If you hired a web design company in order to put together a great web site, you may be very pleased with the results. In fact, you likely want to share your results with everyone. However, just because you have a great web site that does not mean that customers will automatically start flocking to it. In fact, creating your web site is only the first step. Once you have a web site, you will need to actively promote it in order to get the traffic you deserve. There are several low-cost ways to promote your web site in order to get more traffic:

*Pay-per-click campaigns. Pay-per-click (PPC) allows you to bid on certain keywords. If your bid is the highest, your company’s link will appear at the top search engine rankings – in a “sponsored links” section — whenever a customer looks for that keyword using search engines. PPC is a fast and easy way to ensure that your website link shows up high on search engine results, and you can easily budget by setting a limit on how high you want to bid.

*Ads on other web sites and in newsletters. Advertising your own URL using banner ads or ads on websites and in newsletters helps customers learn about your site. Don’t forget about placing ads in print sources, such as newspapers, too.

*Affiliate programs. Setting up an affiliate program means that you pay online advertisers a commission for every paying customer they send your way. The great thing about affiliate programs is that you only have to pay for new customers, and you don’t have to spend a lot of time doing marketing yourself – your affiliates do that for you.

*Add your web site URL to company documents, e-mails, business cards, and other official company products. This costs nothing extra and allows anyone who has questions about your company to quickly look up your web site online. There is no excuse not to put your URL on all company documents, letters, and stationary.

*Link exchanges. Link exchanges mean that you allow someone else to advertise your web site in exchange for advertising they web site on your web space. For example, if you are selling perfumes online, you may exchange links with a makeup manufacture. Your link will appear in their newsletter, and their link will appear in yours.

*Free articles. You could easily upload free articles to other people’s blogs, newsletters, and to article directories. Anyone who uses your article will include a link to your business web site, directing more traffic to your site.

*Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Search engine optimization means using specific keywords that you know potential customers will use when searching for businesses such as yours. Using these keywords in the right density throughout your content will ensure that search engines such as Google and Yahoo can easily find your web site and display it prominently among search results. Your best bet is to hire a professional web design company or professional copywriter to design SEO content for you.