This is like the chicken and the eggs story what came first ?
I would want the traffic, Do some flipping and flopping of the content every day, Make sure the people know that something fresh will be there in 24 hours. Stick to the 10 second rule applies here.
You will build a communality of surfers that will stick with you from the start ?
fresh updates, and effort
Go to The WayBackMachine
here
look at a few of the big names way back when, The key point here is dedication,working hard and getting people behind you
Look at Yahoo In 1996
as well as Amazon
There are many