Answer: No, traffic does not grow on trees. You can't expect to just build a Web site and have people visit it. It does not matter how nicely designed, quality, innovative and unique your Web site is- the fact is that you need a way for people to find your Web site!

So how do I get traffic to my Web site?

Answer: In order for your Web site to receive traffic you need to promote it. This promotion process is very difficult but it is also extremely important to your Web site's success. Commerce related Web sites (i.e. Web sites which make money) will often require much more promotional efforts (in order to be successful and drive traffic) than does a non-profit informational site.

But I am too lazy and stupid to promote my Web site...

Answer: At the end of the day there is one way to receive ongoing traffic with no promotional efforts. This method is called "owning a domain name which receives unsolicited type-in traffic." Unsolicited type in traffic is when a casual Internet surfer types a Web site's URL straight into their browser. This type of traffic is very valuable- when your domain name is commerce related.

You see... when you own a domain name which receives unsolicited type-in traffic you do not need to promote your Web site in order to receive traffic. Instead your domain name promotes your Web site for you.

So... for example, the domain name CellPhones.com receives a lot of unsolicited type-in traffic. The reason why people type CellPhones.com straight into their browsers is because these people are looking to buy cell phones. Thus this type-in traffic is commerce related and is very valuable.

On the other hand a domain name like Volcanoes.com also receives a lot of unsolicited type-in traffic. However, this traffic is not as valuable because the people who type Volcanoes.com straight into their browser are looking for information about volcanoes. Now this type-in traffic would be more valuable if the people who typed Volcanoes.com straight into their browser were looking to buy volcanoes, but this is most likely not the case!

How much do these unsolicited type in traffic domains cost?

Answer: The cost of unsolicited type-in traffic domains depends on what the owner is willing to sell their domain name for. Typically the price that domain owners ask for their domain names varies based on the industy of their domain name, nature of their domain name and the number of type-ins per month that their domain name receives. A domain name like CellPhones.com for example will cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars and more.

An example of a recent sale of very high type in traffic domain name is AddictedGames.com which sold for a cool $135,350.

Commerce related domains in a fair industry (such as electronics) which receive 600 or so type-ins per month will typically cost $10,000-$20,000. The reason for these high prices is because these domains are very rare. According to Internet trends the value of these types of domains are only going up. This is especially true of domain names with the primary .com extension.

But I am poor, I can't afford a good type in traffic domain name?

Answer: If you do not have a big bank account then your best bet is to build a quality Web site with a brandable domain name and promote it through link building and other search engine optimization techniques.