According to a study by WebCMO, guess what the most effective advertising strategy is for Web marketers? Banner ads? Print ads? Spam mail?

Sorry, none of the above! The most effective method of generating Web site traffic is "Search Engine Submissions," followed closely by "Solicited or Opt-In Email".

The following scale demonstrates how each Web marketer rated the over-all effectiveness of the following methods on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most effective.

An important highlight of the study demonstrates that Opt-in Email is very effective -- a close second to search engine promotion. If you're looking to expand your business, find a very targeted email newsletter and negotiate a good rate.

Mark Idzik, writing for TRCWeb Direct stated, "Email newsletters are particularly effective in keeping a consistent flow of traffic to a web site. The strategy is to develop a periodic newsletter with information, resources and links about your particular topic. Create a submission form on your web site that allows visitors to easily add their email address to the mailing list. Specify that the list will not be sold or used for any other purpose but to notify them of changes to your site and keep them updated on timely changes in your particular industry".

"Since most persons on the Internet do read their email, your chances of reaching an interested market is almost guaranteed".

It is interesting to see that spam e-mail ranks at the bottom of their effectiveness list. Sending spam can do terrible damage to the reputation and business. Despite all the wonderful claims made by sellers of bulk e-mail software, It is still recommended to avoid this method at all cost. Look at targeted, opt-in lists, or collect email addresses on your own site by offering a newsletter of some kind.

Note that the survey has two parts. Rather than simply rating how to generate traffic, it also rates the most effective methods for generating sales as perceived by the Web marketer. Search engines are close to the top of this chart, but opt-in mailing lists rate a little higher in this category. This is because sales associated with a specific mass emailing are more easily tracked than sales from search engine traffic unless special software is used.

Eric Ward, who publishes the URLwire, a private e-mail-based news service for new-media editors, writers, reporters and reviewers who cover the Web, stated in his article, "NETSENSE: How to get busy visitors to keep coming back", "First, let me state the most important axiom of any business-to-business marketing Web site: If you do not offer some type of outbound communication option to your site visitors, you have missed the most powerful opportunity you have to bring them back to your site."

"Whether it's a monthly e-mail newsletter they can opt to receive, a printed newsletter they can sign up for or even a discussion list that you offer and sponsor, the goal is continuing your dialogue with them after that first visit."

"In the case of the human resources site, imagine if they had immediately offered me a monthly e-mail newsletter called 'EHR-news -- E-mail Human Resources News Headlines.' This newsletter could have 10 headlines, each with a brief paragraph covering news items and events in the human resources industry, sent to all subscribers once a month. If readers spotted an item they liked and wanted to read the full story, they could click in their e-mail or cut and paste the URL and go back to the site."

"The point is that when people come to your site the first time, they are basically saying they are at least somewhat interested in what you do and want to take a look. So rather than just having them bookmark your site and forget about you, offer them an outbound service that provides something of real value for free and that comes to their e-mail in-box."

"If you decide to go this route, recognize that you need to do more than scream, 'Come back to our site please.' You need to offer something of real utility that's in the vertical niche you serve. That's what drew the visitor to your site in the first place."