I, like a lot of other webmasters, have at one point or another, opened up our wallets and shouted at the top of our humble voices that we’re giving our cash away. Well that’s what we’ve practically done anyway, and while there’s without question an ocean of reliable paid advertising resources on the internet, there’s just as much free resources which many overlook because they costs nothing but time. Now days, a lot of us in the webmaster community seem to be under the impression that if it isn’t paid, then it’s useless.

Here’s a list of resources that can be beneficial to the development of your website;

Online Forums
Forums are surprisingly effective when it comes to bringing traffic to your website. Setup a signature, advertise in the appropriate sections, and post away! Remember to keep your posts informative as this will reflect upon your knowledge about your particular niche.

Google Submissions
Submitting your website to Google will speed up the process of your site getting indexed. This is more of a long term thing, which can only really be of benefit to you in the future.

Web Directories
There are a series of free web directories out there, that can send traffic over to your website, while also assisting your Google rankings. I feel a lot of people tend to overlook web directories, and since many are free, there’s not much harm in giving them a shot.

Link Exchanges
Exchanging links with other websites, when done correctly, can often yield sizable results, and also adds to the amount of back links your site is receiving.

Blogs
The blogosphere is rapidly expanding, with internet users warmly embracing the concept. Besides offering to exchange a service in order to have a blog review your service (which can deliver excellent traffic and branding), going that extra step and creating your own blog can entice more recurring visitors. It also provides you with a gateway to connect with your users, and receive feedback on your website, services and/or services.

Commenting blogs
Genuinely commenting other peoples blogs (when you have something to say), can be an effective source of traffic for your website, as many blogs allowing you to leave your URL behind. This also allows you to forge business relationships with people in your industry, which may later flourish to both of your benefits.

Controversy
While this isn’t really a resource, controversy is absolutely gold when it comes to bringing attention to your website. As the saying goings, there’s no such thing as bad publicity.