Waiting for your website to get viral? Not going to happen. Free traffic is a tough egg to crack, so I’ve composed the top 7 ways to generate traffic to your website. While I provide a snippet of what’s possible, each method can be further researched and detailed to the most minute of details. Now let’s get cracking:

• Facebook

The third largest trafficked website in the world, facebook certainly has many users which can be freely directed to your properties. Be active on Facebook, link to your blog, comment on statuses, post pictures, capture the interest of your target audience. As long as you’re genuine and interesting on Facebook, traffic will start pouring into your profile and websites.

• Twitter

Becoming a presence on twitter can lead to massive traffic dividends. Tweet out to niche related accounts with relevant content, pictures, and hashtags. If you tweet it, they will come.

• Youtube

The second most popular website and search engine in the world, YouTube has hungry users looking for valuable content. While uploading a video may be simple, it takes practice and patience to create a strong working SEO formula for YouTube. Place your link on the description and/or the embed feature of your video and redirect those users to your website.

• Google Places

Still underused by the masses, Google Places can provide massive amounts of traffic to your website. Follow Google Places quality guidelines to set up your location. Include a complete listing by choosing relevant business categories, a worthwhile company description, interesting photos and integration with Google+.

• Blog Commenting

A quick google search will lead you to related blogs about your niche, leave a valuable comment and a link to gain traffic and SEO authority. I’d also suggest setting up your own Google Alert to find any valuable upcoming blog posts about your niche. Getting that all illusive FIRST! comment will help.

• Forum Posts

Find a relatable forum to your niche. Build up a trustworthy account by posting honest and helpful comments. Don’t forget to attach a link to your signature!

• Press Release

There are a handful of sites willing to publish your articles for free. A published press release will build your websites authority, assisting to get organic traffic through search engines.