A quick Internet search on the keywords, “home business,” will likely yield millions of results. Peddlers of home business opportunities assure overnight riches in what ultimately amounts to an endless sea of empty promises. Their willing victims fall prey to the hype and usually lose time, effort, and, in the end, lots of money.

The key to success in any Internet business is traffic. Without visitors to your site, you will not have any sales, and without sales, you will not make any money. Since the most likely reason you started your home business was so that you would make money—lots of money, probably—this would not be a good result. So, how do you get traffic to your Web site?

There are several ways to entice visitors. Some are expensive and others are completely free, costing only your time, while others fall somewhere in between. Following is a summary of three of the best methods used to generate Web site traffic.

1. Search Engines

Submitting your Web site to search engines, such as Yahoo! and Google, should be among the very first thing you do. When you set up your Web site, you will have the ability to assign keywords—words and phrases that best describe your product or service. (To generate a list of possible keywords, visit the Web sites of businesses similar to yours and select “View” “Source” from the Web browser menu. Look for the heading meta name="Keywords" content= to see the keywords your competitors are using.) These keywords are what search engine users will use to find your Web site. To request that a particular search engine add your site, simply visit the search engine’s site and look for the link to suggest your URL. This will allow you to add your Web site to the list of sites available on the search engine.

There are countless companies on the Internet that will offer, for a nominal fee, to add your Web site to hundreds of search engines simultaneously. Please, do not waste your money. There are really only a few major players in the search engine arena, and those do not typically allow automated submissions. To be listed on sites such as Google and Yahoo!, you must submit your site manually. Keep in mind, however, that it can take several weeks for the larger search engines to add your site.

2. Classified Ads

Again, for a nominal fee, an Internet search will find many companies who will offer to submit your ad to hundreds, or even thousands, of free classified publications. Completely free classified ads will do very little to generate traffic to your site. On the other hand, advertising in eZines—Internet newsletters—with a broad circulation is something you should consider.

The cost for these ads varies, usually depending on the eZine’s circulation. To make the expense worth your while, you should concentrate on finding those Internet newsletters with about 10,000 subscribers. Using your favorite search engine, seek out eZines that focus on your particular product or service. That way, your advertisement will end up in front of targeted consumers that are most likely to be interested in what you are selling.

3. Pay-Per-Click

Probably the quickest, and certainly one of the most expensive, ways to generate traffic is to enlist a pay-per-click advertising campaign. As the name suggests, you bid on keywords and pay each time someone clicks on your ad. The two top pay-per-click companies are Yahoo! Marketing Solutions and Google AdWords. Both work in about the same way: You create an account, deposit funds, select keywords, and write an ad. They then display your ad in their search engine, with the position and frequency of your ad dependent on how high your bid is.

When just starting out, I highly suggest you set your daily spending limit very low (between $5 and $8 is desirable). The cost of a pay-per-click advertising campaign can add up quickly, so be careful in the beginning. As you become more familiar with this sort of advertising and get a feel for what works best for your company, only then should you begin raising your budget and/or keyword bids.

It is actually very easy to start an Internet home business. However, if you go into it with the belief that you will get rich overnight, you will certainly be disappointed. Many of the companies on the Web will claim that you will begin making money immediately if you use their unique system. Though the Internet can be a powerful tool, by its very nature it takes a considered amount of time to reap the rewards it has to offer. To see instantaneous results can be quite costly.