4 Ways to Get More Traffic on Your Website
You've heard that search engine optimization and search engine marketing is vital and crucial to getting traffic on your website and key to reaching your customers…and so on and so on.
All of that is true, but search engine marketing is only one part of internet marketing. Lots of people use search engines every day to find what they are looking for – but I'll let you in on a little secret: if your target customer finds your website via another website that they find on a search engine, you've still been found. So think outside the box a bit.
Haven't you ever clicked on an image or link you saw while browsing an online public service website, such as a parenting advice website or a women's journal? What about blogs – haven't you ever read a comment someone left about an article and then clicked on their link and it led to their website? What about online news or magazine websites? Surely you have been led to someone's website as a result of reading an article on entrepreneur.com or something similar.
The key is to get exposure to your website by increasing your "referral sources" – other sites that are linking to your website for one reason or another.
The truth is that there is a world of internet marketing way beyond search engines and that you can and should tap into it. It can take awhile to get ranked highly in search engines (despite what many people will swear). While you wait, try some of these no-fail tactics to get great, targeted exposure now.
1. Submit a Press Release through PR.com
Write a press release, at most 500 words, and then submit it through one of the best, free, online press release distribution services available – PR.com. PR.com's distribution, even for its free level of service, is undeniably effective.
I tested out this theory. I submitted a press release through a couple of free distribution services. A few days after the release was submitted, I hadn't noticed any real difference in the number of hits to my website, and no one at all had contacted me regarding the release. I knew that the material was interesting, so I began searching for another press release distribution service and found PR.com.
I was amazed. Within two days I had been contacted by several people regarding the release, including a television show producer and a TV news station editor. And within weeks, I had also been contacted by several additional people and a local newspaper editor who eventually decided to feature my story in an upcoming issue.
Here's the thing: PR works. Find something interesting or newsworthy about you, your service, your product, your past, your future, your intentions – whatever – and write about it. Your "news" will find its way to people who are looking for just that sort of news, so you can even submit a few different releases with completely different purposes.
Be sure to include your website address in the contact information and also somewhere in the release and you will see the traffic to your site increase accordingly.
My suggestion is to try the PR.com tactic instead of submitting the release directly to local media or national media (I know, I'm committing PR heresy, I'm sure). The reason is that PR.com and many other distribution services are simply much more effective than you will be, especially if this is your first time dabbling in press release submission.
Also, many members of the media have special software that gets feeds from distribution services like PR.com. They then use filters to notified of content that matches what they are looking for. Why rely on fax or email when you will probably get through much easier this way?
2. Read a popular blog and then comment on an entry
The key here is to seek out a well-visited blog in your industry, area of expertise or interest. You can determine the popularity a number of ways: check out the posts to see if people have been commenting, check out the site's page ranking (if you have the tool), look for a widget indicating how many subscribers the blog has, etc.
Remember to check out the people who are commenting – are they your target market? Find out first. Do some profiling by reading their comments and then clicking back to their websites (if applicable).
Once you've found the blog you like, look for an entry that you can comment on intelligently – whether you agree with the subject or not! In fact, if you disagree and can speak about your opinion with tact and interest, I suggest you do.
Another suggestion: do not just say "That was a great post, thanks." That's a really lame comment, in my opinion. We've all done it – including me – after all, sometimes they've indeed "said it all." But when you're commenting with a purpose – i.e., trying to get people to visit your website – you need to throw the readers a (virtual) bone.
Thank the writer for the post and then add to their advice/opinion/review in some way. You can link to another post or article on a similar topic – saying something along the lines of "Thank for this post – I completely agree. In fact, I ran into [link here] which is an article that discusses this same topic. I'm a [blank] and often run into these types of situations. [You might add something about your experiences or your opinion here – keep it short]."
Then, skip a line and add your name, and directly below that, add your website address.
Some blogs are set up to automatically moderate (put on hold) comments with two or more links because of the threat of spam, so don't be worried if your comment is put in moderation. That is totally normal.
How often do you need to do this? My suggestion is that you should comment at least twice weekly for the duration of your internet marketing campaign (ask me why an internet marketing campaign is important).
3. Give away advice or put an article on your website and then "digg" it with Digg.com
I'm not talking about an article that people have to download or one they can get only after they register with you or leave their name and email address (which is an excellent conversion tactic). I'm talking about solid, f*r*e*e content that is simply there for the good of your website visitors. Using Digg.com, a social bookmarking tool, you'll be able to get that content into the hands/eyes of people looking for it much faster than waiting for a search engine to find it and index it.
(Some of you may cringe at the thought of giving your advice away free of charge. I challenge you to realize that in the world-wide-web, you really do have to give something to get something. If you don't give it away, someone else will and people will not pay for what they can easily get free.)
So, put content on a separate page on your site – for example, if you are a real estate agent specializing in first-time homebuyers, put up a page packed with resources for first-time homebuyers. You don't need to spend a lot of time on this. Spend an hour or two at the most – just make whatever it is valuable enough for someone to read it, like it, and live to tell about it (aka "digg" it, too).
Don't make the page a "squeeze" page where there is only one exit – a shopping cart (another excellent conversion tactic)! Remember that this is supposed to be free, no strings attached info. Make the page an extension of your website, with the same layout and links and everything. That way, they are encouraged to look around and find all about you and how to contact you if they are interested enough.
Then, log in to your Digg.com account (first, get an account if you don't have one). Click "Submit New" to add the URL to the page with your awesome content to your account, and choose the appropriate content type – if it's an article, choose "News Article."
When prompted, describe it well – for example, if it is advice, make sure you describe as advice or helpful tips or something similar so people will know that the content has value.
(People are nuts about numbers – so if your site offers a ton of resources, count them, and then describe it as "49 free resources for homebuyers", etc).
How does this work? Many, many newsletters, blog writers and other online "journalist types" get content or content ideas from Digg.com. Also, Digg.com has a very high search engine ranking – so, you're actually circumventing the search engine optimization process for a brand new page that isn't even indexed yet by bookmarking the content with Digg.com.
A note about other social bookmarking tools – I'm not a Digg.com evangelist, per se. I like StumbleUpon as well, and there are others that have their merits. But Digg.com is the one I recommend for content that you want others to see and use. StumbleUpon is just a great way to get a lot of hits – most people viewing your website via StumbleUpon will be on it for less than ten seconds. They are just viewing it to rate it and then, on to the next!
4. Talk about yourself.
Really, if you don't talk about yourself, don't expect anyone else to!
Get involved in online networking – especially forums. If there are "Introduce Yourself" discussions, always do so. Why? Maybe the forum vets won't care about that discussion, but every newbie will. Every time someone joins the forum they will find themselves in the Introduce Yourself forum and I assure you that they will read some of them.
Also don't be afraid to get in on the discussion in these forums, especially where it's appropriate to talk about yourself, your services or your website.
A note about social networking: it's wonderful to network with other independent business owner or entrepreneurs for your own business growth – or, if you are a B2B owner – but you also need to be where your target market is. If your target market is stay at home moms, surf the mom message boards. If your target market is foodies, try allrecipes.com or foodnetwork.com. The point is to follow your target market until they begin following you.
When you have the opportunity, after your comment or reply in the forum or message board, always include the link to your website in your signature (some people even call this "signature marketing"). It doesn't need to be fancy but it should make sense and it shouldn't be "just a link." Talk about the content they will find there – e.g., "Looking for great family meals you can prepare in 15 minutes? Get ideas, recipes and more at [your website link]."
Do this as often or even more often as you are doing the blog-commenting thing.
In conclusion…
All of this should be part of a campaign – with a target start and a target end date. Not that marketing ever really ends, but, if you've got a new service or product on your site, market it through a specific internet marketing campaign that is designed to increase awareness of the service or product and drive sales. |
