Everyone talks about getting web site traffic, and for good reason. Getting visitors is an effort to say the least. Since you don't make money without them, this is a serious subject for debate. Traffic is a fundamental factor in making sales, since someone can only buy from your site if they're actually on your site. There's just one little problem: Getting web site traffic is a meaningless concept.

Traffic in and of itself is useless. I know it's nice to watch those visitor graphs spike, because I've seen it myself and felt my heart go pitter-pat. But if the people visiting just happen to be there because they are, it's not going to work out for you.

To make money, you need to get interested visitors to your site. The more interested visitors you get, the better you'll do. Better known as targeted traffic, interested visitors buy products, click related ads, and have a far greater chance of getting you paid than just someone off the busy internet street, or just plain old 'traffic'.

Think of it this way. Generic traffic is like a bunch of people walking by on a city sidewalk. Your site is someone standing on that sidewalk holding a sign that says 'Buy my niche stuff'. You're not going to get a lot of interest. But hold up that sign in a place where people are interested in your niche, and that changes. Yes, you get fewer visitors, but the odds of converting to a sale have just increased.

The best ways to get targeted traffic are to:

• Put ads in related (and only related) eZines.
• Pay-per-click advertising, which you can target by keyword and optimize to remove all but the words that actually convert.
• Article marketing, which is my personal favorite. It does a lot of good things at once and it's free.
• Link trades with related sites. Link trading with just anyone is not advisable and usually ineffective.

Anything that generates web site traffic but can't target it is a waste of time, effort, and/or money to use. Getting blasts of generic traffic is an exercise in throwing mud at a wall and hoping some of it sticks. That will do little more than burn a hole in your budget and pique your frustrations. So remember, web site traffic is a meaningless concept. You want interested, targeted web site traffic to get the desired results.