One of the, if not the most, successful ways of attracting a lot of visitors is through a little something called viral marketing. As viral marketing builds much upon “word of mouth” people will be much more eager to take a look at your site. A recommendation from a trusted source, with the friend/colleague/often frequented website talking about your site being the trusted source, will almost always be the best marketing tool. With this said – let’s take a look at what it really is and how you can take advantage of it.

What’s Happening Onsite?

First of all, you must give your visitors a reason to stop by your site. Depending on what your site is all about, may it be a site promoting you as a web designer or a site about dogs, the reason will vary but it can be anything from a high quality product/service, useful information or by providing something with an entertainment value.

Think about what your visitors would be interested in or what they would find valuable. Web surfers that find something they like are also probable to recommend it to people in their social network. Now, let’s take a look at some marketing techniques that can boost your site’s traffic.

Competitions And Give Aways

It’s a proven fact that people always go crazy for giveaways and competitions – I mean who wouldn’t? By featuring something like this on your site you’ll increase your chances of gathering the needed attention from new potential customers. Obviously the prize doesn’t have to be anything large, their name on a top list is often sufficient. This is also a great way for you to get a hold of emails, which is a good thing if you want to send people information about your business or special offerings – however, never get too spammy! Likewise, remember to make the competitions fairly easy to enter.

Release Your Inner Author

Pour yourself a big cup of tea and bring out the author in you. If you’re able to create something amazing content-wise then you can definitely attract attention. Even a good article will work as “link bait” which means that it will draw links from blogs and websites and hence giving you loads of new visitors. Remember, you don’t have to write the next great American novel – it can be anything from an inspiring article to a top list or a tutorial. Expert advices are also much appreciated by readers.

Let Your Site Visitors Do The Work

It’s extremely important that you make it easy for your readers to share information about your site. Always include links to the most important social networks on the web, such as del.icio.us and Digg. Doing so will encourage people to spread the word about you and hopefully it can create a snowballing effect.

Viral marketing is much about standing and doing things differently than the standard norm. Don’t be afraid to take inspiration from others to create something unique. A bonus worth mentioning is that viral marketing doesn’t have to cost you anything at all. So, stay on the lookout for innovative ways of spreading the word about you and your site!