Gordon.C

Hello,

I am running two websites (see my sig.) which both require quite an interaction of visitors to keep it going.
OpenBlog is an open article directory ready to save and publish text from random users.
ConfessionHall is offering help or advice in relationship at time when it does not go the way planned.

I get some traffic, not much still at least some, but I cant think of a way how to get traffic that would produce some interaction. Without it, both sites are very hard to keep alive.

Do you have any experience with this? Shall I maybe try payed advertisement?

Gordon.C

anyone have any experience with good website directories which aint that expensive?

__________________
OpenBlog - Where you can write an article about your own though

Enjoi

This is a tricky subject that people have argued about for years. Some say advertisement is crucial, others say word of mouth is all you need. I tend to side with the latter, because I have never spent a cent on advertising and my sites all eventually reach a point where I am satisfied with the daily traffic.

The first thing you need to realize is that your site needs to be a place that people want to visit. It needs to look clean and accessible, without raping the visitors eye with things like flashing graphics and ads everywhere.

http://speckyboy.com/2008/01/06/top-...sites-of-2007/

That site will show you some excellent examples. Web design seems to be slanting towards simple styles now. CSS in addition to some light graphics are about all you need to make a great looking site.

I'm sure your site is already well past the design phase, so telling you what it needs to look like might seem redundant, but I have found that a clean looking layout has a lot to do with traffic.

Next is social networking. Word of mouth plays a huge role in a websites success ultimately. Join stumbleupon and digg, etc, and start to submit some of your websites better pages in hopes that people will like it as much as you do. Use it, don't abuse it. Webmasters that spam their sites on social networking are shooting themselves in the foot.

The thing you need to realize is traffic takes time, a lot of it. It doesn't appear out of nowhere, you slowly build it over time. Every day do one thing that you think would help your site reach more viewers. Good luck

Gordon.C

I will try to do as you advice, I have submitted my sites to some web directories so lets see about that. I am also trying to improve my SEO, some results based on SEO are not bad, but still not what I am looking for.

Thank you for new ideas

__________________
OpenBlog - Where you can write an article about your own though

gordbell09

i dont know but as far i am concerned, i prefer working on my sites for few days, i create an awareness by posting in forums, taking part in discussions, writing press releases, since i am not exactly an SEO guy, so i like to push up my site a little then i only try to expect traffic...

__________________

WD My Passport Essential

Gordon.C

Yes well I am working a few days on my sites... A few hours a day, please dont think that I just pop my site on the web and expect millions of viewers, I just dont see any progress so far

__________________
OpenBlog - Where you can write an article about your own though