Most websites have their main sources of traffic coming from search engines.  Search engines, the main ones being Google, Yahoo, and MSN, are at the center of online traffic.  Their role cannot be emphasized enough.  In light of the always increasing number of sites on the Web, people all over the world rely on search engines to direct them to the right source of information.

The reason why search engine optimization (SEO) is so popular amongst webmasters is that it is the best way to bring in traffic at low cost.  Not only do you bring in traffic, but you also build your site's goodwill.  That is a very important notion. 

SEO also brings in targeted traffic because webmasters assume that when visitors arrive through search engines, they must have previously entered a search query.  SEO brings in "normal" traffic but also "webmaster" traffic.  What do you think that webmasters do when they want to exchange links?  They search for similar sites.  Again.... using search engines.  Putting emphasis on good SEO allows you to attract targeted visitors, to increase your site's goodwill, and to build visibility with other webmasters as well.  It is almost a self-sustaining process.  If your site is well ranked in search engines, other webmasters will automatically approach you to suggest possible partnerships, which will reduce the amount spent doing "active" promotion.

That being said, it is always recommended that you diversify your online marketing strategy to include other means of attracting traffic, such as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, pay-per-impression advertising, or pay-per-action advertising.  In addition to entering into online marketing campaigns, you can also utilize traditional marketing campaigns in the "real" world.  Experiment and see what works best.

 

What Is the Next Step After Optimizing Your Online Traffic?

As most webmasters already know, making money online is essentially about optimizing traffic and monetizing that traffic.  Optimizing traffic refers to two things:

• getting targeted visitors to come to your site (meaning that if you sell an anti-virus software, you want people that come to your site to be looking for those) [QUALITY]; and

• getting as many of those visitors as possible [QUANTITY].

Once you have optimized your site in terms of attracting good traffic, what should you do to make money out of it?  It depends on the purpose of your presence online (by the way, if you're not clear as to what is your purpose in making a website, you better stop and reflect on it before going on... otherwise it's like walking in the dark with no sense of direction).  People looking to make money online normally fall under three categories:

• Webmasters looking to build good resources sites and make money out of the traffic that comes.  For instance, if you are passionate about chess, you may want to build a website discussing chess strategies.  Your main purpose is therefore to have an informational site and you will probably make money by "selling" your traffic to advertisers through various means such as pay-per-click, pay-per-impression, or pay-per-action.

• If you are really passionate about chess, you can go a step further and build a blog that will discuss your perspective on chess.  This undertaking will involve more work since you will need to write entries on a regular basis if you want to build your readership.  Overall, however, the concept is the same as above in terms of monetizing your traffic.  You will probably make money by selling your traffic to advertisers.

• Jumping from informational sites to sites that sell products/ services now...  If you are a manufacturer of board games, your main purpose is not to sell information per se, but to sell your product online.  If that is the case, you will monetize your traffic by selling your products and not by "selling" your traffic as is the case for informational sites.

All that being said, most webmasters learn through trials and errors.  As you will probably learn if you are serious about making money online, good webmasters and those that succeed all have at least two qualities in common.  They have lots of patience and perseverance!  So next time you feel like giving up, remember that!