I have found that there are literally hundreds (probably thousands) of different websites claiming to be able to increase traffic to your website.

Can anyone point me in the right direction or share their experiences in regard to increasing the number of visitors to their website? What has worked for you, and what hasn't?

I'm pretty sure I have done everything right to optimize for the search engines, my mentor agrees, however I think google has put me in their 'sandbox'. I have heard that because of the sheer numbers of new websites (mine are less than 6mths old), at least some of us have to spend time in the sandbox before being allowed out to participate with our keywords in the search engines/marketplace. Could this possibly be true I have been told that it is

Any thoughts, comments, or advice would be very much appreciated.