Traffic For Internet Marketers

What is traffic?

Traffic is the term internet marketers use when talking about visitors to their websites. Technically speaking, every time someone clicks on your website, it registers as a “hit”. You can keep track of these hits and other traffic information through your web host.

You can also think of traffic in terms of visitors to anything you have going; blogs, sales pages, forums, articles in article directories, Squidoo lens, HubPages, affiliate products, etc.

About the only time in your life you want to see heavy traffic is when it pertains to your business. As far as your marketing goes, the more traffic, the better!

Why do you need traffic?

It’s a no-brainer that you need traffic, aka. people, to visit in order to make sales. You may have the greatest gizmo in the world, but if no one knows about it and no one knows where to get it, you’re not going to sell any.

What’s worse is that the total number of websites on the internet today is thought to be over 150 million. Chances are, people are not going to just happen upon your site. Nope, you’re going to have to work it… let people know you’re not only alive, but wonderful.

Basically, you can get traffic any of the following ways (and in any number and combination):

1. Entice it –
You can write articles with your link included to put on article directories so others pick them up and use them on their sites.

Do instructional or informative videos and put them on YouTube so they go viral and a lot of people get to know you as an expert.

Practice SEO (search engine optimization) and use keywords in everything. These keywords are the words people put in search engines, like Google, when they’re looking for something specific.

Leave comments on forums with a link to your site in your signature line.

Create viral ebooks and give them away for free with links inside to your website or other products.

Have someone interview you and put it on a podcast.

Twitter occasionally about your website, your latest article, or the free ebook you just wrote, etc.

These are all free methods but require time-consuming work on your part.

2. Borrow it –
Do a joint venture with someone who has made a name for herself and you will gain clout and traffic.

Bring affiliates on board to promote your product. This will bring the affiliates’ lists of people over to look at what you’ve got going.

Get access to lots of traffic by participating in a giveaway event. Everyone who has a product listed in a giveaway will bring others to download products from the giveaway.

Trade real estate with another marketer to cross promote. You each put in a plug for the other’s product.

Do a guest blog post on an associate’s blog that sees lots of steady traffic.

3. Buy it –
Google AdWord ads are a common way to buy traffic. People will see your ad on other sites and may click over to view your site.

Buy ad space on another website or blog. These ads can be text links, banners, or small pixel ads.

Purchase ad space in a newsletter that goes out to lots of subscribers. The bigger the subscriber list, the more you’ll have to pay for your ad.

Do press releases. You can pay to have them written or write them yourself, but most businesses require payment to place your press release on their press release site.

What skills do you need?

There are so many ways to get traffic that you should probably start with a couple methods and learn how to really do them well. Otherwise, you’re going to be all over the place and not optimizing anything to its fullest potential.

Have a plan in hand so you can begin implementing your traffic getting strategies and don’t get off course. There are several good resources that can show you what to do step by step. Go with the reputable marketers who will show you white hat methods.

What other strategies work well with getting traffic?

Using keywords effectively in your copy
Outsourcing any of your needs; article writing, changing blog themes, researching, building websites, graphics, etc.
Setting up a website
Blogging ins and outs.
Good sales copy if you promote any product
Article marketing
List building
Selling affiliate products
Offering your services on the Internet
Web 2.0
Doing audio interviews
Using PLR
Placing ads on your site
Mentoring or coaching

Getting quality traffic is crucial to your business, but don’t forget to capture them when they come. Give away something of value to get opt-in subscribers and build your list of targeted customers.

Tags: Articles, Traffic Secrets, Traffic Secrets Article

The Real Reason For Being At The Top

It happened again.

Almost every day I hear the phrase, “I want to be at the top of the search engines”. What does that really mean?

Unfortunately, most people say that phrase without actually thinking about what they mean by it. Do they want more visitors to their sites? Do they want more money to come into their businesses?

Simply being at the top of the search engines does nothing for your business. I can send thousands of people to any site on the web. But if I send a thousand vegetarians to a site selling steaks, is it going to be of benefit?

Instead, what people really are asking for is to get noticed. To have quality people come into their site for the opportunity of creating a sale some time in the future. People want leads.

Good quality leads can come from a variety of sources. Just like with traditional marketing methods, you’ll find clients in a variety of different methods. If you take a look at your last five clients, you’re likely to discover they came from a variety of sources. From places like:

a referral from a past client;
an ad in a niche targeted magazine;
a direct mail postcard;
a meeting at a local networking group; and
a friend of the family.

The key to traditional marketing methods is not putting all of your eggs into one basket; instead relying on a number of different sources.

But up until now, the Internet has been somewhat different. People are still putting up websites, and expecting people to magically find them. Or they expect to be placed on a search engine in the number one position (out of millions) and be instantly recognized.

A good Internet strategy takes its cue from a traditional marketing plan. It realizes there are dozens of ways to reach a potential customer, and finds ways of capturing each of those methods. So a well marketed site might receive visitors, and ultimately purchasers, from things like:

a banner ad on a complimentary site;
a click from a pay-per-click ad;
a referral from an article on an association site;
a link from an ezine; and
yes, a top placement on a strong keyword within the search engines.

Having a clear vision for your business allows you to market your business directly to your ideal target market. The same applies to your website. The clearer you are on your ideal client, the easier it is to reach out to them.

With the Internet, a lot of your marketing strategy relies on searches – what are your customers searching for when they reach your site? Different people search for different things, yet all wind up on the same site making an identical purchase.

How do you capture those visitors?

It’s a matter of thinking like your customers. Why do they come to you? If you don’t know, start asking how they found you. Did they see you in an advertisement, or was it a referral from another company? What were they searching for when they found your company?

As you find different techniques, concentrate on building advertising methods using those techniques.

While many business owners have the belief that a top ranking placement of one keyword will bring in the traffic, in truth concentrating you efforts on multiple, less searched keywords is an easier task to accomplish.

Instead of being at the top of the search engines for a strong keyword such as “marketing”, concentrating on a more targeted phrase such as “small business marketing for health spas” may in turn help you gain more business.

The word “marketing” is huge, and can contain hundreds of different meanings, depending on the searcher. Yet when you narrow your focus to “small business marketing for health spas”, your focus becomes clear, and you have a much greater chance of gaining the attention you are seeking.

And when you have focused on key phrases, it will open up other marketing opportunities. You may find a directory to place a banner ad, or an ezine that is looking for quality articles. Your focus leads you to better quality contacts.

And isn’t that the real reason to be at the top of the search engines?

Tags: Articles, Traffic Secrets, Traffic Secrets

Further Strategies On Promoting An Ebook

Janet Beckers

Janet suggests further strategies on promoting an ebook

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How Can I Promote And Sell My New Ebook If I Don’t Have A List?

Janet Beckers

Janet answers a Gold member question: How Can I Promote And Sell My New Ebook If I Don’t Have A List?

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How Do I Promote My New Product?

Janet Beckers

Janet talks about other promotional techniques that will work with ANY product.

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How to Dominate the Front Page of Google Easily

Cheryline Lawson

Cheryline Lawson Presents: How to dominate the front page of Google easily

Using some simple methods and tactics, Cheryline will reveal how to get on to the front page of Google within 72 hours. These methods have been used before but Cheryline combines them in a unique way to create a domino effect.

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