A couple of years ago I decided to take the plunge and created a website in the health niche. Wrote around 25-30 articles but was struggling to get my head around SEO. Exams and later on being busy with by writing commitments meant that I slowly let the site slide. Apart from a couple of articles at ezine, one guest article and a BOTW directory link, I have not worked on the site with regards to SEO or IM. The site however gets decent traffic (at least in my eyes) and is averaging around 100 visitors for the last couple of months while the one year average is 2200 uniques pm. Now I have decided to concentrate more on the site and have cut down on my work load with just two of my highest paying and long term jobs which take around 50-60 hours a week. However the problem with IM persists. My knowledge about IM is Google-centric but on reading various posts, I realize that Google is just one part of many traffic sources and if you get the others right, SEs are automatically taken care of. Though about investing in PPC or ads with other blogs but the problem is that the site in question is not an affiliate site but instead an information site. Not thought too much about monetization so far but I believe adsense will form a major slice of income generation. So it is not likely that PPC will be effective strategy. I am confused on what my next step should be. Should I sign up for a membership site (someone like Chris Farrell or Wealthy Affiliates) to learn IM or should I shell out loads of money for a coach? Another possibility is going into a JV with someone willing to teach me the ropes and taking over most or all of the income generated (willing to do it even if it means creating a new website)
I would suggest to work on your SEO, try banner exchange, I recommend not to jump into PPC, unless you are selling something on you site, so you get Return of Investment. Try Buy Sell Ads.com You could also dive into Social Signals to get more traffic to your site, to do that you have to create Social Media Accounts. One more site I would recommend is htaseoservice.com, they have very affordabel SEO packages, I used them my self and my site jumpt for postition #17 to the number #5 spot on the keyword I was targeting. Hope this helps
Create a quality website with tons of useful content. Your content should be unique and original. Social bookmark all of your content. Submit to high-quality directories and even pay for submissions to high-pr directories. Make sure they offer a refund if your website isn't accepted. Try to find other niche websites that might want to link to you. Personally call up the webmaster of that site and ask them for a link. If they like your website they might just do it. Just 5 links from some high-quality relevant sites can make a huge difference.
I think you should not stop adding your content. It is true that there is no other option in internet marketing without SEO. So, do it perfectly. Use social bookmarking, perfect forum posting and directory use perfectly.
Search for a mentor (coach). Is worth far more than any other learning tools. Be careful to choose the right one for you. Ask lots of questions and talk with those he/she has mentored before making your selection.
If you have the money, get a mentor..someone who can personally walk you through the process, it's your quickest way to success