Website traffic is the heart of any online venture. For any web site to be truly successful, constant effort to maintain and increase Internet traffic is vitally important. A web site must be focused on bringing in both new, unique visitors and engaging repeat visitors to return to the site. Being able to bring in solid web traffic in both unique and repeat visitors is the true mark of a successful site.

There are numerous ways to increase site traffic through both free and paid marketing efforts. One of the most important and early steps in establishing a successful Internet presence is to make sure a web site is listed in all the major search engines, such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing.

Once a web site is listed in the search engines, it is important to make sure it is optimized to rank highly in search results for strong keywords and phrases related to the site's content. This may require bringing on a search engine optimization (SEO) specialist to review the site so it is properly indexed by search engines and ranks better in search engine results.

Beyond search engine rankings, a web site can also increase Internet traffic through free online advertising methods such as link exchanges with other related sites. This means, for example, a site about fishing vacations might exchange links or advertisements with a site about fishing equipment. Both sites receive additional marketing to their target audience but neither site has to pay for the exposure.

Social media marketing is also a highly successful method for increasing website traffic. Establishing a strong social marketing strategy for a web site can be a vital tool in increasing web traffic. In social marketing, the goal is not only to engage the person on the other end of the campaign, but to also inspire that person to market the web site to their friends, family and social networking circle themselves.

Establishing a strong presence on the best social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, can be done with little to no cost but the effort and time involved. However, because social media marketing can bring in vast amounts of website traffic when it is done well, it can be quite profitable for a web site to acquire a social marketing professional to launch and maintain an effective strategy plan.

Another way to increase website traffic is to pay for online advertising on other web sites or in search engine results. This type of marketing usually comes in the form of either pay per click advertising or flat fee advertising. Some of the largest pay per click advertising (PPC) providers are Yahoo! Search Marketing, Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter.

For a pay per click service, the web advertiser 'bids' a certain amount of money they will pay for click through to the site. Whoever bids the highest amounts will received the best advertising spots on the service's search engine results or web sites. Flat fee services charge a flat rate to display an advertisement in a certain location in search results, on a web site or in a web site network. Either of these methods can be highly effective in increasing web traffic to a site.

A web site can be attractive, well designed and user friendly and still be a total failure. Even the best site ever designed will not be a success unless strategies are put in place to build and maintain strong site traffic. Website traffic should always be increasing, bringing in fresh visitors to the site while still working to encourage previous visitors to return.