Building a great website is not enough no matter how many bells and whistles a website has. A website has to be promoted. Most retailers start with meta tags for their web pages. These include "TITLE", "DESCRIPTION" and "KEYWORD" tags whose aim is to tell search engines what the page is about.

These tags are important, but it is equally important to ensure that the content on the web page really does match the meta tags. Furthermore they are not the magic bullet that many retailers thought they were.

For many websites. especially new sites, one of the fastest, surest ways to drive traffic to the site is pay per
click search engines. However, the risk is substantial since when using pay per clicks there is no way to know how well that traffic is going to convert before it is paid for.

Other methods like pop up windows are becoming less and less effective as a means of delivering website promotion results, simply because of the vast number of people online who use blockers.

Online retailers know the importance of web site traffic generation but they are not aware of other ways of marketing except the standard advertising methods. These methods are highly beneficial and will not only draw more customers but will also increase the rankings of web sites in major search engines.

Use words and phrases related to your business throughout your site.

Write good articles and press releases about your website. The goal is to get keywords into the article that will send people to your site.
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Use social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook to advertise your website.

Put your website address in your email signature.

Watch for any grammar/spelling errors on your website. No one will stick around your site if it has obvious (and avoidable) errors on it. Proofread!

. Add an RSS feed to your website news section or your website blog

Watch for any grammar/spelling errors on your website. No one will stick around your site if it has obvious (and avoidable) errors on it. Proofread!

Likewise, make certain all the links on your website work.

List your website at DMOZ (http://dmoz.org).

Review products on epinion.com and other review sites that are similar to yours.

Put up business-related photos on sites like Flickr and tag them with your website address.

Include your website on your fliers, business cards, receipts, and other promotional materials.

Include a link to your website everywhere you possibly can, including online profiles and biographies.

Try to get your site listed on directory sites or on sites that mention websites similar to yours.

Create an account on Yahoo! Answers and answer some questions. This will help establish you as an authority in your market.

Start a group on Yahoo! or Google Groups related to your website.

Ask visitors to leave feedback on your site. Real life user testimonials about your products and services are worth much more than descriptions of what you offer.

Invite bloggers and other professionals to review your products and services. This will not only get your more traffic but also influence buyers.

Buy advertising space 2nd level sites related to yours.