Traffic Explosion….You Can Do This!
Traffic is an enormously important topic so in this post I have deliberately referred you to quite a few people who will be able to add lots more than I can cover in this post.
I strongly urge you to use these links as the information is both first class and free.
Now you cannot beat that for an offer!
Everyone appreciates the importance of traffic to their online success. In fact, a friend of mine Nathan Rufus, provides an excellent video called “The REAL secret of online success” that is available with his list building interview offer …yes it’s all for free!
With SO MUCH information available on this important topic I decided it would be best to give you an overview so you can avoid getting lost, confused and overwhelmed by this essential part of your online marketing success.
It’s a big and very fast changing world out there on the internet and I want to 
give you just a taste of what it’s all about. By the way, did you know that in it’s earlier days Google requested 30 days to return your search results? Wow…things have certainly changed and everything online is moving super-fast.
At the time of writing this post the number of Google search results for the term “internet traffic” was a whopping 102 million! There were more than 56 million results for “internet traffic articles,” in excess of 400,000 results for ebooks and more than 100,000 results for the exact term “internet traffic videos.”
Loads of information is readily available but the real danger is information overload and total confusion unless you grasp the big picture first.
Successful internet marketers have all created systems for all aspects of their business including “traffic.” This enables them to focus on what really drives their business and avoids confusion and loss of focus. To get an outstanding free peek inside the operations of these highly successful entrepreneurs I urge you to check out Janet Chandler’s superb “Internet Millionaires Summit.” Do not miss this great opportunity provided by Jaycee.
Again let me remind you that all these reference links are providing you with high quality free material.
So to give you a quick overview you should understand that there are basically 7 ways people find websites or blogs. This post is going to give you a brief overview of these 7 main ways just to get you started and then my next post will give you a specific 7 day traffic plan.
Just read over the various methods to get an idea of the enormity of the concept of “traffic” but do not be put off by any of the details. They are there just to emphasize the fact that unless you have a clear plan for driving traffic then you WILL get lost and probably spend a lot of money.
Be Smart and Have a Plan
The planning concept is not new but you would be surprised how many online marketers don’t bother to do one. These are usually amongst the 95% failure rates of online business start ups.
I recommend you take a close look at Anna Haller’s excellent “planning post” and follow her easy steps to success.
In this post I will only look at FREE traffic sources but I am not saying that paid options are to be ignored. Just get your basic understanding of “internet traffic” first before expanding into the world of paid promotions.
In no particular order the main free traffic sources are:
1. Search engine traffic: like Google, Yahoo or Bing. All are free and very important sources of traffic. However, for greatest effect you need to be placed on the first few pages of the search engine or no one will ever find your site. This means no traffic!
To be rated highly by search engines (and so much easier to find) you need to select good keywords for your site that you expect people to use when searching for your topic.
In simple terms you need to understand what words and phrases people are typing into the search engines in order to find what they want.
The trick is to identify the keywords that relate to your site that meet the following guidelines:
1.The keyword needs to have a high but not excessive demand. Experts in keyword research say that it’s more profitable to identify “long tail key words” with a search count of at least 30 per day for your term. You are wasting your time trying to “be found” with keywords having millions of searches because you will have way too much competition to be ranked.
2.Your selected keywords should not have excessive competition in terms of 
the number of other websites using the same keyword. The suggested maximum of 50,000 website competition is a useful indicator that you can compete against – but even smaller better if you can find them
3.You want to target “buying keywords” focusing on people’s potential to buy rather than just be looking for information.
2 More Great Sites you MUST check out
This is an important issue and for an easy to understand coverage of this concept check out some outstanding blog posts by Louis Selvon and Alex Whalley. These two Aussies have keywords and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) fully covered and you’ll even get a dose of Aussie humour thrown in for free.
In addition you will also need to have good backlinks to your site that will give your site authority in the eyes of the search engines (see next)
backlinks
2. Link traffic: after initial search engine traffic like Google, people follow what they perceive to be the most relevant links to find out their information. One of the key issues that will assist in your site being well placed in the Google search rankings is “backlinks.”
Creating “relevant backlinks” to
backlinks
your site is an important traffic strategy and for more information and ideas about this important topic I recommend you check out an excellent post from Mirko Gosch.
3. Community traffic: this is commonly referred to as Web2.0 or social networking sites. This is a HUGE traffic potential area so I will give it a little more coverage.
According to Wikipedia “A Web 2.0 site gives its users the free choice to interact or collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where users (consumer) are limited to the passive viewing of content that was created for them.”
Does that make sense?
In simple terms it means sharing and collaborating ideas, opinions,
creations and content of all types including images, videos and written content.
Web 2.0 includes social-networking sites (e.g. Facebook), blogs, micro-blogs (Twitter), wikis, video-sharing sites (e.g. YouTube), image-sharing sites (e.g. Flickr).
All of these sites are exploding with popularity.
Blogging could be the ONLY game in town!
Blogging is an amazing phenomenon. Technorati, the recognized authority on what’s happening on the World Wide Web, currently state they are tracking over 135.8 million blogs. This number does NOT include all the 72.82 million Chinese blogs as counted by The China Internet Network Information Center!
The numbers are mind-boggling.
Not only that but according to Technorati, there are 375,000,000 people globally who read blogs; 1,200,000 is the average number of blog posts created in any 24 hour period and 77% of active Internet users read blogs.
So blogging is definitely a proven business platform.
For easy to understand information on everything to do with social media I recommend you see Sally Neill’s superb coverage.
The Facebook Phenomenon
According to web analysis firm, Experian Hitwise, Facebook has surpassed Google on some occasions to take the No. 1 spot for the number of visitors. They go on to state that “It shows content sharing has become a huge driving force online. People want information from friends they trust, versus the anonymity of a search engine.”
This has massive implications for everyone wishing to build a business online. The power of building trust is more real than ever before and without it you will fail…even if you get traffic by the ton!
Building trust relationships with your list is essential and I will cover this in a separate post.
Quick….Dust off that old video camera
Building your traffic via video marketing is also a fast track strategy. Just posting a video on to extremely popular, high traffic websites with a link back to your site will have your video in front of a huge audience and lets you borrow some of the traffic from that site.
Just think about these stats:
- YouTube averages more than 75 million visitors a month
youtube
- On average people spend about 30 minutes EVERY DAY watching video online.
- USA internet users viewed a record 16.4 BILLION online videos during the month of June, 2010. (Source: comScore SE Rankings)
- 1.2 BILLION videos are streamed from YouTube DAILY
Not only that but:
- 80% of web users have watched a video ad online
- 52% took action after viewing the ad
- 15% visited the online store AND
- 12% made a purchase!
Need any more proof that video is a MUST in your traffic planning? I think the message is loud and clear!
4. Bookmarked traffic: social bookmarking is also an increasingly important source of traffic. Social bookmarking is a method for Internet users to organize, store, manage and search for bookmarks of resources online.
Unlike file sharing, the resources themselves aren’t shared, merely bookmarks that reference them. Amongst some of the biggest players in this area are Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Yahoo! Buzz, Del.icio.us and Propeller.
Bookmarking is yet another rapidly expanding source of traffic.
5. Endorsement traffic: a very powerful traffic source as visitors to your site come “pre-sold” or at least “pre-disposed” to your site. Good examples of this type of traffic would be people clicking your site link in your article bio box on a reputable article directory (e.g. Ezine Articles).
Another rapidly growing example of endorsed traffic is the previously mentioned Web2.0 use of video marketing on video directories like YouTube.
People like what they see and click your site link below the video for more information OR even better, they elect to share your video with their friends. In this way your video can start to receive an enormous number of views and in the language of online marketing this means it goes “viral.”
Article and video marketing are both important components of many successful online marketers and it’s easy to understand why. They are also basically free.
6. Recycled traffic: this is achieved by building relationships with your subscriber list and using smart email marketing techniques, directing them to a website or offer of your choice.
This is where the money is for many online marketers. Having a responsive subscriber list is the “holy grail” for many marketers.
Show me the Money!
Email marketing is one of the key ways to make money online but before you can do this you need to be able to drive traffic to a site where they can join your list. So just like we don’t start our working careers as retired bank managers, you cannot take the advantages of email marketing until you take step 1 – create some traffic for yourself!
Check out this clever way to create a product, drive traffic and build a profitable list all at the same time…and this entire package is also free!
7. “Type-In” traffic: when people type your domain name directly into their internet web browser
There you have it! It’s a big topic and this post just gave you an introduction.
However, like all things if you have a plan and go one step at a time you will create massive opportunities for yourself.
This is the reality side of online marketing and I suggest you look at Darren L Carter’s great site that shows you exactly what happened with this successful marketer’s traffic experiences in his first 30 days online. While you are there check out his incredible Atomic Bomb Survivor ebook. Like everything else Darren always provides realism and creativity.
With all these ideas and challenges you may be asking yourself – is it all worth it? Let me ask you is financial freedom combined with the capacity to work from home is a dream worth pursuing? I think it is..what about you?
It’s natural to have misgivings and fears about your ability to achieve. Make sure you have a clear plan and if you need some supportive advice go and read Bailey Ing’s great piece on “self doubt and confidence”
Now It’s Your Turn: Have you checked out the links I provided?
These are NOT affiliate links and are designed to give you 100% valuable information for free. So please do youself a huge favour and check out all the links I provded for you.
Are you still confused? Perhaps a bit overwhelmed? If so leave your thoughts and feelings in the comments area. Would you like some more guidance in this critical area of “traffic?” Do you have the skills to create your own traffic plan? What help would you like? Leave me a comment OK? Happy to help
wherever I can.
Related posts:
Hi Peter,
Thank you so much for the mention as well as providing the other great resources here because they all provide great information that everyone can learn from.
You have listed seven great ways for people to find websites and blogs and have listed them in a way that is easy to understand as well as where to look for additional information. I also like all the great pictures that you’ve included here in your post.
You are doing an absolutely fantastic job Peter and there’s no doubt that you will be a success online in no time. Take care Peter and talk soon!
Anna
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Peter Reply:
August 14th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Anna your words of support and encouragement mean a lot to me. Thank you. The post was aimed at giving people a broad overview of the critical issue of traffic as I for one have found myself chopping and changing my traffic strategies simply because I did not have a clear big picture. So I went about creating a simplified version of all the traffic sources for myself before putting my traffic plan together. Then I decided why not share all this with my readers. This post is the result.
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Hi Peter,
This is a very detailed post that covers just about all areas that we all need.
You are doing a really good job at this blog and other areas as well.
I really like the blend of the graphics as well with a nice blend of contextually linked keywords. Where did you get the graphics actually ? I’ve been thinking that a nice blend of graphics is needed at my blog to make it more lively.
Keep up the great work and thanks for the shout out as well. Much appreciated.
Louis
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Peter Reply:
August 14th, 2010 at 5:56 pm
Hi Louis. Thanks for the feedback. the images are all from Flickr – I love this site and most are free but take care to check for any license restrictions. Actually being a keyword specialist you will appreciate the search box options in Flickr. I always go for something a bit different so I enter my keyword and click on “interesting” not the “relevant” option. Hope this helps Louis.
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LOUIS Reply:
August 15th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
Hi Peter,
Thanks for Flickr. Will take a look at them to make my blog more lively.
Louis
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Peter Reply:
August 15th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
My pleasure Louis…another good site for images is Fotolia.com but for most you have to pay a couple of dollars.
Hey Peter
Sorry mate, long time since I popped in for a chat, new ebook and all, but no excuses hey. Thanks for coming over and leaving your awesome feedback btw, you beat this trackback – which I would also like to thank you for, much appreciated Peter. Glad my aussie humour has not gone unnoticed (woo hoo!
)
As for this post, epic is the word that comes to mind, really in depth look at the various ways you can generate traffic with some great resources linked in (especially that Alex whalley fellow – wow)
Something I should add that you overlooked is that the REASON web 2.0 properties are so effective for traffic is because yes they bring real people over but more importantly they allow you to create profiles with bio boxs that can have keyword relevant backlinks to your site – and most web2.0 are high authority. Thats why they’re so good
Thanks again for the shout out mate.
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Peter Reply:
August 14th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Alex thanks so much for your very constructive feedback. I agree we have to be aware of the reality of social networking site links and feedback. I really appreciate you pointing that out so my me and my readers.
By the way your excellent blog post seemed to indicate a favouritism for Colllingwood Aussie rules team in your images! Are you really a magpie fan?
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Alex Reply:
August 16th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
I know!
It was the only image I could find man! not happy jan! LOL Now I understand why you thought I was a pie’s man. (I was like, where did he get that from?!?)
Awesome.
Oh btw – looking at your WSO offer – AWESOME, I will post some feedback in the forum if it helps?
Also – like to ask you how I go about giving my ebook away on warrior forum – asa WSO like you did.
I know it’s probably easy to figure out, but since you have already gone to the trouble…. (nudge nudge hint hint) perhaps it could be a blog post – no one ever posts simple how to’s, you could make a killing with a blog of idiot how to’s (because everyone assumes everyone else already knows)
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Hi Peter,
Whoa! Is not just useful information you share here. You are sharing your brain and the collective intelligence of some very good brains out there as well.
It took me quite a while to read it and I guess I will be reading it again cause there is so many great information and resources you shared here.
Traffic is one of the toughest to crack for any online quest. Yet this is the most well thought of content I ever read, not only in the sense of information but why, how and where we can get extended resource to further grasp the knowledge to apply it.
I am glad to be your reader and will sure be your repeat reader from now on.
Thanks Peter
Cheers
Jason Ser
[Reply]
Peter Reply:
August 15th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Hi Jason,
I am glad you found some useful info in this post.
I tried very hard to keep it as general as possible so that readers could see the “big picture” of internet traffic”.
This was my greatest challenge as it’s so easy to start diving down one “fox hole” that takes our interest and promises us so many thousands of site visitors virtually overnight. And of course all we do is lose our way.
Thanks again for your supportive feedback Jason. Best regards to you and great membership site
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Hey Peter,
What a comprehensive post you have here on traffic.
Thanks for the mention, but more importantly thank you for creating an excellent resource for everyone so we can find all asepcts relating to traffic in this nicely laid out post.
I particularly love the diagram you showed of the website linking strategy. I’ll definitely be trying that wagon wheel and I’ve not used Vox before so I’ll add that in my tool box.
Good to see you back in action and catch up soon my friend!
Bailey
[Reply]
Peter Reply:
August 15th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Hi Bailey,
Thanks for the great feedback. Yes Vox is well worth checking out – it has a really easy and free sign up and can provide very high quality back links in your link wheel.
as always your visit to my blog is appreciated mate.
My best wishes and thanks again
[Reply]
Hi Peter
This is some article packed with so much information – facts, figures, ideas, and I thought that my posts were jam packed with info!
Not read it all yet but certainly like the idea of clicking a few links and getting “a dose of Aussie humour thrown in for free.” – I always enjoy a chuckle.
Oh well – back to the reading.
[Reply]
Peter Reply:
August 15th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
Hi Keith. You will appreciate Alex’s Aussie sense of humour but he also has some fantastic ideas he shares with everyone. Good guy!
I hope you get some good ideas from this post Keith as it was designed to be simply an overview to give people a clear idea of what is involved in the HUGE area of “internet traffic”
Thanks for the feedback mate – appreciated
[Reply]
Hey Peter,
What a magnificent post brimful of valuable information on the big topic of traffic you´ve created here, Peter- I thought you said that you were running on a weak energy level at the moment and one can only guess what you´ll come up with when you are running on full force! Amazing!
Please take this as a positive critique: With so much important content I probably would have split the post up into at least 2 parts acknowledging also that the readers attention span might not be long enough to grasp the full potential of your content rich post.
Anyway you have provided your readers with 7 proven and FREE ways to grow and drive traffic to their webpages. With the additional links to fellow bloggers you´ve giving us the opportunity to jump-start any of the 7 ways you´ve described in your power-post. Awesome!
I feel humbled that you´ve added me as a resource to discover more on the topic of backlinks – Thanks a million, Peter.
Looking forward to catch up with you soon and I do sincerely hope that you fully recover as soon as possible
Mirko
[Reply]
Peter Reply:
August 15th, 2010 at 11:52 pm
Hi Mirko.
Many thanks as always for your feedback and supportive comments.
You are correct about the length of this post and peoples’ normal attention spans. It was the reason I added more images than I normally do but your point is extremely valid.
I will definitely keep that in mind for all my future posts.
As always greatly appreciated mate.
[Reply]
Hi Peter
What a very comprehensive post. Yes, as internet marketers, we have to know of the many way we can get visitors to our site. You have included methods that I do not know about.
A little about me – My name is Sue McDonald and I am a student of Mark Terrell and I am actually going through the course a second time – by invitation. I love it and know if I do all he says, I will be successful. I am Australian but the US is my second home as I have family there and visit quite often. This is why I started Internet Marketing so I can travel whenever I want and have the money to do what I want.
Well I hope you are doing well and you become very successful. I would love you to come visit my blog and leave a comment.
Kind regards
Sue
[Reply]
Peter Reply:
August 16th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Hi Sue. Thanks for the visit and your supportive feedback.
I am glad the post could be of some benefit to you and I wish you well with your training – by the time you finish the course for the second time you will be an absolute expert!
It’s nice to have another Aussie on board and I’m going over to check out your blog right now.
best wishes Sue and go for it!
[Reply]
Peter:
This is a value packed post!
For anyone that is trying to make money online it is important to build a subscriber list. But it is not possible to build a list without Traffic.
It is so easy to fall into the trap of information overload when trying to figure out the best way to drive traffic to ones site. I have to have my traffic plan written out so I don’t miss anything. Without my traffic mind map I would definitely get lost in my traffic driving process.
Thanks again for such detailed information.
- Rick
[Reply]
Peter Reply:
August 17th, 2010 at 11:00 am
Hi Rick. I totally agree. Without a real traffic plan it’s just so easy to get diverted and start chasing the next “promotion that promises the world”. Thanks for the feedback and supportive comments. Very much appreciated
[Reply]
Peter,
This is a really solid post. You put a lot of time into this. I can tell.
There are so many people out there that are just dying to be successful on-line, yet it is one of the hardest business models to get right.
The best thing that a business owner can do is to keep the conversation going with their readership, so that they will in-turn promote the business for you.
Weord of mouth, and orchestrated word of mouth is the best way that you can actually create a big enough empire on-line.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
[Reply]
Peter Reply:
August 18th, 2010 at 12:46 am
Hi Joshua,
You know Joshua what you said about “word of mouth” is just so powerful.
I totally agree that without an on-going conversation with your readers a blog may as well disappear.
So getting traffic is one thing but keeping that traffic requires a blog owner to be constantly ensuring they are talking WITH and not TO readers. Thanks a million for this feedback as you have really made some very valuable points.
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Keyword search of at least 30 per day…you gave me something to take away from this blog and look for when I do keyword searches.
Thank you.
Cheryl
[Reply]
Peter Reply:
August 18th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
Hi Cheryl. This is just a simple “rule of thumb” but too many searches usually means too much competition.
It’s a matter of checking the search volumes but not just for keywords – “buying key words” – and then enter your selected keywords into your SE like Google and check how many competing sites there are for that term.
Glad you found it helpful but if you really want to speed up the process check out Market Samurai. It’s a fantastic piece of software that you can access for free and it does FAR MORE than just give you an accurate idea of the best keywords to use. Good luck and let me know if I can help some more OK? Always happy to do so if I can!
[Reply]
Hey Peter
I have just come for a visit to your site. How are you going?
Yes it’s Mark and I am following my students as they post on other peoples blogs. They don’t know that I am always checking to see they are getting results. I am passionate about helping them achieve and then they are able to make some money online exactly the same as I am doing. It is not really difficult as long as they are willing to put in the effort.
Always pleasing if I can see some of my students have posted comments. Keep up the good work.
Regards
Mark
[Reply]
Peter Reply:
August 22nd, 2010 at 4:05 pm
Hi Mark,
Thanks for dropping in mate. It’s been great to see your students so active and for you to be following them up like this speaks volumes for your support and commitment.
My best wishes and come and visit again soon OK?
[Reply]
Hey Peter,
Wonderfully detailed traffic driving info here. Once the systems set up it’s all about driving the traffic and this will certainly give your readers (me included) plenty of avenues to explore.
I’d suggest adding Safelist traffic to your list. It’s not the most targeted traffic but utilised correctly is a powerful source to be considered (after many of the options you mention here first though).
Rob
(** RJB **)
[Reply]
Peter Reply:
August 28th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
Hi Rob,
OK I will add Safelist Traffic to my list but to tell you the truth, I know very little about this source of traffic.
I am familiar with Perfect Traffic Storm as a real targeted traffic blast but it’s expensive at $197.
So I will do some more research and see what I can come up with about Safelist traffic sources. Thanks for the feedback.
Best wishes Rob
[Reply]
Such a Great advice for promoting Blog and getting traffic on your Blog , I will suggest it to my Friends
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Peter Reply:
September 10th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
Hi Tej,
Thanks for the feedback and for dropping in.
I am pleased you found the post helpful and I hope you come back again soon.
[Reply]
Thats a well put together article.
What I stuggle with is the amount of time it takes to implement all the different traffic strategies you describe.
My new venture is to follow a process whereby I submit 10-20 mini blogs/sites to these sources at a time so I get the most back for my effort.
My main IM blog looks after itself with a steadily climbing Alexa ranking but the sites with offers and Ad space are the ones I need to apply my effort now
Regards
Pete
[Reply]
Peter Reply:
October 4th, 2010 at 9:41 am
Hi Peter,
I agree. Time is an important issue re any traffic strategy.
Not all strategies will fit your strengths or market niche.
The post was a generic one that tried to look at as many types of realistic traffic sources as possible.
Your decision to focus on your mini blog/sites sounds good to me.
Some strategies will require time to achieve an ROI
However, an interesting way to get quicker results for any article marketing is to use article sharing directories such as “Docstoc” and “Scribd” for your article submissions. Both allow a liberal use of links/anchor text (unlike Ezine Articles) and they have super fast indexing.
You will need to upload your articles in PDF or Word format for these directories but it’s definitely worth considering.
Best wishes and thanks for the excellent feedback Peter
[Reply]
Can I ask if you happen to be from Sydney? You sound like an Ozzie
[Reply]
Peter Reply:
October 24th, 2010 at 9:34 am
Hi Geneva,
Yes I was from Sydney…always a proud ozzie
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Peter, excellent post this is just what I was looking for to get a decent start. The information is top shelf and I appreciate your sharing it. I have read through the entire post and now I am going through and one-by-one following the links. For once someone has done something really useful for newbies to get a start. It seems that many people are so caught up in there own endeavors to take the time to lend a hand.
DonV-
[Reply]
Peter Reply:
November 12th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Don,
Appreciate the great feedback and I hope you gain the traffic in numbers…but make sure you also look for targeted trafic as well.
If there is any thing else I can help you with then just give me a shout – more than happy to help.
My best wishes
[Reply]
Peter Reply:
December 20th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
Hi don,
So glad you found the post useful. I wish you all the best with your traffic mate and do not hesitate to ask for any help if you ever need it. always happy to help.
Don’t forget the whole social media marketing aspect for traffic. We have established a presence for our Thai Silk Magic business both on Twitter and Facebook …to build relationships and hopefully generate targeted traffic over time.
Have a look at our Thai Silk Magic Facebook page and let me know your thought..I would appreciate that
Best wishes
Peter
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I am extremely impressed by your blog site. The blog posts are actually informative and also very intriguing. We definitely will place a url on my personal webpage..
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