1. Optimize your site for search engines. Start with keyword research. Focus on both on-page and off-page optimization.
2. Submit your site to web directories.
3. Get listed on search engines. Click here to submit to top search engines for free.
4. Interlink your websites and blogs.
5. Write articles and submit to article directories. Link to your site from your resource box.
6. Start a blog and use it to promote your site. You can easily set up a free blog on Blogger.com, WordPress.com and others.
7. Quote other people’s blog posts and use trackbacks to link back to your own blog.
8. Launch pay-per-click campaigns on Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing, and others.
9. Create a page or group on Facebook and invite your friends to join.
10. Build a Twitter following and tweet your link to your followers.
11. Submit your site to StumbleUpon.
12. Join and participate on MyBlogLog.
13. Join BlogCatalog and visit member sites to leave your avatar on their widgets.
14. Submit an article to Digg. Solicit others to Digg your article by embedding a Digg widget in your article.
15. Make a video and upload it Youtube and other video sharing sites.
16. Create a social network on Ning.com and invite friends, clients, and acquaintances to join. Use to your network to promote your site, products, and services.
17. Create a free toolbar on Conduit and offer it as a free download on your site. You can make money from the toolbar while using it to bring back visitors.
18. Create RSS feed for your site and submit it to feed directories.
19. Add your blog to Technorati and ping it every time you update.
20. Join Squidoo. Create a Squidoo lens and add a link to your site.
21. Ask people to link to your site. Search on Google for sites related to yours and simply send a nice email to their owners to link to you.
22. Exchange links with others. Use search engines or forums to look for link partners.
23. Buy links to your site. Buy links from online brokers like TextLinkAds.com and LinkAdage or get them more cheaply through forums like Digital Point and V7 Forums.
24. Participate on forums and link to your site from your signature.
25. Promote your site offline.
26. Post ads on online classifieds like Craigslist and Backpage.
27. Run a contest. Photo contest, random drawing, writing contest, etc.
28. Share knowledge on Yahoo Answers.
29. Join Entrecard. Surf member sites and drop your business card (125×125 banner) on their Entrecard widgets.
30. Buy banner ads through BuySellAds.com.
31. Give away free stuff on your site, e.g. downloads, coupons, gifts.
32. Set up a mailing list. Embed an email subscription form on your site and invite visitors to join. Send out regular newsletters.
33. Comment on blogs and link back to your site. Write relevant and interesting comments, not spammy cut-and-paste comments like “Great article” and “I couldn’t agree more”.
34. Content is king. Focus on providing fresh, original, relevant and unique content.

Any internet marketer knows how hard it is to get people to visit his or her website. Some companies are willing to pay up to $10 or $20 for each visitor to their site through pay-per-click campaigns.

What we sometimes overlook is that keeping a visitor is just as valuable as getting a new one. In fact, return visitors are even more valuable because they are more likely to take action, to purchase whatever you have to sell to them.

Here are a few tips on keeping your visitors.

1. Make sure your site gives your visitors what they want. Internet surfers have very short attention span, and there are millions of site competing for their attention. Your message should jump out at them and grab their interest from the get-go. It should be clear and specific. If your main business is selling Korean DVD’s, make certain that they get the message within the first few seconds. If they have to dig through your site to find Korean DVDs, chances are, they’d already left your site.

2. Keep your site up-to-date. When people return to a site they want to see fresh content. If you’re selling Korean movies, you’ll want to frequently update your site with new releases, special discounts, sales, etc. Updating your site on a regular basis lets your customers know you’re on the ball, that you’re diligent about your business.

3. Send out regular newsletters. Build an opt-in email list from visitors to your site. Place newsletter sign-up forms on as many pages on your site as possible. Send out regular newsletters informing your recipients about the latest updates, specials, offers, etc. Be courteous to your prospects by not sending them too much junk mail and by providing a means for them to have the mailings stopped at any time.

4. Incorporate forums and news feeds on your site. Forums and news feeds update themselves with minimal effort and maintenance on your part, so it’s a no-brainer to incorporate them into your site whenever appropriate.

5. Maintain a blog on your site. A professional blog can be a part of your domain, or you can link to an external blog from your site. The link should be displayed prominently. If your site offers professional services and products, keep your blog entries professional and relevant to the content. Keep miscellaneous personal rants away from your site as they can turn your customers off.

6. Incorporate third-party widgets to your site. Widgets can add special functionality your site without your having to write and implement the codes yourself. There widgets for chat, polls, newsletter signups, weather forecasts, and so on and so forth. Widgets are a good way to add bells and whistles to your site without the expenses of software development and extra bandwidth (since they’re hosted on external sites). However, use them sparingly as they could slow down your site and steal away your visitors (through the outgoing links that they display).

7. Make yourself unique. Chances are, there are hundreds or thousands of other sites in your niche competing for your target visitors. How do you stand out? How do you set yourself apart from others? Check out your competitors’ websites and assess their strengths and weaknesses. Are there certain features that are lacking on their sites that you would be able to provide on yours? Being unique is not so much about coming up with something totally new and revolutionary– although this would do the trick, too– it’s about filling certain voids and needs that are not being filled elsewhere.

8. Make your site fun and attractive. Your site should be easy and intuitive to navigate. The design of the site should fit its function and complement the nature of your business. Avoid flashing links, graphics, glaring colors and other elements that might annoy your visitors.

9. Collect feedbacks from your visitors. Feedbacks are a good way to engage your visitor and gather their inputs on making your site more appealing and usable. They let visitors know that you care about their needs and wishes.

10. Offer “free” things on your site. Sending out newsletters to people in your opt-in list offering them “free” this and “free” that is a good way to attract return traffic. In truth, nothing in life is really free. This probably explains why no matter how much the word “free” is overused, it remains a very powerful marketing technique. Although few people are foolish enough to think they’d actually get something absolutely free, with no strings attached, they’re always looking for extra perks and incentives to give them more for their money.

When it comes building a website that stands out above the crowd, content is king, or so goes the old mantra. By this we mean content that is fresh, unique and original.

But what exactly is unique and original?

With billions of pages on the web, one would be hard-pressed to come up with material is truly unique and original. Chances are, anything that could be said already has been said somewhere by someone else. The only thing left to originality is the way in which the words are strung together.

People surf the web to be informed and entertained, and with over 100 million sites on the web, there is no shortage of information. Much of the information on the web is redundant and unoriginal. But you can be original in the way you present it.

People surf the web for different reasons. They surf to be informed, to be entertained, to sell and buy stuff, to be aroused, and so on and so forth. In the end it’s about putting a smile on people’s face. So, even if you don’t have anything original to say (like in this post), try to say it in a fresh, new way to capture your readers’ interest. But don’t try too hard. You either have it or you don’t.

When it comes to website promotion, there are few rules that are set in stone. Marketing a site isn’t limited to online methods, here are some offline marketing suggestions that you might want to experiment with.

1. Business cards - Your URL does not take up much space on your business card. In fact in this day and age where everyone has a website (or at least a MySpace page), your URL should be considered an essential contact information along with your phone number, email address, etc.

2. Stationaries, T-Shirts, Coffee mugs, etc. - There are various sites like Cafepress.com that you can create and purchase custom t-shirts, coffee mugs, mousepads, etc. and sell or purchase them to distribute to your friends. Put your URL on these handy items and distribute them as free gifts to your friends, acquaintances, customers, etc., as constant reminders of your URL.

3. Yard signs and billboards - These can be made relatively inexpensively and placed on street corners for passers-by. For motorists to take notice of your URL, it must be catchy, descriptive and memorable. Since short, descriptive domain names are hard to come by these days, you can compensate by using longer but attention-grabbing phrases your URL. However, check with city ordinances before you go about and plant 100 signs on every corner. You can get into a lot of trouble if you do not follow the rules.

4. Bumper and windshield stickers can be an effective marketing tool, especially in large metropolitan areas. When people are stuck in traffic, they’ll have no choice but to look at your sticker. Again, you need a catchy and memorable URL for this technique to work.

5. Word of mouth - Tell all your friends, relatives and acquaintances about your site. If your site is any good, words will spread like wildfire and traffic will grow virally through word of mouth.

6. Classified ads on print media is another way to promote your URL. Pick up a free classifieds publication from your local supermarket and look at where other people are advertising their sites.

7. Include your URL on everything you can think of. I’ve already mentioned stationary and business cards. URLs don’t take much space on letterheads, so make it a habit to include it everywhere that’s appropriate. I’ve seen some people with barcode tattoos on the backs of their necks. If you’re going to do something with your URL, make sure not to let your domain name expire.