Marketing is a dirty word. At least, it is for many newcomers to the business world. Marketing can be expensive. Worse yet, you can pay for the marketing and find that it didn’t turn into a sale. It sounds a lot like the game and can scare those just starting out.

Oh … I have good news. There are some free online marketing methods that you can use right now that will get you immediate traffic. How immediate, you ask? I implemented some of these methods when I started blogging on a daily basis and saw traffic within five minutes of doing them. The real question should be: are you ready to convert that traffic? However, it is better to leave that topic for another article.

Let’s take a look at the 5 immediate traffic methods for beginners:

# 1) Blog-Hopping

The term blog break means locating and commenting on various related blog articles. You can locate blogs related to what you are marketing with a few simple Google searches. However, you don’t want to waste time. The only way this method generates traffic is if the people who read it and its owners can find it. This is why you will want to stick to blogs that have the option of leaving your URL in a field below your comment.

You can do the following Google search to find such blogs:

“your keywords” + “leave a comment”

Change “your keywords” to whatever keywords or keyphrase you want, and be sure to include the plus sign and the next phrase exactly as they are. Make sure there is no space between the plus sign and the quotation marks. so Google knows that you are trying to match the keywords that follow.

This search will return comments, many of which use WordPress as a blogging platform. When you find a suitable article to comment on, you will need to make sure to avoid appearing as spam. Your comment should be well thought out and contribute to the discussion in some way. It is always best to read the article you are commenting on first. This way, you will know what to say and the blog owner will know immediately that you are not a spam bot.

Also, it is important to note that you should not advertise in your comment. Let the URL field do what it does best. That is the only place for your link. Placing your link within your comment appears to be in your own interest and may end up being rejected and possibly blocked for future comments.

The blog hopping method is one that can really generate traffic today. If you find that the blog post was written and you have already received other comments, you can be sure that there is active traffic to the page. If your comment was well thought out, readers are more likely to follow your link in the URL field and find out more about you.

# 2) Guest Blogs

The thing about guest blogging is that it can take time to publish once your article is accepted. This period depends on many factors, such as:

• How many items are scheduled before yours.

• Blog / website posting frequency.

• Blog / website popularity.

… and others.

However, it is worth posting as a guest on other blogs or websites. A few years ago, I posted several guest articles on ProBlogger, as well as a list of other established blogs. ProBlogger accepted my long articles, but sometimes it would be a month before I could see them published.

When guest blogging as a traffic method, it is wise to diversify your portfolio like an investor would. You will surely want to benefit from popular blogs like ProBlogger, but you should also look for other blogs that are easier to access.

The criteria you are looking for is:

• Relevance to your niche.

• Do you regularly post new content?

• Do you have active commenters?

• Do you have a clear guest article submission policy?

You want traffic, so you will need to make sure there are people actively commenting on your articles. You’ll also want to make sure the site is up to date. If it is currently 2016 and the most recent article is dated 2013, then it is not an active blog. Some blogs leave comments open, so there may be new comments. However, it doesn’t look good for its chances of being published as a guest author.

Many blogs that accept guest articles will have a page dedicated to listing their guest author requirements. Usually this is a description of the type of articles that they accept, as well as the format that is required to publish on the website. For example, some blogs may require that you skip HTML, while others allow some basic HTML formatting.

As mentioned above, here is a way to locate blogs that allow guests to do a simple Google search:

“your keywords” + “become a guest author”

# 3) Distribution of press releases

Press releases are often associated with big companies and big announcements. An example of an important press release would be the announcement of an E3 event for gamers by Microsoft or Sony. The good news is, you don’t have to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company to use press release distribution to benefit from its traffic benefits.

There are several online press release websites, which can be found by Googling “free press release.” These websites receive a lot of traffic and are used by the news networks for their syndication. When used correctly, your PR can be picked up by a major publication.

You can target specific categories and subcategories on these syndication websites. Unlike article marketing, a press release website is all about self-promotion. However, they have specific requirements and not just any “fluff” will go through the approvals department.

In addition to the free options, there are many paid distribution services available. Also, on free sites, there are often paid upgrade options that allow your content to have a broader reach beyond the free options.

To use these services, you will want any featured story to be a priority for a press release. Is a public event coming up? Schedule a press release ahead of time. Big changes coming to the company? Announce it!

# 4) Article marketing

Getting your brand known requires a lot of groundwork. Sometimes this means that a lot of time has to be spent creating quality text content that can be published on major websites. However, this is different from guest blogging. EzineArticles is an example of an article publishing website, specifically designed to publish quality text content.

There are many article websites on the internet, but you want to find the ones that rank high on Google and other search engines. You also want to locate sites that have an established reputation with other article marketers.

A good article should be written in a way that will hold the interest of the reader. An example of this is dividing a topic into a list. You will often come across articles that share a title format. An example would be this article titled “5 Methods of Immediate Website Traffic for Beginners”. You can do the same with your article no matter what the niche is.

To keep the reading flow interesting, use bulleted or numbered lists. You can also include a relevant wrapped image if the website allows it. Various visual elements such as images, bold text, italic text, underlined text, and headings can help the flow of the article.

There are many writers who publish smaller articles that are in the 500 word range. However, I prefer to write articles of at least 1000 words. Such articles not only cover a topic in depth, but are also a genuine method of creating link baits. This means that there are more distribution opportunities, which generates additional traffic.

When writing articles for specialist article marketing websites, be sure to read and understand their guidelines before writing a single word. Self-promotion on an article may be frowned upon and the site may have an author box or other way to allow you to promote yourself.

# 5) Participation forum

The forums are pretty old school. They are websites that allow you to register and chat in “threads”. You can create and reply to topics, and receive notifications when others participate. There are forums for practically anything.

To find forums in your niche, simply search for your keyword phrase followed by the word “forum” on Google. Often times, the forums with the most traffic will end up at the top of the search results. The forum will display the date and time of the last comment, so you can see how active it is.

The trick with forums is to use the member profile section and the signature section for your promotion. You will surely want to avoid self-promotion in the body of your post when it comes to forums.

As with blog hopping, you should avoid looking like spam. If you are commenting, make sure it is well thought out and contributes to the discussion. If you are posting a new thread, you want to make sure you follow the forum guidelines to the letter.

Usually you can post a signature on your profile that appears every time you post something on the forum. Sometimes this signature will appear once for your first post in that thread, while many others will show the signature for every comment you make. Either way, it translates into traffic.

conclusion

By using these 5 immediate website traffic methods, you will quickly establish a regular number of visits to your website. The next item on your to-do list is to make sure you have your website set up for proper conversion. Hopefully, you already have, because these traffic methods are safe.