The most content rich, beautifully designed web site won't get any traffic until your site promotion goes beyond listings with search engines and links. All you'll have is a well-kept secret.

Millions of people are exploring tens of thousands of electronic locations daily on the World Wide Web and online services. Trying to make yours stand out is like trying to make one grain of rice the most noticeable one in a 10 gallon pot. Here are a number of things you can do to build traffic.

1. Write articles (like this one!) that might be useful to a site or newsletter popular with prospective clients, and offer to give them to the webmaster or editor.
2. Let your site evolve: change it often, add features, promote the changes in your signature file and through online news distribution services like Internet News Bureau.
3. Use unique meta tags and title tags for each article on your site and submit each page to search engines.
4. Create a signature file after your name that includes your URL, and participate in forums, discussion groups and mailing lists frequented by your potential clients. You won't need to include blatant ads for your site, the information will be in your signature file.
5. Write a paragraph that succinctly explains the "who, what, where, why and when of what your company does. You'll need it for any brochure, report, press release or pitch letter your write about your company. If you can substitute the name of any other company in any sentence and make the same sense you haven't arrived at a strategy.

Understand that doing any of these activities once does not constitute a marketing/promotion campaign. The cumulative effect of doing all of these things and more over time is what brings results. So start promoting now or never.