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Let's Drive Some Traffic #3

Ok, so now I trust that you’ve started down the road to adding links to your site or blog and getting links from others. You’ve added links to your profiles and to your e-mail signature. You’ve also learned a little about making the search engines work for you to bring in new readers.  What else can you do?

You can keep the traffic coming back. I realize that the following suggestions are not right for every situation but you may find a solution to your needs.

Build an update list. Over time you can build a list of hundreds, thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people who want to know when you have something new to offer them. This is done by using list building software or services and by placing a small form on your site to collect the e-mail addresses.

• Dada Mail or PHPlist are two common scripts used to build lists and send e-mails. They are free of charge but require you to have your own web account. What I mean to say is, this method won’t work with a Blogger or WordPress.com account.
• Aweber. Similar to the scripts listed above and feature packed but is not free. Many top bloggers use this service. You can use it on any site because you don’t have to host it yourself.

Offer an RSS feed. RSS is simply a way to read a site without actually visiting. However there are many opportunities for one reading a feed to follow links that will result in visits. I use Google Reader to subscribe to dozens of RSS feeds so I can keep up with many sites at once. Most blogging scripts have RSS feeds built in. It would be difficult for a static, hand built site to offer an RSS feed. If you use the Feedburner service you can offer RSS updates by email.  It’s similar to what was suggested above, just using different means. Look for the icon when looking for an RSS feed.

Offer a forum. It ‘s a lot of work but building a forum is a great way to build community online. Be warned, there’s a lot of aggravation involved. But, you can make friends online by means of a forum that you can’t imagine doing without. Sorry, this is about building traffic. Truth is, communities are well-trafficked things.

There you have a rundown of the major ways I know of to build traffic to a website. These things require work but just about anything worth doing boils down to work. If you’re going to evangelize or edify on the web building traffic becomes essential.

More to come.