If you visit Alexa.com you not only can check out a margin search engine (not Google, MSN or Yahoo), but if you notice the tabs you see one for traffic rankings.  You can then analyse sites for how they rank according to alexa and see something like this:

• Traffic Rank for cnn.com:  26 (5)
• Speed:  Slow (67% of sites are faster), Avg Load Time: 2.6 Seconds  (what's this?)
• Other sites that link to this site:  19,511
• Online Since:  22-Sep-1993

This is what you get for cnn.com, but for other sites that aren't coordinated (or registered with alexa) will have less comprehensive data. 

Play with it as the more you know these kinds of tools the more likely you will know where to look when you need something.

Also look into registering your site by filling in the information form on alexa.com.

Hosting a site isn't just about getting the site to work, it is also about ensuring you get the traffic you need to make whatever you are doing successful.

Now that Google has redone their ranking algorithms there are some things to keep in mind relative to the old reciprocal links game.  Namely it is important that you not add too many of these kinds of links too quickly, build them up gradually otherwise you will be identified by the search engines, as it will be seen as unnatural.  If this happens than you might see your rankings in the search engines disappear instead of rising. A good way to start is keep the number of new links to less than 10 in one month.

For years Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has been characterized by the effort to trick the seach engines with shadow networks or the more benign practice of trading links.  Google has implemented a new system called Jagger that now finally makes all this futile.  We have finally arrived at the age where the ranking of a site will be based on that site's content and the quality of that content.  If you want to get a high rank, start doing the real things that should improve your rank, namely publish relevant content, write articles with links back to your site, actually participate in online discussions about the topics you wish to be well ranked for...

This is actually good news (as you should be able to tell by my tone) since we are finally beyond the "get rich quick" mania that has been the mainstay of SEO since it's inception years ago during the Dot Com boom.

Write and encourage your community to write in your forums.  Do the things that will make your site worth visiting and the traffic will come.  A long hard road, but a fair one.