Sometimes as a webmaster I feel a little overwhelmed with the number of options I have when it comes to marketing my website.

First off, there are web directories.  What I like about them is that they are free (at least most of them are).  this is great when you are just starting out and have no budget.  The “bad” thing about web directories is that it takes time for your listings to be approved, but what do you expect for something that is free?

My favorite of the free online marketing options is article submissions.  Basically, you write a short article (500-700 words) and submit them to article directories.  It can take a little time for them to be approved, but once they are, it can have a viral effect.  You see, other webmasters are looking for quality content for their sites, and they could use your article on their site.  They leave a backlink in the credits of the article, and that can help your site to get some traffic.

I know I only covered two types of Internet marketing, but it is a start.

I just recently setup my first website and I am pretty proud of myself.  It is nothing extravagant, but it will make a world of difference in my attempt to sell chain mail jewelry.

I have had some success offline with my business, but I thought that it was time to take it to a different level.  I hired a website design firm to help with the site setup and the experience has been great so far.

Now that I have the site up, it is time for me to learn Internet marketing.  I have downloaded some e-books on the subject and have joined some forums related to marketing a site.  It is nice to know that the forums will provide a support mechanism for me should I run into any problems, as I don’t have any friends that are building online businesses like I am doing.

Looks like the first chapter of the book I am starting to read is about the search engines.  I should really get back to learning how to market - the sooner I learn what to do, the sooner I can make some money.

One of the most overlooked keys to success online is traffic.  Most websites teach you how to create that beautiful masterpiece of a site, but they just don’t show you how to market the site properly.  So, what you end up with is a website that looks and works great, but that no one ever sees.

For any new website owner that I have the opportunity to meet, I try to stress to them that they need to promote their site before they can expect to get any sales or visitors.  Even something as casual as listing your site in a business directory can make a big difference - each link counts.

Instead of waiting for free link directory submissions to be approved, quite often I suggest using a link bid directory - quite often you can have instant approval and get a back link to your site quicker than you can blink your eye.

But traffic is not an overnight success - website marketing is something that has to be worked at.  Just make sure that when you are looking at your pretty site, you are not forgetting to market it too - it would be sad if no one were to see your masterpiece.

With a little bit of extra money in my pocket this month, I thought that I could maybe splurge a bit and promote some of my sites.  But, I just didn’t want to go overboard and spend all my money.

So, what I was looking for was some paid link directories that were affordable and that would get me the biggest bang for my buck.   They all look the same (visually), but they are all worth submitting to (based on my early results).  Here are some that I found:

• One Web Directory is a web directory that gives you a backlink for life for less than two bucks.  They are cheap and quick to approve your links (less than 24 hours for me).
• Web Directory One sure sounds similar to the one above.  Looks and sounds aside, it was another good two dollar investment.
• Lastly, I would suggest that you submit your site to the Best Web Directory.  With a name like that, you can expect the site to do very well.

Most of the time when I am promoting my sites, I like to promote them on older, established sites.  Search engines tend to weigh domain age when calculating the link value from a site.

Age aside, I also look for sites that have some good backlinks to them.  Check out the four sites that I submitted some of mine to today:

• Directory Dave was the first site that I found.  It does have some decent backlinks and a cheap price, so I thought that it would be a good place to start.
• I was drawn to the template at Directory of Sites.  It was simple and one of my favorite colors: orange!  That aside, it looked like a good inexpensive place to list my sites.
• The Iron Trace Web Directory seemed to have some solid backlinks to it.  Though it was similar looking to one of the above ones, looks have nothing to do with search engine ranking.  I really have no complaints about the price either.
• The Mitefind Paid Link Directory is the oldest of the bunch here - at just over 7 years.  Price wise, it is still cheap, and a different design to look at.  I bet the links submitted here will get picked up first.

Sometimes it can be hard to promote a website on a shoe string budget.  I have done it, and to be honest, most of the time, things didn’t go as well as I had thought.  But, when I did find a good place to list my site (that actually sent me traffic) I was always careful to note what it was for future use.

Check out the three following web directories that you should be submitting you site to for free:

• 4169 - Free Link Directory is one of my favorite places to submit my site to.  It seems to get approved quickly (at the time of this writing) and search engines tend to pickup on my link from there quickly too.
• The Best Damn Links Page just has a really cool name and it is hard to pass it up.  But for me, it is another site that your listing gets picked up super fast, resulting in more traffic to my site.
• Tower Promote Link Directory is a golden oldie.  I think it is the oldest site of the bunch - which means that search engines see it with a little more authority.  My links are indexed fast and I can usually see a difference in my rankings in just a couple of days.