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I'm just curious to where folks are getting the most bang for their buck. Without giving away too many secrets, are search engines even worth the effort?
What about link exchanges? PPC SEs?
I'm just wondering what seems to be working the best for people. Mixing it up?
Maybe this will open up a discussion. maybe not THANKS
Search engines are the strongest traffic generator for the least buck... assuming you have the knowledge to work them properly. Since most people don't, the PPC engines are the next most popular. They work well and you can target your traffic if you know what you're doing.
Unfortunately, most are abused because they don't have the tight policies in place that Overture has, so you find yourself competing with irrelevant traffic in many cases. The expense is higher with PPC, although you have the ability to control it somewhat.
Overture is tough unless you go private label because of their strict relevancy policies. It's almost impossible to get affiliate pages listed and all of your search terms now have to point to the exact url where the content can be found (not just your home page).
Banners are pretty but banner exchanges are pretty much a shot in the dark and a lot of wishful thinking. Yes, you can get a click or two... but geeez... it can take years.
Link exchanges can be effective and cost-friendly... depending on who you link with. Proper links can actually affect your search engine standings. This can being a greater benefit (in traffic) than the link clicks themselves. Like banners, links won't generate enough to get excited about. Some... a few.... but no overwhelming avalanche.
Other types of advertising are pretty much trial n' error based on your budget. The internet is FULL of ways to promote... many are not worth your time or money. The key is to investigate... ask questions... or do small test runs or talk to people who have already used any given service to see if they would do it again.
I've tested a lot of things over the years... for a variety of business ventures. I've wasted more than I care to admit doing trial n' error. But that's how you learn. Don't be swayed by a lot of the promos you see. And paying MORE does not always get you more. I've got a simple little service on my site ($199 SuperPromote <shameless plug... but it works>) that gets more results than any of the $1200-$2500 site promotion programs I've investigated. On the other hand, I have things on my site now that are only there as an add-on, not because I'm banking on big returns.
Bottomline... if you're no good at search engines, consider the PPC version. Either way.... have a plan, have a budget, have a lot of patience... and be willing to adapt over time to the ever-evolving world of the internet. (hint: what worked 2 years ago doesn't always work now... and what works now may not work well next year.)
Do your homework and put in the time it takes to work your site. Just "having" a site is not enough. And just "submitting" to some search engines is not enough.
Best of luck!
The other option that is worth a look is to get domain names that have expired (not renewed). Find the ones with search engine links and, persumeably, traffic. One way of finding them is by using www.dropsfinder.com . If you want to "reserve" a name(s) that has/have expired but not yet available to register, you can do so via www.getdrops.com .
You can either go with general traffic or you can go with casino related names and casino links. You can check what the site used to be by going to www.archive.org.