Whether you are new to Internet Marketing or you are a seasoned pro you most likely know that getting listed at or near the top of the major search engines can be crucial to your e-commerce efforts. After all with millions of online businesses attempting to do the very same thing that creates a multitude of competition. Therefore if your efforts fail to get your website listed in the top twenty, then get there indirectly.

Now you ask: "How do I do this?" The first thing that you can do is search for the top twenty sites that use the same keywords that a web surfer would use to find your site. Visit each site, then look for their contact information and then contact them and ask if they have an advertising program that you can buy into. This will more than likely be the most expensive path to follow. You could also look to see if they have Google ads on their site, if they do then through Google you could request to have your ads on that site. Again this could be expensive on the pay-per-click system. Now if your advertising budget is small or totally tapped out you may want to try the strategies listed below. Keep in mind that these strategies may not all apply to every website.

Upon arriving on their website look for their guestbook. If they have one get into it and sign it and be sure to say something nice about their site. Make it more than just, "hey nice site," be creative. Some guestbook's will have a separate place for you to insert your URL. If they do not have a separate place for your URL, then be sure that you use a signature line with your link in it.

Check the amount of traffic that the site gets and ask the owner if they would be interested in trading advertising. For those sites that get more traffic than your site offer to give the owner extra incentives.

Ask if the owner would be interested in a joint venture with you where you both cross promote your products. Package some of their products with yours and place a link in each promotion back to both sites, and both of you promote the package deal.

Another path to follow would be to try their product or service then submit a testimonial with a link to your site. This way if they like your testimonial and they use it in their ad copy your link will be seen by everyone that sees their ad.

Expand your testimonial into a full blown article and place it on your site. Be sure to contact the site owner and let them know that you have written an excellent review of their website, product, or service. This way they will definitely visit your website to see what you have written and they would see the value in placing a link on their website back to your review for their prospects to read, hoping they could convert them to customers, and you may as well.

Writing articles that you submit to other websites for content on their websites is another way of getting your link contained in your resource box seen by many for free as well. Remember these are websites already at the top of the search engines so they may not always publish your work but when they do you go straight to the top also.

See if the website has a free for all or free classified section or both and if they do be sure to take advantage of it. Make your headline catchy and attractive. Come back often to repost your ad so it stays at the top in order to be read by all their visitors.

Get the website owners permission to give a free e-book to his customers, which you will have branded with your ad, or at least a link back to your website or both.

If these websites have a discussion board or forum be sure that you join it. Visit it often and engage in the discussions and offer solutions to any questions asked and start threads of your own, get actively involved. Always have your link in your signature line to provide links back to your website.

In conclusion, by using just a few of these free methods of getting your links and or information onto very popular websites you will indirectly get your own website to the top of the same search engines. This will result in far more traffic to your website and possibly a higher rate of sales conversions. Remember the more consistent that you become in your online efforts the higher the results you will attain.

Copyright © 2006 Roy J. Keller (All Rights Reserved)

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