Not only is providing content easy and inexpensive (it only costs your time), but it also has the potential to provide you with massive free promotion and builds your credibility.

If you've contacted any webmasters lately and requested a link exchange, chances are, you didn't receive a response. More and more webmasters are choosing not to exchange links with other sites. Instead, they are now requiring content in order to receive a link.

As you're probably aware, the Internet is all about information. For this reason, webmasters and ezine publishers are continually looking for quality content.

Content comes in a variety of forms, such as articles, tips, reviews, HTML/JavaScript codes, ebooks and software.

Articles

Write quality articles in the area of your expertise. At the bottom of your article, include a few lines of text about you and/or your products, and a link to your website.

The most popular articles are those that teach or inform with regard to the subject matter.

Articles should be between 500 and 750 words and formatted to 60-65 characters per line.

For further information on writing and publishing articles, you may read the article entitled, Write for Publicity.

Tips

Write quality tips in the area of your expertise. At the bottom of each tip, include two lines about you and/or your products, and a link to your website.

Tips can be written in various lengths -- from just a few lines to a couple of paragraphs. For example, following is one of the hundreds of tips I've written.

When designing your website, your copyright information should be displayed at the bottom of each page. It's best to include both the word Copyright and the (c) symbol, as some countries don't recognize one or the other. Your copyright might look like this: Copyright (c) Year Company Name

Today's tip by Shelley Lowery, author of the acclaimed Web Design Mastery series. http://www.webdesignmastery.com

Reviews

Review different products or services and write about your experience with the product, service and/or company -- good or bad.

At the bottom of the review, include a few lines of text about you with a link to your website.

HTML/JavaScript codes

Write HTML and/or JavaScript codes that will enable your readers to copy and paste them into their web pages. Include any needed instructions and allow them to be freely published.

At the bottom of the code, include a few lines of text about you with a link to your website.

All of the above content can be promoted through the various article announcement groups on the Internet. These groups contain publishers looking for quality content and can provide you with massive free promotion.

Here are a few groups to get you started:

Article Announce
Free Content
Free Reprint Articles

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Ebooks

Write a short, quality ebook that teaches or informs in the area of your expertise. Throughout the ebook, include references to your products or services with a link to your website. In addition, make sure you let your readers know they may freely distribute the ebook.

Place a link to your ebook on your website to enable your visitors to download it.

To encourage webmasters to distribute your ebook, create customizable fields to enable webmasters to include all of the following:

• Company or website name
• Linked web address
• Affiliate links (if applicable)

In order to create an ebook that can be customized, you must first purchase an HTML ebook compiler that offers this option. Keep in mind, not all compilers do. There are only two that I can recommend and they are:

Ebook Edit Pro
Activ E-book

Both of these compilers will enable you to create customizable fields.

For some additional exposure, submit your ebook to some free ebook sites. Here are a few sites to get you started:

Free-Ebooks.net
EbookDirectory.com
EbookJungle.com
E-Book-Zone.com

For additional information on ebook publishing, you may read the article series, Ebooks: Self-Publishing Your Way to Internet Success.

Software

Create a software program that will be of interest to your target market. Place links to your website within the software and allow it to be freely distributed.

You can use this technique even if you're not a software developer. Elance is a marketplace that enables you to outsource projects to their global pool of service providers. Visit Elance to post your software project and take bids from developers.

Place a link to your software on your website to enable your visitors to download it.

For some additional exposure, submit your software to some of the free software sites:

Tucows.com
FreewareFiles.com
Download.com (fee based)
ZDnet.com (fee based)

As you can see, there are many different ways you can use content to increase your traffic. The key to using this technique effectively is to allow your content to be freely published with your information and links included.

Your content could be picked up by webmasters, ezine publishers or even print publishers and has the potential to be viewed by hundreds of thousands of Internet users.

Providing free content is one of the absolute best ways to get your link on thousands of websites. Use it to your advantage.

About The Author
Shelley Lowery is the author of Web Design Mastery - An in-depth guide to professional web design. And, Ebook Starter - A complete ebook design kit. Visit Web-Source.net to sign up for a free subscription to Etips and receive a free copy of the acclaimed ebook, "Killer Internet Marketing Strategies."

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