How to make money and generate traffic online

At risk of giving away some of my best secrets, I would like to share some ideas regarding online lead generation. I know many of you are looking for new and innovative ways to spur new business and competition online can be formidable. As scores of REALTOR® begin to look to the Web and alternative methods of marketing there are many questions that have left many seeking direction. It seems that everybody is looking to sell you the "magic bullet" that will attract the teaming masses to line up and buy or list their properties... "You have to do this..." "You need one of these..." "Oh, you haven't been doing _____ yet?" Of course, each so-called "magic bullet" has a price attached.

So how are you supposed to know what is going to work and what is a bag of horsefeathers? How should you spend your marketing dollars to acheive the greatest effect? How can you market your business without actually spending money? Who should you believe, who can you trust?

Well, fortunately, there are some things that you can do that will give you a leg up. All that is required from you is: a fair bit of know-how, time, elbow-grease, patience and tenacity. Oh and a marketing budget is useful (but not necessary).

The first thing you should know is; there is no "Magic Bullet", so don't kid yourself. However, there is a lot that you can do:

Optimize your site –By this I am talking about choosing some key words and phrases that you would most like to promote. Once you have determined your key phrases you can tailor your text to use those words and phrases. Don't go overboard though, if you are thinking about adding your phrase 1,000 times in a tiny font on the bottom of the page the same color as the background (these are known as spider lines) don't. Search engines have caught on to this and many other techniques (known as search engine spamming) and will penalize your site in their listings. The trick is; use your key phrases as much as possible, but write for humans, do not try to scam the search engines. It will most likely backfire if you do.

Be wary of SEO companies –There are some stellar Search Engine Optimization Companies out there, BUT there are many not-so-stellar SEO companies as well and some downright rip-off artists to boot. If you choose to hire an SEO company be very careful. I would look for a money back guarantee or only pay for performance... You will probably be roped into a contract so use as much caution as a naked man climbing a barbed wire fence when choosing ...

Links make the Web go round – Not only do links provide you with direct traffic, they also raise your ranking in search engines as well. Not only do search engines index your text, they keep track of all the links on it as well. Now, that doesn't really matter very much (as long as you don't have too many "outbound" links). What does matter though; how many Websites (inbound links) have links to your site. The philosophy here is simple; Website A has more links to it than Website B, therefore Website A should get a higher rankiing... Be careful with links as well: Links from sites with a high page rank will be given a higher value than those coming from pages with a low rank. If a page is linking to your site from a "link farm" (a Website that is nothing more than a list of links, a.k.a. free-for-all-links, a.k.a. link exchanges ... that exists to allow people to post a link to their site for the sole purpose of increasing link popularity) your site may be penalized in its page rank.

Talk it up online! –This is a big one. It will take time and effort, but it can be fun and rewarding. There are many venues through which you can practice the gift of gab... My recommendation here is; don't set out to market yourself. Provide news, information and your opinion on things, but if you go straight for the "sell" then you will most likely turn your readers off and they will move on... If you provide a genuine service, the will come back in droves.
Blogs –You are really missing the boat if you are blogging regularly. I know some of you are still getting your feet under you in cyberspace and may not fully understand the blogging sensation. In any case, you can grab a free blog at Blogger.com. All you have to do is sign up. It's free, easy and powerful. Just spend 20 minutes a day blogging as part of your routine and you will be surprised at the results. Not only will you gain the respect of your readers as a professional, and possible their business, you will also be promoting your Website and raising it's search engine ranking via link popularity.

Community Forums –These are very similar to blogs, but it is more of an online community where people can post messages back and forth in a message (known as a thread). The remarkable thing here is; the forum doesn't even need to be about real estate. Yep, you can chit chat about golf, sailing, or the price of tea in China. It doesn't matter. The trick here is; put a tagline & a link to your Website in your signature. Then every time you post, it will provide you with a link that will drive direct traffic & increase your link popularity with the Search Engines....
Social Networks –Not just for college kids anymore... Social Networks such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and others can help your potential clients learn a little more about you & your services. LinkedIn (a business oriented site) provides many tools that you can use to build a network. I recommend putting a profile on all of them, but concentrating on LinkedIn. If you know me, feel free to add me to your network..

MMORPG's –Massive Multi-Player Online Roleplaying Games may seem like they are kid's stuff, but MMORPG's such as 2ndlife & the Sims can be powerful marketing tools. With several heavy hitters in the corporate world gobbling up Online real estate in these games, perhaps you should think about doing the same..

YouTube –YouTube is considered by some to be an excellent venue to get the word out. I personally believe it is a double edged sword. If you can pull off videos that make you appear reasonably professional then go for it. Again, link back to your site!!!