One of the biggest challenges to a webmaster is how to generate traffic. More traffic to your website equates to more sales. So how does one generate extra traffic to their website? Search engine optimization, email campaigns, pay-per-clicks, banner advertising, are among some of the tactics that are popular. Another method of generating traffic is through expired domain names.

Step 1: Find a domain pending expiration

Every day thousands of domain names are released. Many of these expired domain names were active websites that have already been promoted by the previous owner. A few of the domains that are released daily are valuable because of their age and the number of links that they already have at various locations over the Internet. How does one find these domains? There are many means at which you can research these domains. There are newsletters to which you can subscribe and request to receive a daily email with up-coming expired domains. Go to google and enter “search for expiring domains”. There are hundreds of thousands of locations at which you can find domains pending deletion. One site we often use is Expired Domains. This site is focused on just one thing: helping people find the perfect domain name for their website. Another example of a newsletter for web marketers is NitroMarketing.com– a newsletter specifically aimed at helping web marketers. Once you find a domain that you want, at google enter links:domain.com (replace "domain.com" with the domain you are researching) – this will show you how many links this domain already has. This will tell you the value of the domain. You want to look for a domain with a respectable link popularity of around 500 to 1,000.

Everyday, hundreds of developed and thriving websites expire Yet, these sites still receive endless traffic from the search engines and links to them Identify these hot sites, make use of their expired traffic, and make $$$

Step 2: Bid on the domain: If you have decided that you want a domain that is pending deletion, you can bid on it at one of the many sites that have auctions or bidding forums. Bidding and winning these domains is not something that you can leisurely embark upon. It takes time and persistence. However, if you spend a little bit of time every day, you will get great domains at a low price. Some auction houses that we recommend are namewinner.com or enom.com. Most require no deposit to begin bidding, but they will ask that you confirm your identity via telephone or electronic means. This is in an effort to reduce fraud and keep the prices lower for legitimate bidders. After you have established an account, and you have found a domain that you want to try for, open a bid on that domain. Start low, but keep a watchful eye on the date and time that the bidding stops. Twenty minutes before the bidding is scheduled to be closed on that domain, re-visit their site and watch the top bid. Refresh your screen every minute to see the current highest bid. If the price gets too high for your budget, stop. But if you can afford the current high-bid, you might want to keep bidding in order to win that domain. If the bidding stops and you are the current high-bid, then you have won that domain.

Step 3: Receive the traffic: Now what? You have a great domain… you can park that domain so that it redirects visitors to your main website. With domain parking, visitors will automatically be re-directed to your main website. Some web hosting companies charge a small fee for domain parking. WebsiteSource.com offers free unlimited domain parking to its web hosting customers. If you maintain the domain’s registration every year, you could have targeted visitors to your website for less than $15 bucks a year. Cheap targeted traffic really does exist!

Results: Increase your company's unique brand recognition with more exposure. Increase your traffic = increase sales.

About the author: S. Rosendahl is a Technical Executive Writer for Website Source, Inc. http://www.websitesource.com. Her established writing skills coupled with experience in the website hosting industry have provided internet professionals with marketing, product and service ideas for many years.