Starting an online business may need a little extra work but it certainly does not have to cost a fortune to market your online business. Investing time to market your business will definitely pay off in the long run.

Here are 10 ways that have been proven to increase traffic to your website without running you bankrupt:

Newsletter (eZine)
Marketing through an email newsletter can be very useful and productive especially when using services that give you access to track whether the newsletter has been opened and provide you with the ability to send auto responders which are follow-up emails. A newsletter can be as frequently as weekly or monthly. I personally find weekly to be better since it keeps you in close contact with your customers. You can use auto responders to follow-up while at the same time providing your subscribed email recipients with access to additional bonus materials such as e-books, telecasts, podcasts and blog. This shows your customers or potential customers that you are just an email away in case they need help from you and it builds a lasting relationship.

Article submission
Writing articles in the area of your expertise especially an area that is related to your website and submitting them to article directories will help spread the word out about your website. There are several article submission directories that will publish your article for free. You may need to fill out a registration form and then create a profile after receiving an email confirmation. Some websites include www.articletrader.com and www.ezinearticles.com and www.freearticlesubmission.com

Press release
You can also write a press release and distribute to press release distribution services that will send it out at no cost to you. I use www.press-base.com

Banner Ads, Text links
You could also exchange links with other web publishers in order to increase the probability of getting more visitors to your website at no cost.

Search Engine Optimization
Use relevant keywords when submitting your website to search engines. This will enable your website to be ranked higher and therefore result into your website being reached by more users.

Provide rich content
Internet users will be more satisfied and willing to become customers and come back again to your website when they know that they will be learning something with every visit.

Useful resources
Provide your visitors with resources that you think might be of interest to them that way they can keep coming back to your website expecting more.

Affiliate program
Encourage other web publishers to market and drive traffic to your website through an affiliate program in your website where you would pay them an agreed percentage of the revenue that they help you make.

Printed material
I use printed material such as brochures, fliers and business cards to promote my websites. I have found this to be easy and affordable to do through the years and I can design, set up and print them right from my home office without having to pay anyone any labor hours.

Word of mouth
Send information to your family, friends, network fellows and other business acquaintances to let them know of the newly established website and encourage them to forward the information to others and put in a good word. Same is useful when using discussion boards and online groups but only where allowed to do so. Check out the rules first.