What is targeted traffic? When a visitor arrives at a web page which has the information he is looking for, we say that he is a targeted visitor. The web page is set up to draw attention of such visitors. The visitor may not be looking for that web page specifically, but he is interested in the information available there. Even before he clicks open that page, he almost knows that he will find relevant information.

How does he know that?

He knows because the URL of that page appeared before him when he was looking for information on the subject of his interest. Perhaps he was searching on a search engine, or going thru an ezine on the relevant subject, or maybe he was visiting a forum dedicated to the topic. There are many more sources by which he could have arrived at that web page.

This is how targeted traffic can be generated by placing your web page at places where people would be looking for the information available on your page. Before we discuss those places in little more detail, let us see briefly why targeted traffic is required.

There are many sources thru which you can get traffic without spending anything, such as search engine traffic. But it is not entirely correct to say that you have not given anything at all to get that traffic. At the minimum you have invested time, effort and other resources to put up your website and advertise it. With this investment you have fair expectations that interested people will take benefit of your offer. Then why put in your effort to attract people who have no interest in your offer? These people are untargeted traffic. There is no point in wasting your time and the time of uninterested people. You will do much better to attract targeted traffic from which you can expect to get a favorable response.

Now let us see some of the methods of targeted traffic promotion.

Article Promotion Hundreds of articles are published every day, yet there is always appetite for more articles. You can take advantage of this situation when demand for good quality articles seems to be on the rise. You can submit your articles along with your resource box to several ezines for publication. When your articles are published they are picked up by other publishers and web site owners and your articles get distributed with viral effect.

Those interested in the subject of your articles can get to see them thru search engines, ezines serving that subject and other web pages bearing your articles. They see the resource box with the article and click the link to arrive at your web page where they expect to find further information on the subject. They are targeted visitors who are likely to take your offer.

Forums Forums are used for exchange of information on a particular area. You can join the forums in your area of interest and start participating there. When you post your message, generally you are not allowed to use the message for advertising your business. However, many forums allow you to add a signature line where you can tell briefly about your offer and give URL of your page. This small by-line does the marketing for you. When people read your post they may like to click on your URL and visit your web page. This way you get targeted traffic, visit from people interested in your area.

Linking Reciprocal links have become very popular, not so much to get traffic as for improving search engine ranking. But you do get some targeted traffic from link exchange. The visitors are likely to be your link partners. When your link exchange efforts help you in getting good placement of your pages in search engine searches, you tap on the inexhaustible source of traffic from search engines.

Subscription List This is reverse of the processes discussed above. Instead of visitors finding your web pages, you contact the interested people and show what you have to offer. You get your visitors to subscribe for your newsletters or ezines. Your subscribers give you their email addresses and permission to send them emails. Then you have the option to contact them when you decide. You can send them issues of newsletters and ezines at regular interval. You can also send announcements at any time. It will be in your interest to retain and enlarge your list to secure future of your business. This is one of the most inexpensive and effective marketing tools.

You can get additional viewership by syndicating your newsletters with the help of RSS feed.

These are some of the methods of targeted traffic promotion where you do not have to spend money.

Next time when you see your own web page, see it from the visitors viewpoint which will help you to ensure that your visitors get what they are looking for.