need more web trafficIf you want to make the most out of your website, you need a solid SEO strategy. However, relying on the search engines for all of your traffic is the web equivalent of putting all of your eggs in one basket. The search engines change their algorithms all the time. Sometimes, those changes are minor; other times, they make major changes that have a drastic effect on the rankings. Since you can’t control what the search engines do, you can’t rely solely on them for all of your traffic.

So, what else can you do to drive traffic?

Lots of things! Start by building an email list. It’s not hard to add an opt-in box on your website. That way, you’ll still be able to communicate with people even if you suddenly lose your rankings. A quick email can let all of your subscribers know about your latest product, a new deal you’re offering, or your newest service.

But what about getting new traffic?

There are plenty of ways to do that, too! Start by jumping into the social networking revolution. Companies all over the world are becoming visible on Twitter and Facebook. Both websites offer you a great opportunity to get more customers, spread your message, and communicate directly with your target audience — all without depending on the search engines! A solid article marketing or guest blogging strategy can get your name and your link out there — even if your website isn’t very visible on the search engines. As an added benefit, every time you publish an article or do a guest post for a blog in your niche, post a link to it on your Twitter and Facebook pages. After all, you can never have too much self-promotion!

And, you can take advantage of one of the newest trends in web content — videos. Web videos are getting more and more popular. You can upload them right to YouTube, then post a link to your website, tell your email list about it, and post a link to the video on your Twitter and Facebook pages. If your video is interesting, it can quickly become viral on the social networking sites — even before the search engine spiders have a chance to index it!

And, if you want to add some advertising into the mix, Interspire shopping cart has a tool that can automatically create an AdWords campaign for your products. That way, if you lose your rankings, you can have ads that are right at the top of the search results.

By diversifying your traffic, you can actually see more results than you can with even the best SEO strategy. After all, when it comes to web traffic, you can never have too much of it!

What are your favorite methods besides relying on search engines for generating traffic to your site?