Getting traffic to your web site is the most important task for a web master. Though paying for traffic is one option, it might not be a profitable source, especially if the web site does not have a direct source of revenue via sale of products. In such cases getting free traffic to the web plays an important role. There are many different ways in which you can generate free traffic. Some of the methods that you can use are listed below:

1. Writing articles and submitting them to article directories. Almost all article directories provide a form field to include you copyright notice and the resource box. You should use the resource box not just to talk about your self but also to entice readers looking for more information. The resource box for your articles should be used to offer a freebie e-book or a report or even an attention-grabbing headline to attract the readers to click the link and visit your web site.

You can also end the article with a question and link to your web site to find the answer. Since web masters looking for free content on their sites also use the articles you publish in article directories, it creates a viral affect with your site getting traffic from varied sources. You also gain credibility as an expert with articles. Your article displays your knowledge and shows readers how much you know, about a specific topic.

2. Creating and distributing a free report on a specific subject also helps to get free traffic without putting in much effort. You should include a link to your site or link to a squeeze page to capture readers name and email. Having a link to a squeeze page automatically builds your own list of readers who can be contacted later with affiliate programs in the related subject. You should send your paid traffic to download this free report and allow them to redistribute the report. Giving the report for free attracts readers, and by allowing them to distribute freely ensures that your web site gets free traffic, long after the report was distributed.

3. You should regularly post on forums related to your site. This is perhaps the easiest and quickest way to get free traffic. You should use these forums to make useful and interesting posts, and include a signature file that allows readers to click through to your site. If you are not an expert in any niche and are unable to have a discussion around a topic, you can always post questions. Asking for help will get your site noticed and get you some good incoming links.

4. Another option to explore for free traffic is to find link partners and exchange links. This will not only get you direct click-through traffic from other sites, but it will also get you search engine traffic once those sites are indexed and your site is given credit for the inbound links.

5. If you maintain a blog on your site, submitting your blog feed URL to various RSS sites also helps getting exposure to your site very soon. You should consider submitting feeds or sites to blog directories with a high PR to make sure you are getting quality incoming links. You should also not ignore submitting to sites with low PR in the later stages. If these web sites "make it big" you do not want to be left out. You should not submit to millions of web sites or directories using some software. Trying to submit your site to millions of other web sites may just work against your site.

6. You should look at submitting your web site to the social book marking sites like Squidoo, del.icio.us etc. This helps in getting good exposure to your web site.

Whatever the way you choose to get the visitors to your site, you need to be careful to do it naturally and never stop your hard work on your web site. After all patience really pays!!!