There is a lot involved in creating a successful website.  You have to set up your content management system if you’re using one, come up with an attractive layout, have graphics done, and fill it with content.  If it’s an ecommerce site, you’ll need to set up a shopping cart and add pictures and product descriptions.  Once that’s all done, you’re ready to get visitors coming in.

Many a novice webmaster forgets about marketing his website, or simply pushes it to the side due to budget concerns.  But this is a very important step, because visitors are not likely to stumble onto your site by accident.  And even if they did, there’s no guarantee that they would be interested in what you have to offer.  Search engine optimization can help you get listed in Google and the others, but you also need to get links coming in from other websites if you want visitors.

There are several reasons why:

* Links from relevant websites will bring you click-through traffic.  It stands to reason that if someone visits a website with subject matter that is related to yours, they will likely be interested in what you have to offer.

* Links from other websites are seen as endorsements.  In most cases, webmasters link to other sites because they like them or find them helpful.  Even in the case of link exchanges, few webmasters will trade links with a site they dislike.  So when people see your link on someone else’s site, it looks like a vote of confidence.

* If you have a blog, incoming links can get you increased visibility on sites such as Technorati.  Technorati is a popular blog search engine and directory that ranks blogs by authority, a number that is directly related to incoming links.

* Incoming links can help you get better rankings in standard search engines.  When other sites link to a page on your site using a given keyword as anchor text, it helps you rank higher for that keyword.  And the number of links you receive from other sites helps your overall search engine positioning.

Getting Incoming Links

Getting links to your website isn’t as difficult as you might think.  In fact, you can do part of the work yourself.  Here are some ideas:

* Link to your site from your social networking profiles, and add links to your forum signatures.

* If you have other sites, link to your new site from them.

* If you have an email newsletter, announce your new site to subscribers.  If they like your other sites, they will probably visit, and they might choose to link to the new site on their own.

* Ask bloggers you know to review your site.

* Email owners of related sites and ask if they would like to exchange links.

Incoming links can help you get your website noticed, and they can cut down on the need for paid advertising.  These links can bring you both click-through traffic and traffic from the search engines.  So before you go spending lots of money on marketing, work on link building.