Here are some tips to help you announce and promote your site in order to increase quality traffic:

• Submit your site only once and don't spam the search engines. It may take some time to be added to a particular listing so patience is of extreme importance. Some search engines and directories may even penalize you if you submit your site multiple times. Understand that hundreds if not thousands of Web sites per day are being edited by directory personnel and or automated means. It may take some time to add your site, but they will eventually get to you.


• META tags are necessary, but don't overdo it. META tags help search engines and directories categorize your site via your site's keyword and description META tags. You insert META tags directly into your Web site's HTML. Try to keep it simple and list keywords that are relevant to your site's content. Adding huge amounts of keywords will not only make your good keywords less effective, but may get you blacklisted from various search engines. Also, try to keep your description and title META tags short and precise. Many search engines will grab this information while spidering your Web site.


• Inspire and make it easy for your visitors to spread the word about your site. If you're not giving your visitors a tool to spread the word about your site, you're losing most of the battle. It's not too late to start seeding and accelerating the word-of-mouth cycle.


• Get other sites to link to your site. Do this by using banner and link exchange services, and by contacting Web site owners directly. This is an important step since many search engines take into consideration the number of external links on your site, and links to your site from other sites. This can improve your sites ranking.


• Watch out for companies or services that guarantee top 10 placement. Not even the most professional Web site promoters can guarantee such desired placement. If anyone promises you this, turn the other way, fast! (this rule does not apply to Pay-Per-Click (PPC) services since your ranking is determined by a bidding process).


• Tricking the search engines should never be considered! It's a good way to get penalized or banned completely from the listing.


• When you finally get visitors, respect their privacy. Never share, trade, or sell visitors' email addresses unless your privacy policy specifically states that this is what you intend do with their information. Exhibiting trustworthy behavior is the key to long-term visitor loyalty and repeat visits.


• Create an email newsletter. Schedule a monthly (or more frequent) distribution of your own opt-in email newsletter. Ask visitors if they want to join with a simple "opt-in" checkbox and form field that requests their email address. Maintaining a list of visitors interested in your product or service will generate more repeat visits and a higher conversion if you are selling a product or service.