There are a thousand and one ways of increasing website traffic. Depending on the kind of website you are promoting, there are different tactics and strategies that apply to each kind of website. Sometimes these tactics and strategies become complex and multi-faceted that there are professionals who specialize in those fields - the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) specialists.

And why search engine optimization? It is simply because website traffic is largely dependent on search engines like Google Search and Yahoo! Search, the two top search engines. But to keep things simple, all we want to do to increase traffic to our sites is this: we want our website to be in the first page of the search engine results page, and if possible, on the top of the first page of the results page. To be the first on the list is the most coveted prize, of course.

As I have said earlier, search engine optimization can be a complex activity, but the most important of all of these activities is BACKLINKING.  Knowing what a backlink is,  how it works, and knowing how to generate them is like winning half the battle on search engines.

A backlink is a link on another webpage or another website that points to our own webpage, and when clicked, our own webpage will be displayed on the browser of the user who clicked the link. A backlink is simply a link back to our own website.

Backlinks are important with the search engines because it serves as a referral.  Imagine you are applying for a job and you are carrying with you several recommendation letters.  It would be a boost to your chances of getting the job.  But do not bring with you recommendation letters from your brothers and sisters, or from your parents, get recommendation letters from the President or from prominent personalities in the field of your work.  The same holds true with backlinks.  Backlinks should come from highly rated websites, websites that are already rated high by the search engines. 

• Blogs - create blogs on popular blogging sites like http://www.blogspot.com and create backlinks to the site you are promoting to increase the traffic.
• Blogs - when you read other people's blogs, leave a comment and place a backlink to your site.
• Forums and Social Networking Sites - join forums and networking sites. On your profiles, or signatures, they generally allow you to put a link. Use this as a backlink.
• Search Directories - submit your sites to the different search directories. Search directories, like http://www.technocrati.com, allows website owners to create a summary of their sites which serves as a backlink.

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