You’ve got a mortgage website.  That’s great.  But it won’t do you much good unless visitors find it and contact you for a loan, which means you need to find ways to market your website.

There’s an entire industry built around website marketing.  Volumes of books and articles and whitepapers have been written on the subject.  But to get your mortgage marketing started, check out these top five ways to drive traffic to your site.

1.  Search Engine Optimization.  This is the core of internet marketing.  The vast majority of internet users find the sites they use through search engines.  If your site comes up at the top of the list for the right search terms, you’ll bring in more traffic than you know what to do with.  If your site comes up somewhere in the middle of the list or near the end, you’ll get table scraps.  Work with an SEO consultant to determine what keywords your site should rank for and place these keywords throughout your site.

2.  Pay-Per-Click Advertising.  Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a powerful tool, but unlike SEO, it can cost you a lot of money.  If you’re an advanced web user or you have a large website than can handle the traffic, PPC advertising may be a good option to pursue.

3.  Share through social media.  Social sites such as Facebook and Twitter provide numerous opportunities for mortgage professionals to network with potential clients.  Link your Facebook profile or Twitter account directly to your website, or join relevant social groups and present your site there.  This works even better if you…

4.  …have a blog.  Blogs are the age-old, tried-and-true backbone of the social web.  Start a blog and update it regularly with information that potential clients will find useful.  If your blog becomes popular, your site will gain significant exposure.  Simple as that.

5.  Trade links.  There are a lot of other mortgage-relevant websites out there, and some of them get a lot of traffic.  Try to find a way to get a link to your site featured on one of these sites, and many of their visitors may cross over to your page.