This way the search engines will add you to their queue to visit. If they're backed up a few weeks, any changes you make before that will be included when the spiders arrive at your site.
Spiders will only move through your site so far, so the more pages linked to from the first mean more search engine listings.
You can use it to promote your own website and your affiliate programs.
Especially if your audience isn't very experienced on the internet. Visitors to your site may want to return to it often but might not know how to bookmark a site.
Add a service that requires the people visiting your site to return later to use it. You could offer free email, daily news on the topic of your site, or a forum.
Let those who enjoy your site tell their friends, family, and colleagues about it. Word of mouth promotion is one of the most powerful.
Depending on which ones you choose, you could recieve 1000 or 10000 visitors for just $10. Cheap, targetted traffic.
Have visitors purchase a product, subscribe to a newsletter, refer friends, or anything else you can think of in return for an entry into the contest.
Write an eBook or distribute someone else's for free when a visitor buys a product, subscribes to a newsletter, refers friends, etc.
Place a link back to each site and write a polite email to the webmaster of each site asking that they return the link.
Every email you send should be a short promotion for your website!
Contribute consistently and build a reputation among the members of that forum or discussion list and people will come to respect you. Each post you make will have your signature, containing your website URL. Give quality feedback and people will visit.