Hiring a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) specialist to boost your site traffic is expensive (if you hire a legitimate professional). Driving substantial new traffic to your site doesn't have to be. In fact, there is an exciting and clever strategy that is proven to drive traffic, and won't cost you a dime! Now before we look at the 10 proven ways to drive traffic to your site, we first need to explore the principles behind these steps that make them work so well.

Links: The Online Endorsement

Having links to your site from other websites is a powerful way to increase your Search Engine Optimization rankings. Why are links important to SEO? Think of a link as an endorsement or a testimonial. Just as people rely on endorsements and testimonials when evaluating your business, Search Engines rely on links to evaluate the quality and legitimacy of your website. An endorsement by one well known person can carry more weight than endorsements by a dozen people no one has ever heard of. Endorsements by notable people in your industry are more important than endorsements by people outside of your industry. Lastly, paid endorsements are not as believable as endorsements from someone who is genuinely happy with the service they received.

These rules also hold true for links and websites. When more trusted, industry related websites link to you (thus giving you an endorsement) it shows Search Engines that you are respected in your industry. The greater the number of quality backlinks (i.e. links that point to your site), the greater "respect" your website will receive in the eyes of the Search Engines. In its simplest form, the internet is one big popularity contest!

It's Not Just Who Says It, But What They Say

Just having someone agree to give you an endorsement (a link) isn't good enough. The critical aspect of an endorsement is what they say about you. On the web, this is known as Anchor Text. Anchor Text is the clickable text within a link. Below are two examples:

Click here for more information.

The words "click here" are the Anchor Text. In this example, the endorsement really doesn't tell Search Engines anything about you. After all, the endorsement only says "click here."

Learn more about Raleigh Real Estate .

This example contains a much better endorsement. Search Engines know exactly what the endorsement is about (Raleigh Real Estate) before they even arrive to your website. Enough quality endorsements about Raleigh Real Estate (provided your website actually contains information about Raleigh Real Estate) would help land you top placement for that keyword. Ideally, it's best that Anchor Text vary slightly from time to time. Search Engines will begin to get suspicious if every one of your endorsers says the exact same thing.

Think Beyond Your Home Page

Links to your home page are known as "shallow links." Too many shallow links cause Search Engines to question the validity of your links.

A more effective way to link is called "deep linking." Deep links are links to internal content pages. Search Engines favor these types of links because they appear to be more natural. With this in mind, make sure your endorsements link to a variety of different pages within your website. This will give your endorsements the highest effectiveness and ensure the maximum number of pages in your website appear in the Search Engines.

More than Just Search Engine Optimization

Keep in mind that the purpose of developing effective links is not strictly to obtain further Search Engine Optimization. You will also be building pages and links that will reach thousands of web visitors thanks to the traffic on the linking sites. This maximizes your traffic by attracting both web visitors and Search Engines. This is the most powerful combination in online marketing.

Now let's apply these principles to 10 proven ways to boost your site traffic:

10 No-Cost Ways to Drive Site Traffic

1. Google Local . The power of Local Search Optimization is often overlooked. This is because some people mistakenly consider the Internet as only a Global Resource when in fact, more and more people are using the Internet to find local resources in their area. (NOTE: You must have or sign up for a free Google Account to add your business listing.) Consider offering a Free CMA, Neighborhood Report or Buying Guide in the Coupon Section to ensure your business listing stands out above the rest.

2. Yelp . Yelp is a website that has merged Social Networking with Local Reviews. Yelp allows you to not only submit your business listing to their website but also allows users to post reviews about your service.

3. InfoSpace . InfoSpace is a large mobile media and technology company that operates brands such as the DogPile.com Search Engine and Switchboard.com directory search. It also allows you to submit your business listing for free.

4. Real Estate Voices . This is an example of a Social Bookmarking site. You can submit high value content from your site, links, etc. and visitors vote for those stories. This is a great resource because it focuses strictly on the real estate industry.

5. Localism . Localism is a social community website geared toward real estate consumers. Because localism is relatively new, it's easy to get your information to stand out as there is little competition. (NOTE: you must be a member of ActiveRain to post to Localism).

6. Flickr . Flickr is a photo sharing website that allows users to store their photos online. What makes Flickr such a powerful marketing tool is that the website integrates an online community platform. This means that users can search, share and comment on other photos. Because of this, it is important to "tag" your photos and include a link back to your website. The obvious application here is to post photos of your listings with linkbacks to the specific listing on your site.

7. Google Video : Post your video virtual tours or tours of your neighborhoods here. Be sure to group all videos on the same topic into a playlist. For example: Include all Home Video Tours of various listings into one playlist. This will encourage the web visitor to view additional videos on the same topic.

8. Librarian's Internet Index . The Librarian's Internet Index is a search site for Librarians. Because the site is known as a reference site, Search Engines such as Google highly regard the directory. Note that commercial only submissions to the website will be rejected. With this in mind, it's important that your website has "freely accessible information." This can include market statistics, helpful articles, or free resource guides.

9. Google Housing Search . More than 56 percent of all Internet searches on "real estate" and related terms are conducted on Google. With this in mind, submitting your property listings to Google is a logical choice. For added exposure, add yourself to the Google Base People Profile as well.

10. Ezine Articles . The EzineArticles.com website is built to match article writers with Ezine publishers. Because of this, high quality articles on the website are often syndicated to many other resources. This means free exposure for you, your article and your website.

The Tip Of The Iceberg

The strategies identified above represent just a small fraction of the 87 proven ways to drive website traffic identified in my new eBook: The Real Estate Website Accelerator -- 87 Proven Techniques to Massively Increasing Traffic to Your Website That Won't Cost a Dime! , co-authored with Brad Carroll, CEO of Dakno Real Estate Marketing, Inc.

No longer do you have to fret about, "How am I going to send visitors to my site without spending a fortune?" Thanks to the emergence of online social networking, the ability to create massive exposure to your site via links has never been greater, easier or cost free!