Webmasters are always looking for ways to increase their traffic and exposure. This is natural and will never change. No one is ever content with their traffic levels.

But problems arise with this reality as well. While it is good to be motivated to get as much traffic as possible, it is tempting to try and cut corners and use tactics that are temporary rather than permanent solutions.

And there are myriad tactics that can take your entire business down the tubes as well. The trick is not to be tempted with short-term gain over long-term income from your web business.

Many webmasters are aware that "content is king" and that you have to brand your site to make sales and build credibility. But most people only take these facts at face value and only as they pertain to the search engines. Big mistake.

Your content is your lifeblood for more reasons than search engine placement. This is your "face" on the net.

So if you're using new strategies to bring in more targeted traffic, make sure you don't use something that could kill your business just to get some short term traffic.

Many people are putting article directories on their sites these days. Having a set of articles on your site is great for building credibility and making more sales, if you do it right.

But as is always the case, I see people taking that to the extreme and missing the point entirely. Now I see some webmasters completely emptying out the big article directories like GoArticles.com to put hundreds or even thousands of articles on their sites.

With no editorial review they just take the whole category their site fits in best and grab up any and all articles in it. Remember, anyone can get into an article directory whether they can write or not. Whether they are an expert or not. Want those guys on your site representing you?

I have a smaller article directory than most people at http://webmastertraffictools.com/articledirectory/

Why so small? Because I review each and every article that is submitted there. There is a very good reason for this.

To get someone to first visit your site takes money and time. Once you have them there it is easier to get them back if you impress them.

Whatever methods of temporary website promotion you use, you have to keep in mind that you want something that will work for you for years, not months. Therefore, if all you ever do is troll for temporary traffic you will ALWAYS be promoting as hard as you are today. Wasn't part of the reason you started working online to work less and make more?

Me, I want to have a network of sites that eventually promote themselves so I can spend the rest of my life on vacation. If you don't start laying down the foundation of that kind of system, you are never going to be able to retire with your site(s) supporting you.

Putting up content for content's sake is redundant. Other people's content is already on hundreds of other pages.

You don't stand out in the crowd that way alone. It is temporary at best if it works at all for you, and once people get to your site and realize you have harvested all your content from a directory they have already read through, you've made an enemy, not a customer out of them.

AND if you were unscrupulous enough to even reprint articles from people who spammed that directory with ads, poor english, poor advice, and everything else, I guarantee your visitors are leaving your site with no respect for you, whatever you sell, and with a deep hatred of "sites like yours" on the net.

That is not a long-term plan for a web business. See what I mean by temporary? No repeat traffic is no business at all.

So while my article directories are smaller, they have timely, relevant content from expert authors who can spell and who really spent time on their pieces.

Therefore I get repeat traffic, more clicks on ads, more sales of products, and a real income from that directory that will last as long as I own the site.

Points to Ponder:

1. Content is not king. GOOD content is king.

2. Repeat business is cheaper than new business.

3. Your name and brand are the only thing of singular value and importance to you on the web.

4. And short-term solutions to getting in the engines are always just that: short-term

Someday, if you are one of the webmasters I talked about above who only see the short-term picture, you are going to get tired of all the work you have to constantly do to keep traffic coming in.

And the worst part is, since you will have no foundation to rely on when you need a break, you won't be able to take one. If your focus on website promotion is always on short campaigns and tricking search engines temporarily into thinking your site is of actual value, once you stop what you're doing (probably from sheer burnout) your income also stops.

But if you have the foresight to build a base for your internet business, and you pay attention to and have standards for the kind of content you put up, you will be able to walk away from your business from time to time and the traffic and interest will still be there.

For me it is unthinkable to base my entire business on temporary solutions for getting traffic and sales when, if you have seen what you can make in the short term,why not get set up to reap those rewards for life?

But that's just me. I profit greatly from people doing it the other way. Simply because when someone comes to my site and sees content of value, they feel as though they have found an oasis in a desert of trash. A place they will visit more than twice and gladly bookmark.

You can figure out the value of that kind of response for yourself, as it pertains to your business in particular.

Between the two choices, I'll take repeat and recommended traffic over fly-by-night, angry, resentful traffic any day of the week!

Jack Humphrey is the author of Power Linking 2 Evolution at http://power-linking-profits.com and the CEO of Web Fox Media, LLC at http://webfoxmedia.com where he accepts a limited number of new clients for copywriting, marketing consulting, and professional web development.