All websites, irrespective of their subject, topic or niche, require traffic; not any traffic but highly targeted traffic. Traffic is the lifeblood of all online businesses. Without it the business cannot possibly survive - consider for a moment a "corner shop" with no customers! No visitors = no sales = no income. The conundrum is and, indeed, always has been how to drive enough traffic to the website to create interest, reaction and, ultimately, revenue.

There have been any number of traffic generation systems created since the "birth" of the internet. Some have stood the test of time; others palpably haven't. What worked "then", so to speak, does not work "now". So, how does the webmaster ensure a continuing flow of traffic whilst keeping the tightest possible reign on the generation thereof? There are, or course, many alternatives but, arguably, one of the most effective methods is to harness the power of Web 2.0.

Web 2.0? I suppose the term suggests that, at some point, there was something called Web 1.0. In fact, there wasn't. It was simply a name coined to label the raft of changes that were becoming evident in the design of websites and the many new platforms, technologies and social interactions that were springing up on the internet in quick succession. So, how can we summarise all these radical changes and what does it all mean in relation to traffic?

Briefly:-

1) Websites no longer show only text and still images

2) Web pages are becoming much more "user friendly", so to speak

3) Websites have become interactive with the visitor in a variety of ways

4) Blogs (weblogs) have grown dramatically in numbers, such that they now attract more visitors than full websites

But, as I said a moment ago, what does all this mean in the generation of traffic? Well, in the world of Web 2.0, users interact in a very personal way. They exchange ideas and impressions and, in many cases, make friends and develop a special kind of community. These users access their favourite sites on a regular basis and even play an active role in the way the website and the community evolve. These people tend to hunt in packs, as it were, often hundreds at a time with the result that, if one or two of them find and love your site, you could have a surge of visitors to your site within hours!

The best part of all this? These visitors (aka website traffic) have cost you nothing. We are talking about FREE traffic; no, hang on a moment, FREE "targeted traffic".

Now, that sounds attractive, doesn't it?

When you consider the number of Social Networking sites (hundreds at the last count), just imagine the stampede of traffic hurtling towards your site. Web 2.0 has been around for a little while now but, generally speaking, it is only recently that webmasters have realised the enormous possibilities that lie therein. Do not make the mistake of looking no further than the likes of Facebook and MySpace. It takes just minutes to unearth any number of other sites where you can start building long-term relationships which , ultimately, will yield very significant levels of visitors - remember, visitors = sales = income = profit. Everyone is happy!

Alan Pearce