A quick recap: search engines send little robots to your website. Based on the text found on your web page, those robots file that page under different categories (keywords). When someone types a keyword into the search engine that is found on your web page, that page will be included in the search results the user is served.

The goal of search engine marketing and the many SEO tips internet marketing “gurus” try to sell is to rank on the first or second page of the search engine results for relevant keywords. The challenge with erotic stories blogs is that keywords can’t easily be incorporated into your stories.

To help the search engine robots figure out what your page is about, you have to include the targeted keyword in the title of your web page, several times throughout the text on that page, and in any links that point to that page. The reality is, though, storytelling rarely conforms to SEO/SEM best practices because you are not writing for search engines; you are writing for people. The trick, then, is to come up with alternative ways to use easy SEO tips and techniques to rank for keywords and get people visiting your website.

SEO Ranking Tips for Erotica Blogs

Research Relevant Keywords

The first and most important step in my list of easy SEO tips is to create a list of keywords you want to rank for. Basically, these are the words and phrases your readers are using to find erotic stories to read. Generally, you want to rank for keywords related to the type of stories you write. If you write about BDSM, then you want to rank for words and phrases related to that subject like “bondage stories” or “dom sub stories”.

It’s not enough, though, to just brainstorm keyword ideas. You need to make sure people are actually performing searches on the Internet using those words. There are a couple of keyword research tools you can use to determine how popular a keyword is and to help you with your research. Google Keyword Tool is the most well known. WordTracker and Aaron Wall’s Keyword Research Tool are others I’ve heard good things about.

Incorporate Keywords Around the Story

You may not be able to put keywords in the story title or the body of the story but you can put them in other places. Use keywords in the blog category and tags. For example, on my erotic story blog I use keywords for the tags. Another thing you can do is write a short summary before the start of the story that includes the words you are targeting.

Add SEO Optimized Content

Your erotic stories blog doesn’t have to consist entirely of fiction stories. In fact, you can enhance the reader experience by including non-fiction content on topics of interest to your audience. For example, BDSM erotic bloggers can write about the Dom/sub relationship, sex toys, and role-playing games couples can play. This type of content is a lot easier to optimize. Simply include the keyword in the title and several times (about 2-3% saturation) in the body of the article.

Optimize Links to Your Content

When you link to your own stories or you generate external links to your erotic stories blog, make sure the anchor text describing your blog includes your keywords.

Install All in One SEO

If you are using WordPress, I recommend installing the All in One SEO plugin. This plugin allows you to customize the description and keyword Meta tags for your posts. Search engines scan these tags to determine what the page is about. Additionally, they use the description Meta tag in the search results. You can write a summary for the search engines about your stories that include your targeted keywords.

Search engine marketing is vast and intricate, but these easy SEO tips will help you get started. To learn about SEO and SEM, I recommend reading Search Engine Watch, SEO Moz, and Search Engine Land.

About the Article Writer

Daria Black is a fiction writer, gamer, and avid coffee drinker. Visit her website Daria Black – Words By Dariato read fiction stories, talk sex, society, games, and writing, or giggle with her at life’s quirkiness

Sexual tension is the intense but unfulfilled feeling of attraction between your characters. They want to have sex with each other, but they can’t for whatever reason. In non-erotic stories, the characters often put themselves through a series of sadistic and masochistic maneuvers to either avoid giving into their feelings or overcoming the challenges keeping them apart.

Part of the tension the reader experiences when reading a non-erotic story comes from the uncertainty surrounding whether the characters will satiate their passion for each other. It’s a question that drives them to keep reading to find out the answer.

In erotic stories, though, the answer is obvious. The characters will have sex or, at the very least, have a satisfying orgasm. Despite this, you can still make your story an exciting read by creating sexual tension that slowly builds up to the big finale.

The Essence of Sexual Tension

Have you ever wanted something so badly, but were blocked from getting it? I bet the fact that you couldn’t get what you wanted only added to your desire for it. And the more you were kept away from your heart’s desire, the more you wanted it. Well, that’s sexual tension in a nutshell. It is the desire for something, or someone, which cannot be obtained immediately.

The obstacles that prevent your characters from enjoying sex come from two sources: internal and external obstacles. External blocks would be something like having your mother show up at an inopportune time or being stuck in traffic while the girlfriend is sexting nude pictures.

However, the most delicious sexual tension is created by internal obstacles. The characters may be willing and able to get it on, but one or both of them is experiencing an internal crisis that prevents them from throwing their clothes and inhibitions to the wind. An example of this would be a male character that lusts after his boss, but won’t make a move because he doesn’t want her to think he’s trying to sleep his way to a promotion.

How to Create Sexual Tension in Your Stories

Well-placed sexual tension in your stories will have your readers figuratively, and maybe even literally, salivating for the moment when your characters “cum” together (admit it, you love my puns). Here are a few ideas for creating sexual tension in your erotic stories.

Put off the sex scene – This may seem counterintuitive considering that you are writing an erotic story. But many erotica writers, and I include myself in this group, often rush to the sex scene – most likely because we are so excited to write it. But slowing down the pace of your storytelling can actually turn the tension up a notch.

Add a little hyperawareness – When you are attracted to someone, you become aware of everything about them. You notice how the person smells, the exact color of his or her eyes, the endearing lisp when the person says certain words. Consider that god-awful book Twilight. Bella is aware of everything about Edward right down to how his breath smells. Your stories don’t have to be that bad, but a little hyperawareness will increase the heat.

Conflict makes your readers horny – Remember when I said that the essence of sexual tension is denial of what is wanted. Judicious use of conflict in your story will make the sex that much hotter. Think about it. The best sex you ever had was probably after you had a fight with your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife/lover. Your emotions were running high and you couldn’t get your clothes off fast enough. Incorporate internal and external roadblocks that force your characters to “earn” their orgasms.

Taste the sexy rainbow – Here is another counterintuitive tip. Relieving sexual tension makes it worse. Having your characters get a taste of what they want will increase their desire for it. A perfect example of this occurs in the book The Valley of Horses by Jean M. Auel.

Jondalar wants to have sex with Ayla, but doesn’t make a move because he isn’t sure she is interested in having sex with him. His desire for her is so strong that he attempts to relieve it by masturbating, which is frowned upon in his culture. Unfortunately, masturbating only makes him lust for Ayla more.

Make your characters dance around the edges of their desire. Let them kiss, have them sext each other, let one walk in while the other is nekkid, and let it all be poor substitutes for what the character really wants – a hot romp in the bedroom.

Creating sexual tension before sex is an excellent way to draw your readers into the bedroom. Try these tips to increase the heat in your erotic fiction stories.

About the Article Writer

Daria Black is a fiction writer, gamer, and avid coffee drinker. Visit her website Daria Black – Words By Dariato read fiction stories, talk sex, society, games, and writing, or giggle with her at life’s quirkiness

Conveying this information in my erotic fiction stories is challenging for me. I’m one those writers who over thinks my stories and always have way more material than I need. This wouldn’t be a bad thing except I have this tendency to include the entire back story in the tale. And I’m not the only one who struggles with this. I’ve read many stories where there was too much backstory or not enough.

So I did some thinking (something I’m good at) and some searching around the interwebs (also an expertise of mine) and came up with some tips for working back story into your erotic fiction stories.

The Back Story Must Be Relevant

First and foremost, the back story must be relevant to the main story, and no cheating by changing the main story to make the back story relevant just because you think it’s interesting. Okay, maybe that does work. That doesn’t change the fact, though, that everything you put in your erotic story must contribute to it in some way – whether it is characterization, moving the plot forward, or fostering reader understanding.

An example of relevant back story would be having your main female character recall an embarrassing run-in with another character while she is hiding from that person in a bathroom stall. The information is fueling the character’s actions, which may lead to other things happening in the story.

The Back Story Must Add to the Story

In addition to relevance, you shouldn’t include backstory simply because you can. It should contribute in some way to the main story. If your character needs to be in the bathroom as part of the plot, there are a hundred and one ways to get her in there. She could be in the bathroom because she actually had to use it, or she wanted to smoke a joint, or her best friend needed to tell her a secret. Look at your back story and ask yourself honestly if and how it makes your erotic story better.

* Does it contribute to characterization? She is in the bathroom because she hates confrontations and does everything she can to avoid them.

* Does it advance the plot? The back story reveals your character’s romantic feelings towards the other woman, who doesn’t return them.

* Does it set the scene? The other character sees her dash into the bathroom and follows her in there, which leads to the confrontation your character was desperately trying to avoid.

If your erotic story isn’t any better for having the back story in it, cut it out.

Ways to Reveal the Back Story

There are several ways to reveal back story, and some are better than others. Back story essentially brings the action and momentum in the main story to a grinding halt. You want to choose the method of passing on back story that lets the reader get back to the main story as soon as possible while still conveying the information.

Prologue – Anything written before chapter one is considered the prologue. I have mixed feelings about this method of telling back story. It is a pretty convenient way to share important information without slowing down the story, especially if it’s a lot of info. On the other hand, why not just start the story there? There is nothing in the “fiction writing laws” that says chapter one has to be about the present. You can start chapter one with the back story and then fast forward several years in chapter two. They do it in the movies all the time.

Dialogue – This is a good way to communicate small amounts of the back story, especially if it forwards the plot of your erotic story. But the key element here is “small amounts”. Also, make sure your characters are interacting with each other. Otherwise you’ll end up with a monologue, and who wants to read that in an erotic story?

Flashback – Dialogue is your character talking about the past. A flashback is your character thinking about the past. While your character is performing some action in the present day, their mind is thinking about the past. This is sort of like thinking about the presentation you gave at work while you are at home washing the dishes. Flashbacks can be a pretty effective way to relay relevant information. But, like other methods of telling the back story, they slow down the story. Try to make them as brief as possible.

Story Within a Story – One method I’ve seen more experienced writers use to good effect, is to tell a story within a story. Each chapter of the book (or each alternating page of a short story) was dedicated to a particular point in time. The book started with the main story on chapter one and continued with it every odd chapter. The back story is told starting on chapter two and continued on every even chapter. Eventually the two stories converged into the climax. Needless to say, both stories must be compelling for this method to work well.

Telling your character’s back story can enrich your erotic fiction story. Do it the right way and your readers will fall in love with your characters and come back for more.

Additional Resources

How to Write Backstory @ Story Sensei Blog

Novel Writing: Backstory @ A Hubpage by Marisa Wright

About the Article Writer

Daria Black is a fiction writer, gamer, and avid coffee drinker. Visit her website Daria Black – Words By Dariato read fiction stories, talk sex, society, games, and writing, or giggle with her at life’s quirkiness.

If you are thinking about writing erotica but don’t know where to begin, here are a few erotica writing tips for beginners to help you get started writing erotic fiction stories.

Learn About the Genre

It may sound a little snobbish but porn and erotica are two different things. Although they both deal with the topic of sex and you can make money writing both, the two genres depart from each other in a distinctive way.

In porn writing, the sex scene is the entire story. Story setup, plot, and character development is minimal and exist only to get you and the characters into the bedroom. While sex is an integral part of an erotic fiction story, the characters are developed and the story follows a plot line. It’s the difference between viewing clips of porn online and watching a plot driven adult movie.

A good way to get a feel for the difference is to read erotic fiction stories by published writers like Mitzy Szereto and Erica Jong. There are also lots of websites where you can read erotic stories for free written by professional and amateur writers. I assure you, you’ll quickly get a sense of what is and what is not erotica.

Study the Basics of Fiction Writing

So now that you know erotic stories are character and plot driven, you need to know how to create great characters and develop compelling erotic story plots. There are many resources online that will teach you about writing great fiction. Two books I recommend for character development and plotting are ‘Characters and Viewpoints’ by Orson Scott Card and ‘Plot’ by Ansen Dibell. You can find both of these at online and offline book retailers.

Decide on an Erotic Fiction Genre

The erotica category of writing started as a subgenre of the romance industry but has grown into an independent genre with many subgenres of its own. You can write softcore, where the sex is only alluded to, and hardcore where the sex is described in graphic detail. Other categories include science fiction erotica, paranormal erotica, gay and lesbian erotica, horror erotica, chick lit, and many other styles.

Most people find it easier to write stories in a genre they are familiar with. This means if you enjoy fantasy books, you may be more comfortable writing about the hot romance between two elves. Whichever genre you decide to start with, it is important to do your research.

Research, Research, Research

Nothing ruins a story faster than ignorance, especially when it comes to sex. Unless you are writing science fiction, fantasy, or paranormal erotica, your sex positions should be humanly possible and your characters should all be equipped with the proper parts.

Anatomy 101 is your friend. Learn how the sex organs function and what all is involved in sexual arousal. I assure you, there is more to sex than erections and orgasms. Your reader is likely to know a little something about sex and anything odd or unbelievable can cause them to dump your story.

Get Your Erotic Fiction Stories Reviewed

The best way for new erotica writers to hone their craft is to join a writing group. But not all writing groups are created equal. To get the best feedback, join a writing group tailored towards erotica writers.

Prior to submitting your work, spend a little time on the site reading stories uploaded by the other members and the type of comments they received. If most of the critiques read like “Good read” or “Nice story” find another writing group.

These types of comments indicate the writing site is nothing more than a feel good group and the most you will get out of it is a few strokes to your ego. If you are serious about getting published and making money, then you want a group who will be fair and honest in their evaluations. The group should tackle your spelling, grammar, characterizations, plot, and other story elements.

Be warned, though, high quality writing sites like this expect you to put in the same amount of effort in your critique of member stories. The benefits you receive, however, are well worth the trouble.

Whether for publication or your own personal enjoyment, erotica writing can be fun and fulfilling. The best piece of advice I can give you is to not rush your success. Take your time, be persistent, and enjoy the ride.

About the Article Writer

Daria Black is a fiction writer, gamer, and avid coffee drinker. Visit her website Daria Black – Words By Dariato read fiction stories, talk sex, society, games, and writing, or giggle with her at life’s quirkiness.

One of the things I see erotica writers struggle with most often is the actual storytelling. There are two sides to writing an erotic fiction story, the story narrative (what happened) and the plot of the story (how it happened). On the surface they seem like the same thing. Though subtle at times, there is a difference between the two aspects which you need to understand if you want to write hot and compelling erotic fiction stories.

The Erotic Fiction Story Narrative

The narrative is the story you want to tell. If your story were a house, the narrative would be how you described it.

Currently, I’m writing an erotic fiction series for my blog about a society of vampires who live on an Earth-like planet in another part of the universe. The main character is viciously attacked in a random mugging. When he awakens from his brief coma, he starts looking for the person so he can extract revenge.

This is an example of a story narrative. It is what you tell people when they ask you what your story is about.

The Erotic Fiction Story Plot

The story plot is how the events of your erotic fiction story play out. They are the scenes you choose to include in your story that carry the narrative. Going back to the house example, your story’s plot would be the architectural plans that detail exactly how the house will be built.

The first scene of my vampire story is of the main character masturbating (it is an erotic story after all). However, his ultra religious sister walks in on him and her reaction has a strong influence on his decision to seek revenge against his attacker later in the story.

This is an example of plot. Just like the architectural plans influence the building of a house, your plot drives the unfolding of your erotic story.

Story Plot Separates Erotica from Porn

There is lots of bad erotica out there. I know this for a fact because I’ve written bad erotica. And it’s out there. So you can’t say I’m 100% wrong. Anyway, one of the main offenses that erotica writers make, especially new ones, is failing to develop the plot of the story. Instead, they end up doing some form of narrating that quickly gets their characters to the bedroom where various holes get filled and 20 gallons of semen and vaginal juices are squirted all over the sheets. This is not erotica. It’s porn.

You may recognize this type of story setup:

Jill had always been attracted to Jack. After all, they were coupled in one of the most famous nursery rhymes of all time. But no matter what she did, Jack never returned her obvious advances. She was beginning to think he was gay. That was, until they day they got stuck in the copy machine room because of a faulty door…

Boom chaka laka! Queue porn music and begin sex scene.

Now, this is fine if you want to write a porn story where the reader only cares about the sex. However, you can’t call it an erotic fiction story. Why? Because erotic stories have a plot and characters that are developed. All of these elements set up a sexy atmosphere that makes your stories more satisfying to read. If you want to get published in the erotica industry or make money with your erotica writing, then it would be a good idea to learn about story structure and plot.

Tips for Plotting an Erotic Fiction Story

Now I’m no expert on plotting a story so take these tips for what they are: one writer sharing what she has learned over the years of writing erotic fiction stories.

* Start with the Ending: Knowing the outcome you want in a story will be immensely helpful in determining how to plot the erotic story so that your characters arrive there. Remember, in erotic fiction stories, sex does not always have to be the end goal (although sex should be a part of the story otherwise you can’t call it erotica). Your story can end anyway you want it to. Just make sure the scenes you select support the ending.

* Write It Down: Each writer has their own opinion about outlines. Some can’t live without it and others deplore them. For me, it depends on what type of erotic story I’m writing. The longer the story, the more I find having a loose outline of the scenes I want to include helps me organize my thoughts. It saves me time, too, because it is easier to change the outline than it is to rewrite entire scenes.

* Get to Know Your Characters: The actions of your characters determine what happens in the story which, in turn, influences the plot. Knowing your characters and how they are likely to react to the wrenches you throw at them will make it easier to plot the course of the story.

* Make a Timeline: For longer stories, it is a good idea to make a timeline of the events. I don’t know how many times I’ll be editing my work and find that my characters have to use a time machine in order for the events to have happened the way I wrote them. Seriously, timelines are your friend.

* Keep It Simple Sexy: I find that the shorter your story, the simpler the plot should be. You only have a few words to convey your story’s narrative. Choose those scenes and elements that convey the maximum amount of information the reader needs to know in the shortest amount of words possible.

About the Article Author

Daria Black is a fiction writer, gamer, and avid coffee drinker. Visit her website Daria Black – Words By Dariato read fiction stories, talk sex, society, games, and writing, or giggle with her at life’s quirkiness.

Readers who come to your blog on a regular basis are the ones who will most likely click your affiliate links and buy your books. Therefore, writing content that encourages readers to stick around and come back for more is crucial to your success with your erotica blog. All the traffic generating tips in the world will do you no good if you lack the quality content needed to make your visitors stick around.

Below are a few tips to help you create solid content for your erotica blog that’ll keep your visitors sticking around like fly paper.

Stay On Topic

Before we get to this point, let’s ask the million dollar question. What is your topic? Treat your erotica blog like it is a show on public access television. What are you going to be showing your readers every week? Deciding on the focus of your blog will help you filter out irrelevant content. Readers often luck on to your blog often via a search engine or social media site. They will stick around your erotic blog as long as you continue to provide them the content they want.

Make Sure Your Writing Skills are Up to Par

Your posts should have a beginning, middle, end, and a point firmly planted amidst the whole thing. Unless it is cleverly written, random rambling on a blog is just plain drivel and no one will tune into that for very long. You will also retain more erotica blog readers if your posts are easy to read. Run your writing through a grammar and spell check program. Countless good ideas have been drowned in unreadable writing.

Show Some Personality

I’ve mentioned this before and I will say it again. There is a lot of competition out there in the erotica writing and blogging sphere. You must stand out if you want to develop and maintain your erotica blog readership. One of the best ways to do that is to display your personality in your writing.

Some of the most successful bloggers out there let their brand of quirkiness ooze through with every word. People are attracted to people. Letting your personality shine through is the duct tape that will keep your readership sticking around.

Mix It Up Occasionally

Now I know I said earlier that you should stay on topic when writing your erotic blog but it is okay to mix things up every once in awhile to avoid falling into a monotonous rut. Variety is the spice of life or something equally clever like that. Try adding a few quirky tidbits like a meme, a random quiz, or even a poll to liven things up.

Keep Posts to a Reasonable Length

This is a topic of much debate in the blogging niche. How long should your posts be? Of course, if you are writing fiction stories, then the stories will be as long as they need to be to get the point across.

However, if you are writing blog posts on non-fiction topics I favor keeping posts between 500-1000 words. The average attention span isn’t what it used to be. We’ve become a bunch of surfers and skimmers. Readers are more likely to stick around if you keep your posts at easily digestible words counts. It is best to experiment, though, to find out what works for your erotica blog and your audience.

Link to Other Posts on Your Erotica Blog

If possible, link to other posts on your blog. This benefits your blog in two ways. First, it helps the search engines find and index old posts which improves your site’s overall SEO performance. Second, it keeps your readers on your blog by offering them other stuff to read.

Personally, I like the Yet Another Related Posts Plugin on my WordPress blog which creates a list of blog posts similar to the current post and puts it at the end of the article. There is a similar widget for Blogger. I have not used it so I cannot say whether or not it is good.

Creating quality content for your readers is, by far, the easiest way to attract and keep readers on your erotica blog. If you need help marketing your blog, view my previous tips on generating website traffic.

Daria Black is a fiction writer, gamer, and avid coffee drinker. Visit her website Daria Black – Words By Dariato read fiction stories, talk sex, society, games, and writing, or giggle with her at life’s quirkiness.

But sooner, rather than later, the dollar signs fade from their eyes as they realize that making money blogging is not as simple as the probloggers make it seem. Their posting slows, or stops altogether, and these newbs begin to wonder what the secret to six-figure blogging success is. Well I can sum it up for you in just one word and I won’t even force you to read to the end of article before I bare all.

Hard work.

Okay, so that’s two words. If you are still reading this article rather than clicking away, though, that means working hard doesn’t scare you. That’s good because if you want to make money blogging like the big dogs then you must be willing to spend hours pounding away at the keyboard.

Make Money Blogging About Erotica? Impossible…?

First of all, if this is the first time you are hearing the term, problogger is a portmanteau of professional blogger. It is a person who blogs about a niche topic and lives off the earnings generated from it. So if the internet was a television station like the USA Network, then blogs would be the individual television shows and the problogger would be the show’s creator or director.

It is possible to make money blogging about erotica. The only problem is you have to compete with the terabytes of free porn already available on the internet. If you can find a way to set yourself apart from other free erotica sites and develop a loyal readership then, yes, you can make money writing blogs about erotica. But the real question is:

Do you have what it takes to be a problogger?

As a problogger who makes money blogging in the erotica niche, your job is to draw in a decent sized readership. Why? Like television, the bulk of the money you make will come from advertisement, reader purchases through affiliate links, and maybe even sales of books you have written. The more traffic you can generate to your blog, the more attractive it looks to advertisers and the higher the chance a reader will make a purchase.

Of all the things involved in creating a profitable blog, building a readership will be the hardest and most time consuming thing you will do. It will require ingenuity, dedication, and persistence. Lots and lots of persistence. I mean, your level of persistence has to be off the charts for you to see the six-figure income you are dreaming about.

If you are still determined to become the problogger of erotica, here are a few things you can do to get started making money writing about erotica:

Read blogs. Lots and lots of blogs. What differentiates them? What makes one more popular than another? What can you learn from them in order to help you succeed and avoid the pitfalls that lead to obscurity?

Write up a game plan. Seriously. Without a map we often end up walking in circles. Unless you are planning to create some type of blogging empire, your game plan doesn’t have to be fancy. Simply write down your goals on a piece of paper and list what you need to do to achieve them.

Test your idea by setting up a blog with a free host like Blogger, though I do recommend spending $10 and registering a domain name. If you find the idea is a success, you can then move it to a regular web space. This will give you greater control over the blog.

*Note: If you are looking to make money blogging about erotica, I absolutely do not recommend registering a blog on WordPress.com. Adult material is against their TOS and they will delete your blog.

Treat your blog like a business. Carve out time for working on your blog. Enlist the help of friends and family by letting them know what your goals are and what they can do to help.

Increase your knowledge. You need to know about marketing, SEO, HTML, and writing for the web. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Luckily, there are tons of places on the internet where you can learn all you need to know about these topics.

You can make money writing blogs about erotica. Find a niche where there is interest and work consistently to build an audience. Before you know it, you’ll be earning cold hard cash for your hot erotic stories.

Daria Black is a fiction writer, blogger, and avid coffee drinker. Visit her website Daria Black – Words By Dariato read fiction stories, talk sex, religion, and writing, or giggle with her at life’s quirkiness.

In a previous article, I detailed seven ways you can get more website traffic to your blog or author website. Here are seven additional ideas for getting people to notice you.

Increase Website Traffic with a Contest

People love to win things. I think it has something to do with our natural competitiveness and the ego boost we get at beating out everyone else for the prize. Hosting a contest is a fun way to drive traffic to your website. The thing about hosting a contest, though, is that the amount of buzz and participation directly correlates to what kind of prize you are offering. A big screen television is likely to attract more people to your website than say a DVD movie.

But you should work with what you have even if it’s only free advertising on your website. Make sure to have a clear set of rules and guidelines for the contest and a backup plan in the event of a tie or few people participate.

Get Viral

No, I’m not talking about catching a disease. Viral marketing is the art of using social networks to get other people to pass your message around. Most people think getting their website on the front page of Digg or getting a lot of views on YouTube is what viral marketing is about but those are only the benefits of this type of campaign.

Viral marketing is creating content so compelling, people can’t resist sharing it with others in their social network. It can be anything from an awesome article that hits a nerve to a funny video to a fun flash game. It’s a challenge to come up with this type of content. The effort is worth it, though, because you’ll gain a torrent of free website traffic from it.

Ping All the Aggregate Services

There are several websites on the internet that gather together all of the newest content posted on the internet. Syndic8, Technorati and Weblogs are a few examples. The main purpose is to provide their users with the latest news about the topics they are interested in. By pinging these sites, you can disseminate your content and drive traffic to your website.

WordPress users can set their blog so that it automatically pings the most popular aggregators. You can find instructions for this on the official WordPress website. If you are using any other blog service, use a ping service like Pingoat or Blogflux Pinger to notify the web that you’ve just updated your blog.

Podcast Your Posts and Offer Free Downloads

The world is becoming increasingly mobile and what better way to tap into the content-on-the-go market than to record an excerpt of your stories and submit them for download to podcast directories. Not only can you give potential book buyers a taste of what is in store for them, if the excerpt is good enough it has the potential to go viral and increase your website traffic exponentially.

Create a Video of Your Story

Along the same lines as the previous tip, take an excerpt from your story and make a video out of it. You have to be careful here especially when it comes to adult material. Many video sharing sites, like YouTube, do not allow X-rated content. Pick a non-sexual part, create a skit, and video tape it. If you have animation skills, create an animated video of the story. This is a particularly create way to generate targeted website traffic for your author blog.

Ask for Book Reviews

Connect to book reviewers who blog and ask them to review your book or some of the stories on your website. In addition to finding out what your target audience thinks of your stories, you will receive free website traffic from the people who read their blog. Be prepared, though. Review bloggers are often inundated with requests so you will need to be patient, diplomatic, and persistent. Additionally, they will be reviewing your work so don’t expect aces across the board. If you can’t handle criticism then avoid this marketing tactic.

Engage in Offline Marketing

Don’t underestimate the value of offline marketing. Take out an ad in the paper, do radio spots, advertise on television, network with other writers, or sponsor fundraisers. These are just a few offline marketing venues that you can take advantage of to draw people to your website.

These are but a few alternative methods of marketing your website. Use one or use them all to drive traffic to your website.

Daria Blackis a fiction writer. Although she writes all types of stories, she enjoys writing erotic fiction stories with science fiction, fantasy, or paranormal elements. Stop by her website to read some of her writing or to talk about sex, art, society, books, or other randomness.

But with consistent action and these seven tips, you can drive traffic to your website without having to spend money on hit or miss advertising.

1. Increase Website Traffic by Getting Involved

Get involved in the internet via forums, social networking sites, and commenting on blogs. This accomplishes several things. First of all you are meeting people and making contacts. By helping out on a forum in your niche, you are increasing the perception of you as an expert and because most forums and blogs allow you to link to your website, you are also improving your search rankings with back links and getting targeted website traffic from both the sites and the search engines.

2. Generate Free Website Traffic with Guest Blogging

Submit posts to other sites in your niche or just outside your niche. The major benefit of guest blogging is that you are tapping into an already established audience who is ready and waiting to hear what you have to say. The best way to take advantage of this is to submit unique and useful content to avoid the duplicate content trap and to maintain the reader’s trust in their favorite blogger.

3. Submit Articles Directly to Websites and Newsletters

If you have a stable of articles that you want to distribute, consider submitting them directly to the source rather than using article directories. This provides you with control over where your content shows up as well as the ability to confirm whether or not the site has a reader base.

4. Generate Free Traffic to Your Website with Blog Carnivals

A blog carnival is a roundup of posts from the blogosphere that are centered on a main theme. You submit a link to a post on your blog that fits the theme of the carnival. The host will usually review your article and, if it fits, will add the link to a list that they then post on their own blog for their readers to peruse. You will gain both relevant links and targeted traffic from this. A well known blog carnival is Thursday Thirteen. However, a search on the internet for blog carnivals will turn up more.

5. Increase Online Website Traffic by Offering Freebies

People love free stuff especially if it helps them solve a problem or be more effective in their business and life. Another good marketing technique is to provide useful freebies that people can only get from your site. This could be anything from a WordPress template to a plugin that helps with the functionality of software to an e-book that provides valuable information. In addition to getting more people visiting and reading your blog, you can also build a mailing list if you set things up right.

6. Join a Social Marketing Group or Blog Network

A good way to increase website traffic free is to form a social marketing group or become a part of a network. A social marketing group is a group that promotes each other. This could be anything from highlighting each other’s posts to giving each other a boost on social networking sites like Digg.

A network is a group of websites owned by one individual that span a variety of topics. Most of the networks on the internet have been around for awhile, have quite a number of blogs, and use an internal link and marketing structure to drive traffic throughout the network. Blogging for a network helps you gain a good amount of credibility as an expert as well as exposure for your other projects.

7. Increase Exposure and Traffic with an Interview

Get interviewed by other bloggers or interview others in your niche/market. Doing interviews is probably one of the most effective marketing techniques that you can use. As the interviewee, you get to sell your business and yourself by letting your potential customers get to know you better. People like to do business with those they know and interviews go a long way towards making them comfortable with you.

As the interviewer, this is a great way to make contacts in the blogosphere. People like to talk about themselves which is evidenced by the popularity of blogging. So if you do an interview about someone, most likely they will send readers to your site earning you both traffic and links.

Generating free website traffic takes commitment and drive because it is not an instantaneous fix. However, you can get targeted traffic to your blog using these tips. Just keep your eye on the prize and you’ll have a popular website in short order.

Daria Black is a freelance and fiction writer. Although she writes all types of stories, her specialty is science fiction/fantasy erotica. Stop by her website to read erotic fiction stories, or talk about sex, art, life and other random topics.