By Timothy Arends

Want to attract more search engine traffic to your site (and by that I mean real, live, human visitors)? One of the best ways to do this is through inbound links from relevant sites, as well as by having a site with plenty of unique, valuable content.

The question is, how do you get people to link to you in the first place?

Of course, there are some services that charge money for this. One charges five dollars per link for a minimum of $25. That can exhaust your budget quick! Keep in mind, too, that these paid links come with no guarantees. They may result in visitors and they may not.

Another option is pay-per-click. Although each click may be just a few pennies, (but much higher for the juiciest keywords) this can add up fast. Of course, this will result in visitors but that doesn’t mean that they will be buyers. And the benefit is only short term, not long-term. The ads will appear only as long as you continue to pay for them. Stop paying, and there goes the traffic!

True, pay-per-click is the fastest way to get traffic, but that’s about it. The benefits do not accrue to you over time, only as long as you continue paying.

Blogs are a different matter. They stick around for awhile, so they are a good way to get a return for the longer haul. The only problem is how to get people to blog about your site without paying out the money.

One solution is to be a guest blogger. In this case, you write for other people’s blogs in exchange for a link to your own. They get free content and you get a free link. It’s a win-win situation!

This yields many advantages. You get to brand yourself as an expert on other people’s blogs. You get direct traffic from your link. You get another link to boost the PR of your own site. Once you get an opening on the blog, you’ll likely have an opportunity to make repeated guest posts. You could build an audience for your writing on the blog which could result in even more traffic to your own.

The typical length for a guest blog post is not overly long — about 500 words. The post should be interesting, informative and on topic for both your own blog and that of the one you’re posting for. Most blogs offer a maximum of two links in your blog and no affiliate links. Make your post informative rather than self-serving. Also remember that most blogs require unique content, because they know that this is what Google likes.

Yes, this will require writing on your part, but you can make the process easier with a voice dictation program like Dragon Dictate for Mac or Dragon NaturallySpeaking for PC. Even if you consider yourself a good typist, this software can give your hands a break from time to time. You will need to proofread your work, of course, but that’s true no matter how you create it.

Some of your blog posts may not bring a huge amount of direct traffic, but remember that it adds up. Not only will you get a backlink from each post, but occasionally you’ll hit the jackpot and get a lot of visitors to your site as a result of your post. Indeed, guest blogging may well be the most effective way to enhance your own site’s SEO and bring in quality, steady traffic.

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