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Traffic Control: 5 Tips For Driving Traffic To Your Website

Both art and science are involved when it comes to driving traffic to your website, so here's a took at some technology tools and tips to help you do it successfully.

1. Are local customers important to you? As more customers turn to the web to find local merchants, many businesses are discovering the advantages of having a website. A professional-looking, up-to-date website gives you an immediate leg up with net-savvy consumers. Next, you need to make sure potential clients can find your site easily when they search for local businesses. Listing your business in your local online Yellow Pages is the best place to start. Targeted banner ads or advertisements on websites of local interest - such as your local newspaper's website - can also be affordable ways to reach customers.

2. Opt-in e-mail lists (e-mail lists that your customers have chosen to be on) are a powerful way to stay in touch with your customers and drive repeat traffic to your website. You can send those on your e-mail lists special offers, coupons and product announcements that may attract them to your website. Computer programs are available that can help you easily design and format your e-mails; however, simply inserting your business Logo into an e-mail can give it a clean, professional image. While you should send out e-mails featuring new content on a regular basis, make sure not to inundate the customers on your list, and avoid spamming at all costs. Finally, always give recipients an easy way to opt out of your e-mail list. Used correctly, e-mail marketing can turn one-time customers into lifetime customers.

3. Look beyond the Internet when promoting your website - bridging the gap between cyberspace and the "real world" can be a big marketing boon in both areas. Don't forget to print the address of your website on your business cards and letterhead, in your sales literature, and in print ads. Make sure to include your web address on sponsorship banners, company vans and anywhere else you post information about your business. If you have a brick-and-mortar store, reward your customers with special in-store offers and online coupons if they sign up for your email list.

4. Here's a collection of smaller tips: First, remember that not every e-mail you send needs to be a sales e-mail. E-newsletters can be a subtle and effective way to stay in touch with interested customers. E-newsletters give your customers news and content they can really use, which is a great way to build trust and become a valued part of their cyber lives. Second, find other websites that are complimentary to yours and link your websites to each other. These so-called "link exchanges" have been around for a long time because they are useful tools for all parties involved. Finally, nothing turns off repeat visitors like a stale website, so make sure to keep yours updated in order to attract and retain repeat visitors.

5. The keyword is search! Many consumers now forgo using their old-fashioned phone books in favor of an online search. If you can't be found through major search engines like Yahoo! and Google, you're missing out on a tremendous opportunity. Because there are so many search engines that your customers could be using - 350 at last count - getting listed with all of them and boosting your search ranking can be a chore to try and tackle on your own. A search engine submission service can submit your website to all the major search engines, and make it easier for search engines to read and recommend your site so that you get more traffic! Click here to learn more about 4 Site's Search Engine Submission and Placement Packages...

For more information on growing your business online, go to www.entrepreneur.com/etips.