Archive for September, 2009

How can I drive traffic to my website?

With all of the information that you can find on the Internet, the most commonly asked question is, “How can I drive traffic to my website?” And the answer isn’t always as clear as it seems. But if you want one simple tip that’s guaranteed to increase your overall traffic, read on.

What do you like to read?

If you stop to consider the websites that have been helpful to you, they’re probably sites that have contained the information that you’ve needed and not just a bunch of keywords. When a website tries to speak to the customer’s needs instead of just the needs of the search engine, it will become more popular – even if it’s not ranked on the first page of Google for the search.

But what if you’re not a great writer?

Even if you’re in business, you may not have the skills to write your own website articles in a way that’s professional and yet, interesting. So if your main question is, “How can I drive traffic to my website?” you need to start looking for help. But that’s where the Internet can help you bring the customers in.

Sites of willing writers

Needless to say, there are plenty of websites that have writers with website article experience. They know how to write an informative, interesting, and keyword driven (if you’d like) articles that will be engaging to a customer as well as helpful. Sites like www.Elance.com and www.Guru.com are both excellent areas in which you can find skilled writers that can help create the content that your business needs and your customers deserve.

How do you do it?

Simply go to any writer job board site and place a listing of the articles or pages that you might need. You’ll want to include an exciting title that clearly states what your goals are – Help! I need to drive traffic to my website, for example – and how much money you are willing to spend on the writer. A number of writers will then contact you with portfolios of past work and how much they would charge for the work.

It’s up to you to choose a writer that can both work in your time frame as well as give you the website content that you’re looking for. But once you choose a writer, you can go back to that person for additional content without having to post jobs over and over.

Working with a writer

When I want to drive traffic to my website, I try to let the writer know everything that I can about the project and my business. I want them to write articles that are true and best represent my intentions for the customers that come to the site. It can help to have the writer write a sample article to see if there needs to be changes in tone or style, but after that, you just need to work together to create a fantastic site.

Writing is one of the keys to making a difference in your business website. I personally use articles to drive traffic to my website, which greatly increases sales and profits.

Trey Newkerk
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/ways-to-drive-traffic-to-your-website-61708.html

There is only one main source for making any income from a website and that is a constant stream of targeted traffic. These days almost anyone can build a website, even an outstanding website but with no interested visitors, it just sits there. As the saying goes it takes money to make money and that holds true with Internet marketing and website traffic.

There is hope however, because it does not take a substantial investment to generate targeted traffic to your website.

Many of the high traffic websites online are employing multiple marketing tactics to generate traffic. Some invest a lot of money in advertising campaigns and other costly marketing methods. They are spending large sums of money to make even bigger money. Great for them but what about the rest of us who need low cost website traffic?

Some of the top low cost website traffic tactics also produce some of the most targeted prospects to your website, so at the risk of throwing another cliche’ at you. It’s not the quantity but the quality of the traffic that matters most.

Exchanging links with other related websites is one of the oldest and proven traffic generating methods online. However this method should be more than just creating a link page with tons of other websites plastered on it.

A good quality link exchange should be more than that. Perhaps a section of your website touches on a subject but is not your main niche, you could then link to another website for more in-depth information in return for them doing the same. This also provides added value for your visitors.

A key qualification in exchanging links with other websites is having similar content. They should share a general subject so that there is continuity in the information provided and helps target your traffic.

Link exchanges will also help raise your page rank and increase search engine listings. Search engines will rank sites higher in their listings that have quality inbound links from other related high-ranking sites. Its no secret that ranking high in search engines is the most effective way to generate low cost website traffic.

Traffic exchanges are another great low cost yet highly targeted traffic generating method. In fact you can join most any traffic exchange for free. You submit your website to the traffic exchange, and earn credits to get your website shown while you view other websites. You can bypass most of the drudgery of clicking by upgrading your account or buying credits.

Some may discount traffic exchanges as a waste of time or money but if used effectively it can drive highly targeted traffic to your website. Usually a short effective splash page or lead capture page are much more effective that just placing your sites main page into a traffic exchange. Remember the surfers are doing this to earn credits not necessarily to look at your site, so you must command attention with a good page to get the click to your site.

Traffic exchanges are also a great way to learn different marketing techniques. Keep en eye out for the pages that grab your attention and study them to learn how to create more effective lead capture or splash pages.

Article writing and submission is probably the most effective low cost website traffic generating method. There are thousands of websites that provides free space for articles to be submitted. If you are uncomfortable writing articles there are many freelance writers who are willing to do it for you for a small charge, but to save money, it is wise to learn how to write your own articles.

Your article topics should be focused on the theme of your website or about solving a problem that can be provided by visiting your website. Be careful not to blatantly plug your website or product in the article. Provide good tips and information on the topic showing off your expertise on the subject.

Including a resource box at the end of your article is how to get the targeted traffic to your site. You already proved your expertise on the subject in the article body, and if the reader got to this point now its time to get that click. Provide a short informative sentence about yourself or your website, while enticing them to learn more about the subject by clicking the link in the resource box.

Submitting your articles to as many websites as possible has two major benefits both providing low cost website traffic: Your article can be picked up off the article directory sites and used on other sites and passed around online. This gets you the advantages of inbound links described earlier and even more chances of targeted traffic after those website visitors read your articles.

Participating in online Forums only requires some of your time and nothing else. As you share your knowledge and proficiency in the subject of the forum with others online your reputation as an expert will grow. As you build your reputation in these online communities so does the reputation of your website.

Be careful not to spam any forums with outright ads for your website, and follow the forums rules about posting links. Most forums will only allow links in your signature, similar to an articles resource box. Most forums will always welcome new members as long as you don’t just blast on the scene with both guns blazing throwing links all over the place just promoting your website. You will have much better results by keeping it low key and adding valuable input when you feel others will benefit by your contribution.

As you can see there are multiple ways of generating low cost website traffic. Start out with what you can afford and use your profits to invest in some of the more expensive methods when you are generating a positive income.

Jeffrey Houdyschell
http://www.articlesbase.com/online-promotion-articles/low-cost-website-traffic-proven-methods-to-generate-low-cost-website-traffic-108589.html

Many people these days are looking to explode their website traffic. They ask the ultimate question, can it be done? The answer is yes it can.

But, before we cover the how and why’s, lets cover why most people quit after some time when trying to gain traffic. The number one reason why most people quit is because they were expecting things to happen overnight.

Oh yes, we have all seen the ads. Get thousands of visitors overnight to your website, and for the most part some of those ads are true. However, what you don’t know is that most of it is not targeted or real people.

Stay away from fast solutions because they do not work. Instead understand that things take time. Just as an athlete prepares for a season you need to prepare for traffic. Sure there are some great sports players who make it all look easy, but it took them many years to get where they are now.

You need to understand this if you want to succeed in getting traffic to your website. If you are looking for a quick fix then just walk away now because most of the time it does not happen. You see anything can take time and if you are willing to take the time and do a little work along the way you to can get traffic to your website and lots of it.

You also have to be smart about it. By that I mean you need a plan, something you can follow everyday to make things happen. Once you start to work your plan it will build upon it’s self and compound over time. What you want to happen is a viral traffic pattern that will deliver traffic to your website for years to come. What you want is to cover every section of the net where your target market is.

So many people just jump at many ways to get traffic at once, and then they walk away frustrated and fed up. But by understanding that things need to be done in a certain order you will have a much better chance. Now if your time is limited, then you may not see results for a year or more. Yes, it could be less but count on more and you will not get as frustrated.

So, how do you gain traffic and how do you do it for free? Well listen, there are things that have worked for the last six years and are still working today. The thing you have to do is study what works.
Pick one or two things and study them in depth. You need to understand it before you can move on. So, make sure you take the time to learn the first thing you pick.

Below I list the ways that work best today and in the order you should perform them. Once you see them go to a search engine and start to study them. Remember there is much more to this than you will find on the first page of search results.

So what are the ways?

1. Writing articles. Success with articles comes from understanding how to write killer headlines and very informative articles. Articles should never be an ad. You have to remember the internet is the information super highway and that is what people are looking for. So above all try to help people and they will trust you more.

2. Link exchanges and one way links. Exchanging links with other websites can bring you more traffic if done correctly. Remember to always keep it relevant and in line with your business. That way you can please the search engines. Also keep in mind that the search engines are placing less importance on reciprocal links now. So, read all you can about what they are up to. But remember you can gain lots of new traffic this way.

3. Viral strategies. While the two ways listed above can be viral, there are many other ways to gain visitors with viral marketing. Once such way is to prepare a special report and encourage people to pass it on to others.

So in summary, each one of these ways can unlock your stale website and get traffic moving to your site. Just make sure you pick one to start with and study it until you become the expert on it. Learn everything about it. That you can and you will unleash a load of new visitors to your website over time.

Todd Jirecek
http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/explode-your-website-traffic-and-gain-a-truckload-of-visitors-to-your-website-59333.html

It is said that there are three factors that are proven to boost your Internet marketing by giving you a surge of website traffic. These three factors are content, targeted traffic and high conversion rate.

Creating quality content for websites can be quite simple. As long as you know the steps to use and how to link them to your site, then this will not prove to be a difficult problem for you.

Getting targeted traffic requires a little work. But by using your contents, you will be able to do this easily.

Higher conversion rate will soon follow are you got both content and traffic to your site. Quality content can bring targeted website traffic. And with the targeted traffic comes the high conversion rate for you and your website.

Of all the three factors, you will notice that getting targeted traffic is the one not easily attained.

The bulk of you effort should be with getting pertinent inbound link and publishing your free articles on websites around the Internet.
The quantity of traffic driven by inbound link and article is less than that driven by search engine or directory. However, targeted traffic is easiest to be converted. That is why it is better to put more time in getting inbound links and writing articles.

One of the more crucial component of online marketing is to understand your website traffic’s combination. It can tell you what your customers want, what they do at websites they visit and the actions they want done.

If you have a deeper understanding of what you are creating, you will be able to make some good tactical and advertising decisions. This is not only for your website for for your whole business as well.

Along with the three essential factors of website traffic marketing, there are other important factors you should consider.

The most and the least visited pages.

The different pages of websites are made for a reason. But then, you cannot expect them to work in the very same way. There will always be the more popular and the least favorite ones.

The popular ones should give you an idea what to offer more of. While the least visited ones should be reviewed and given much emphasis. Figure out what that page is missing and what you can do to change it.

Knowledge can give you a real advantage. To make sure you’re fully informed about traffic, keep reading.

Statistics.

All hits should be recorded once a visitor comes into your site and clicks on an image or text. Using this, you can tell the time spent per visit and if your site have somehow hled their interest.

When you see that you are getting a lot of website traffic but the time spent on your site is not even more than a minute, this is something you should look over. There might be something wrong with your site.

Main entry and exit pages.

These are huge reminders that not all your visitors arrive through your home page, so you need absolute navigation on every entry point to your site.

If people are leaving from pages that you do not want them to, maybe you must have stronger calls to action in those areas.

URL referral.

This should tell you what search engines are giving you traffic. This will also tell which of your marketing and linking strategies are running.

You are also able to tell which sites have links to you that you do not know about. Overall, this is a great way for you to send out appreciation notes to them.

The search for keywords and phrases.

When your site is listed on the search engines, they will tell you what the hot searches are for your type of business. Pay close attention to this because some of what they have to say might surprise you. You already may be popular in the search engines but you do not have any idea that you are.

Knowing about these things will also be relevant for future references.

To be able to maintain the website traffic that you are getting, you have to also maintain the time and work needed on your part. Once you get in the flow of things, you will not find it difficult anymore. All you need is enough knowledge and patience.

Is there really any information about traffic that is nonessential? We all see things from different angles, so something relatively insignificant to one may be crucial to another.

Gary Shaw
http://www.articlesbase.com/online-promotion-articles/website-traffic-boosters-you-need-to-know-about-55139.html