I have a "free" web store on Bonanza.com - how can I increase traffic?

[natobanato2]

I have a store on Bonanza.com - it's free until I sell something and then obviously they take a cut. The up side is that the site charges less money for fees and listing than Fee-Bay. But the very big downside is that they do little or no advertising. So I am not sure how to increase traffic. I've advertised a little on Craigslist but that is complicated. I made a URL on Godaddy for the page. I've advertised on Twitter. I am just uncertain because it's not exactly a website. Any help would be appreciated. The most helpful and in depth answer gets 10pts. Here is the page http://www.cdsdvdsandstuff.com Thanks.
Some of the ideas given are helpful.However, I can't change the meta tags for my store because it is part of Bonaza.com. There are some things that I could do to a personal website that I can't do with my E-store. If someone could help me sort those differences out it would be great.

[Barry]

I looked at your website. Have you done any product research. Like how many people search for your product a month. The guy above listed some good seo tips but to be honest the top of google thing will not work for you. You have to have your own domain. Lucky for you though I,m giving out a free ebook that explains craigslist. Craigslist can work for you but your products look a little high priced and they may not be hot ticket items. gdiateam.com

[Sam Little]

These two methods have been great attributes to bringing hits in at my site.
http://hubpages.com/hub/5-Easy-Ways-To-I...te-Traffic
http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Use-Tradi...te-Traffic

[Domenica Ryder]

Keep it fresh. For repeat visits, it is crucial to provide regular updates to the website, especially in frequently viewed zones. Add fresh content every few days if possible; at a minimum, weekly.
To have a fully functioning and successful website, you need to make sure your tags are in place and your links are not broken. You also need to submit a sitemap.xml file to Google to have your website show up in Google's search engines. There is a tool that inspects websites just in case you missed tags and links and it creates a free sitemap.xml file. It gives you results in minutes.

Add video to your landing pages (VLP - Video Landing Page) that is informative and relevant to your site. Respected studies show that good video can improve conversions and page ranking more than most any other item you can add to your pages.
Use landing pages for fast fulfillment of your PPC advertisement.

Trying to get more backlinks on your website this may help to increase the traffic.
Get a proofreader. Poor spelling and grammar reflect badly on the services and information being provided; avoid unwarranted negative judgments by getting the writing in order prior to publication online.
Avoid content generators. While these were once the delight of a fledgling web industry, they are no longer useful. Putting your own team's creativity online is what is useful.
Never copy and paste from another website - Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search engines are too smart for this nowadays and will detect copied and unoriginal content, sending you to the bottom of the pile.

Improve your search engine ranking by focusing your content on keywords related to your topic. This is called search engine optimization and will help people find your website when they're searching the Web. Make sure the keywords flow naturally with the text and when you are brainstorming for good words, ask around for words that come naturally to people of all ages when looking for your type of site. To help you understand better, realize that the keywords not only go into headings and page names but also into "meta tags". "Meta tags" are the software code that website visitors do not see but search engines do. Finally, don't overdo the keywords; over-stuffing keywords will result in a very low search ranking for your website. Also, be very careful not to place key text inside graphics; search engines cannot pick up graphics.

Get linked. This is a very important part of website management. Exchange links. Trading links with other websites that are closely related to the subject of your website can bring you more website traffic. These are two-way links because you must provide a link to them, too, and linking to low-quality websites can threaten the credibility of yours. Only link to sites that are dead on topic, and truly help your visitors. Instead of trading links, you could also trade banner ads, half page ads, classified ads, etc.

Be sure to not be too excessive with your link exchanges and do not make this your entire link building method.

Google webmaster guidelines specifically says to not engage in link schemes including "Excessive reciprocal links or excessive link exchanging ("Link to me and I'll link to you.")"

If you have money - consider pay per click. The big search engines like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft provide schemes. But find out first how to limit your expenditure to the level you want.
Use e-zines. Make your own that relate to your website and form a regular reminder each issue for people to visit your website. Submit all the free e-zine directories on the internet.
Submit your articles to e-zines, websites and writing sites that accept article submissions. Include your business information and web address at the end of the article. This is a good way to create one-way backlinks to your website. This is the most effective way to get listed on any search engine. Usually, the more relevant links you have pointing to your site the higher you will rank.
Go beyond the electronic medium and into the print medium. Advertise in local newspapers, business brochures, magazines, nationwide publications and mail-drop literature. And don't forget the perennial favorite, the good old Yellow Pagesâ„¢ - printed version naturally!
Small business cards left in cafés, on signboards, exchanged at meetings etc.
Use local resources such as clubs, libraries and community centers for non-profit website awareness raising.
Participate on message boards. Post answers to other people's questions, ask questions and post appropriate information. Include your signature file containing your website's URL at the end of all your postings.

[Damien Hoff]

When you want to drive traffic to your website, you have to take the time to get to know your target market, a good website that can help you with this is http://www.webtrafficmasternow.com -- knowing what your target market wants and focusing on that will get you as much traffic as you need. hope my advice helps!

[redrum5785]

Throw in some pictures of busty topless broads. It certainly won't hurt anything and you'll gain more traffic than you'll lose.

[Ms.Vi]

Since you can't do much on changing your meta tags and codes for your site for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes, I would suggest you make use of the power of Social Media marketing. I'd say 2/3 of the global internet population visit social media and networking websites. I recommend Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn since they're the three biggest sites. Attach your site's URL to your profile. Twitter alone is a powerful viral marketing site. Digg and StumbleUpon too. You can either get involved with others by responding to other peoples Tweets or start a conversation with others, not always sales pitch. Always target your market by searching for your niche area. Start following and connecting with people in your niche and their followers. Most of the time, they'll follow you back. You can also ask your followers to re-tweet your post. Most of the time, they do. If not all, some will. If you have a huge followers, even if only a portion of them click on your link, you still get targeted traffic and hence potential sales!

You can also generate a blog. A blog is very powerful marketing tool too. There's a lot of free blog host out there like Wordpress and Blogger where you can easily set up your blog and link your web store to it. You don't have to spend $ to get another domain name. You can make use of these free services. Write information that could benefit your readers. You can write 5 solid quality content and start promoting your blog too. Don't forget to use your targeted keywords linking to your E-store. You can turn your blog into a sales funnel. Update your blog routinely, so you can maintain your readers interest and increase pagerank. You can also add "share button widgets" in your blog allowing your visitors to easily submit your posts on social media websites.

Have a tight integration between different channels and grab the opportunity to promote anything you want through them. Your webstore, blog, & social media. You can even start a Youtube channel if you want to. Use a number of techniques to capture targeted audience. Start connecting and be active online. You can improve your overall traffic from the social networks but it all depends on your marketing strategy and how much time you can spend for it.

This (Yahoo Answer) is a good site too. You get quality traffic. I have a few dozen sites, in different niches, so when I have free time, I answer different queries here but I usually use my other yahoo account for this. What I do is find my target audience. I use the Search Y! Answers button and answer queries, invite them to the source of information and get them subscribed. Although Yahoo source box where one can post a link to their site as reference is a no-follow tag, meaning it blocks search engines from following links, no use for SEO, but Yahoo Answers still brings traffic. Not huge but it helps.

Spread your link/s online, but no spamming. You can get back links from article writing, participating in forums and if you have a blog, exchange links from related sites.

I hope this helps and I wish you success!