoods.

So if backlinks are so important to the success of a Website then surely it would be worthwhile spending some cash to achieve the desired results, which begs the question: Is it worth paying for links?

The short answer is that it can be. But before you reach for your wallet you should be aware that some paid links are more effective than others, and there are of course plenty of ways of building backlinks for free. So, before spending any cash perhaps we should determine just what a 'quality' inbound link is.

A worthwhile, or indeed 'quality', inbound link is one that will add some value to your website. That value could be click-through traffic or page rank that will boost your own site's ranking in the SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages), but preferably; both. If you haven't already done so, then you should install the Google toolbar (you can find it at http://toolbar.google.com) so that you can check the page rank of prospective link partner sites. But be aware that page rank does not necessarily equal traffic! However, it can be a good indicator of a site's worth.

If you do intend to buy a link on another website then it is perfectly reasonable to ask the Websmaster for some evidence of traffic statistics. A quality site with a good amount of traffic should happily provide this information in return for a paid link. If not, then look elsewhere; it is their loss.

In conclusion: one way of building traffic to a website is to invest time and effort in building inbound links, or backlinks, from other quality Websites. Avoid 'bad neighbourhoods' and concentrate instead on getting quality links. Finally, if you are going to pay for a link then try to get some evidence of how many visitors the linking site is getting.