If you're in business and an online presence is crucial to your success, it's not enough to just have a website. There are tens of millions of websites on every subject imaginable. How will prospects ever find you? They won't -- so you need to find them. You need to find easy and creative ways to drive traffic to your site -- and even more important -- to convert that traffic to clients or customers. Here are some easy, no and low cost ways to get started.

1. Write articles and post them online.

Last year, I posted 11 articles online. Exactly 12 months later, there were over 4,500 postings of these articles on the internet. And each one of them was working for me while I was sleeping. These articles are picked up by other sites so they spread quickly throughout the web. Each article had a byline, a short description of my business, along with my website address and other contact information. This is one of the easiest ways to effortlessly drive traffic to your site.

2. Find someone to partner with.

You can find a complementary partner and create an area on your website where you can place a link to their site and vice versa. For example, if you're a business coach, you might partner with website developers, copywriters, and virtual assistants -- people who might be helpful to your clients. These folks, in turn, can place a link on their website that refers to you. A great way to add partners to your website is to create a separate page, perhaps giving it a title such as References or Resources. Or better yet, you can find a partner who will actively promote your products and services to their email list (and you would do the same).

3. Register with Search Engines.

You can register with free search engine submission sites. Enter the search terms "free search engine submission" into Google or Yahoo to find free sites. You can also pay to register at various sites like Yahoo and AltaVista. If you put up a website, give it a couple of days and it will automatically be catalogued by Google for free. Since Google is the top search engine, consider letting it work for you -- without costing you a cent.

4. Create a newsletter.

Another way to drive people to your website is to create an ezine or e-newsletter. Include information referring to your publication on your business card, on bookmarks, handouts, flyers and anything else that you hand out to prospective customers or clients.

5. Submit a press release.

You can go to several free press release sites and post information about you and your website. Cultivate a habit around issuing press releases about newsworthy items related to your business. Use them to announce new additions to your staff, a new book you've published, an upcoming workshop or seminar, or the availability of an e-course. Don't let this wonderful and free opportunity pass you by. In fact, you should make an effort to create some sort of regular buzz around your business that you can share through a press release on a monthly basis. You can find these complimentary services by entering in "free press releases" into your favorite search engine. Free press releases also get indexed by the various search engines. And, you never know if the local news might pick you up as they search these sites for filler for their magazines, newspapers, radio, and television programs. You should also consider sending a copy directly to your local media outlets as well.

6. Tell the world.

Tell your friends, family, and everyone in your rolodex. You can call folks, send a postcard with information about your site, or send them an email if you have their permission. Go through your personal email list and make sure to send everyone a short note about your website. At the holidays, you might include a little note in your greeting cards, perhaps printed on some nicely colored paper. Remember, no spam allowed. If you don't have permission to email someone, don't do it!

7. Seek out talk radio.

If you have an interesting business, seek out talk radio shows and see if you might get an interview. At the most you'll probably get 3 or 4 minutes on the airwaves which is more than plenty of time to gain some fame. Because you can literally be interviewed over the phone from the comfort of your own home, any talk radio show is accessible to you -- as long as you can convince the producer that your story would be of interest to his or her target audience. Most likely the host will provide you the opportunity to share your contact information with listeners -- the perfect opportunity to share your website address -- and at no cost for

8. Submit your ezine to an ezine submission service.

Just like with articles, you can submit your newsletter or ezine to a free service that will make your information available to others. This is another wonderful way to have your website and other contact information made available to others.

9. Email signatures say it best.

I wrote an article last year all about what should be included in your email signature. One thing that should definitely be included is your website address and maybe some copy that entices people to click on the link. For example: For a complimentary copy of Website Traffic Secrets, go to [list your website here]. You can dress up your signature by adding color and trying out interesting fonts. Again, this is an easy, no cost way to tell the world all about your website. Just think, every time you send out an email, your email signature is advertising you and your website -- for free!

10. Buy key words.

While this isn't a free option, you might consider buying keywords through various services like Overture and Google. You can control how much you want to spend. You can then create advertisements that will appear on contextual related sites. If a prospect clicks on your customized ad, they'll be whisked away to your website -- where you can start building a relationship with them.