Generating strong traffic sources is critical to the success of your internet business. No matter how strong your sales page is, how effective your close, or how wonderful your product is, if you don't have traffic, no one knows it. And if no one sees your product, no one will purchase it.

The quality of your traffic is also paramount. Low quality traffic such as guaranteed traffic, exit traffic, pop-up traffic, or pop-under traffic generally produce very low returns. Managed correctly, these sources of traffic can create a positive return on investment, but in most cases you will need more qualified traffic to make sales.

My favorite source of traffic is article-writing and submission. With article writing and submission, you will write articles related to the topic of your online product, and submit these articles to various article directories. The article directories publish your articles, and webmasters can publish your articles on their web sites and in their ezines and online newsletters. When an interested buyer reads your article, they can click through to your site via a link you will place at the end of the article (just like you should do when you finish reading this article). You will direct the reader to your web site, which will promote your product.

Done correctly, this form of traffic generation is extremely effective.

So, how do you do it?

1) Write an article about a topic that would interest your typical purchaser. For example, in this case, my typical purchaser is looking to make more money online. Traffic generation is of interest to people who want to make more money online. Your article must be both informative and easy to read. Do not feel that just because it is a free article, that you need to give them very little information. Actually teach your reader something they don't know. They want to see that you have something to offer before they purchase your paid product, and the article is a great way to introduce yourself and your knowledge, to them. Note: proofread your article, or have someone read it for you. It is a waste of time to write articles with spelling and grammar mistakes; the editors will often reject your article for publication in their directory if there are spelling and grammar errors.

2) Include a section at the end of your article that tells the reader a little about you and your expertise. In this section, include a clickable link to your web site, so that interested readers can click through to your web site to learn more about you and your product.

3) Submit your article to some of the major article directories. Type in "article submission" or "article directories" into your favorite search engine to find a list of directories.

4) Start the process over again. Write many articles and submit them to many directories. Keep in mind, you are not the only person writing articles online; in fact, in the last few months, article writing has had exponential growth.

5) Once you have submitted your articles to a number of directories, you should begin to see a dramatic increase in traffic.