One of the biggest challenges facing web-based businesses is trying to generate website traffic. Advertising on the web can be costly. For some small businesses, advertising costs can eat up a large chunk of profits. Some website owners find it too cost-prohibitive, especially in the beginning stages of a business. However, not to worry, there are a number of ways to generate website traffic for free. In fact, the opportunities for free advertising are almost unlimited.

Here are 4 of the best ways to generate free traffic:

1) Writing and distributing articles. There are a few benefits to writing, posting, and distributing quality articles. Firstly, generating traffic via search engines is free. Search engines level the playing field and allow every website owner an equal chance at garnering web traffic. The trick is posting articles that are rich in keywords that are relevant to your website. Secondly, the Internet is rife with article distribution sites. You can write keyword rich articles containing links to your site and then distribute them to article distribution sites. Your article(s) is then made available for anyone on the web to post for free on their own web pages. This means your link(s) is being posted all over the Internet. Not only does this drive readers to your website, it boosts your Page Rank, which also serves to increase your web traffic.

2) Social bookmarking. Although these sites are fairly low traffic, this makes them economical to use. It works similarly to the bookmarking feature on your browser's toolbar. The main difference is that using a social bookmarking site allows other Internet users to see your bookmarks. You can create an account with one or more of the many social bookmarking sites on the web. Then you bookmark pages from your site. You can add your own tags to each bookmark. This allows users to see what a particular bookmarked page is about with one glance. Most sites allow you to use multiple tags for each bookmark. When a user wants to find a page related to a particular topic, he can search through tags to locate relevant pages. For example, if your site promotes pet products, you can tag your pages accordingly. Users looking for pet products will be directed to the corresponding page according to your tags.

3) Ezine advertising. Contributing to an ezine is another way to lure free traffic to your website. Ezines, the cyber equivalent of printed magazines, usually focus on a specific niche or interest. By contributing to an ezine that is devoted to the area of your business, you target web surfers with an interest in your product/service.

4) Join an online forum. This is another great way to target the specific types of customers who might be interested in your services/products. There are thousands of these on the web devoted to a variety of subjects. There are also online forums which are social in nature but may have sub-forums related to your business. Joining an online forum related to your business expertise allows you to discuss topics of relevance with others who have similar interests. You can post intelligent comments on a subject to establish your expertise. In your signature line you can leave links to your site. This will also boosts your Page Rank and helps with search engine optimization.

Below are just a few active forums on internet marketing niche which you can join :-

* Warrior Forum - #1 Marketing Forum Since 1997

* Digital Point - The Webmaster Forum

* Associateprograms - Affiliate Marketing Forum

* Moneymakergroup - Forum About Making Money

* Site-reference.com - Forum on Internet Marketing, SEO Techniques & Tips

Some website owners feel overwhelmed with the task of submitting to Ezines or trying to find relevant online forums. However, just a few hours of work can actually lead to a big payoff when it comes to driving free traffic to your website. In fact, you may find that you end up creating a snowball effect: the more links that you post, the more people that will find your site. At the same time, the more links that you post, the easier it is for the search engines to find your site. The quicker the search engines find your pages, the faster they'll be indexed and ranked. Once you're ranked, you'll be exposed to even higher numbers of potential visitors and customers. The potential for web traffic is nearly limitless.