Blog | Professional SEO Search Marketing Firm
7 Ways To Increase Traffic
1. Provide quality content, products, or services
2. Use an RSS feed
3. Run contests
4. Make it easy for visitors to refer others
5. Write articles for ezines and article publishers
6. Write press releases
7. Employee Evangelism
1. The higher the quality of
material you produce, the more often your site will be linked to.
Each link to
your site is an avenue for new visitors to your business.
If you do not think you have the ability to create something that will touch
people like it needs to, you may have to spend the money and hire someone else
to do it for you. Fortunately for you, there are a lot of service that will put you in
touch with freelance writers, site designers, and program designers. If you have
an idea about what you want, chances are there is someone available to do it for
you. If you are willing to take a chance on a freelancer who has not yet
established themselves, you can often find one that will work for a low wage in
exchange for the experience the job will give them. Be careful though; often
times you get what you pay for. Make sure the work you get is up to the
standards necessary to appeal to your audience.
2. Use an RSS feed
Another way to build returning traffic to your site is to provide an RSS feed. In
its current form, RSS stand for “Really Simple Syndication”. RSS allows someone
to place a link on their homepage, website, or RSS reader that sends an update
every time you update the information on your site.
This is especially popular with news sites and blogs. If you are posting to your
blog every week day, your readers will get an update 5 times a week. That
means 5 times a week they will be reminded of your name and your website.
This can really work to your advantage because they are getting that reminder
because they asked to be reminded, not because you are forcing yourself on
them.
Every day they have a chance to read your message, and have the opportunity
to visit the main part of your site. The more traffic that comes to your site on a
regular basis, the more sales and advertising revenue you can generate.
Another way to use RSS feeds is to bring news or information about your niche
that will add value to your site. By putting fresh, up to date information on your
websites main page, you give visitors a reason to come back to your site on a
continuing basis. If they are interested in your topic, the will return to your site
to get updates.
Both uses of RSS are designed to keep your customers coming back. The more
often they come back and get new, useful, or entertaining material, the more
likely they are of spreading the word to their friends and family, and that is the
first step of going viral.
3. Run Contests
People love to win things, and they love to be recognized for winning. Be
creative in deciding what the prize should be, but consider how much your
customers will think it is worth. While prize doesn’t have to be something of
great value, it does have to be something that is useful or of some value to the
winner. Make sure that it is something they want, not just a blatant
advertisement for your business. A bumper sticker marketing your web address
is not going to generate a great deal of interest. Your advertisement or web
address should be plainly visible, but it should not be the focal point of the item
you are giving away.
If you are running a business to business website, free advertising on your site
for the winner is something that wouldn’t cost you anything, but if your site
doesn’t attract very much traffic the prize may not be seen as being very
valuable.
4. Make it easy for visitors to refer others
Have you noticed the number of websites that include a button that lets you tell
others about the site you are visiting? They are becoming more popular,
because site owners have learned that if you want your visitors to do something
for you, you have to make it as easy as possible. If you want viewers if your site
to tell others, it does not get much simpler than giving them a button to click.
The nice thing is, if you design and set up your own site, it is quick and easy to
add the button. The hardest part is deciding where you want the button located.
If you do not do any site design, it is a small cost to have a designer do it for
you.
The button runs a small bit of code called a “tell-a-friend” script. When your
viewer clicks the button it opens up a small window that allows them to enter
their friends email address and a short message so they can tell others about
your site.
The power of this script goes back to what I discussed back at the beginning of
this book; people will listen to what their friends and family say. There is a level
of trust there that you can not come close to, at least not initially. That kind of
trust is built over time.
Does a tell-a-friend button flood your site with traffic? Maybe not, but it will
bring new traffic, and the traffic that comes is more likely to come back.
Make it easy for readers to email the page to a friend
Allowing your readers to send a link to your site through email is another way to
encourage your visitors to tell their friends and family about your site. It is very
similar to the tell-a-friend button in the way it works.
If someone likes your site, they have an option to click on a button that will open
a window in their email program. The script the button activates will insert your
web address in the message window of the email. They can then fill out the rest
of the message and send your link to as many friends and family members as
they like.
5. Write articles for ezines and article publishers
I mentioned earlier that people are more likely to listen to someone that they
consider to be an expert. Why can’t that expert be you? If you know enough
about a topic to build a business around it, you are an expert. All it takes is a
little marketing to convince others that you are an expert.
One method of establishing yourself as an expert and gaining some exposure for
yourself and your business is to write articles for ezines and article publishers.
You write an article relating to your business, and then post it to one of the
online publishing services. When people read your article, they see your name,
and assume you know what you are talking about. The more different places
you can get your name and the name of your business, the better that chances
are that people will begin to remember you. Over time with multiple exposures
you begin to build brand recognition.
There are two different ways online article publishers let you get your name out.
Some sites, like ezinearticles.com, let you put a short 1-2 sentence “About the
Author” section at the end of your article. You get the opportunity to put
together a brief statement about yourself and your business, and a link back to
your site.
Sites like Associated Content and Helium will have a content producer’s page that
will allow you the room to write quite a bit more. You can talk about yourself,
your business, and why the reader should believe what you say. You can also
include multiple links that will lead the reader into your site.
When readers click on the link to come to your site they are what marketers
refer to as “pre-qualified”. They chose to be there based on the information they
read. They were not tricked into visiting your site, and they were not pressured
to go there by spam emails. They are there by choice, and that makes them
more receptive to your message, and increases the probability that they will
purchase your products or services.
Beside the traffic that comes to your site directly from your article, if the article is
really good it may end up on one of the social bookmark sites like Digg, Stumble
Upon, or del.ico.us. If your article gets ranked in one of these sites, it can bring
a lot of visitors to your site in a very short period of time. That burst of visitors
might last for only a day or two, but it could also linger in the top rankings for
days or weeks.
Another side benefit of writing articles is that they can provide a small amount of
residual income to you. Many of these sites offer revenue sharing that will give
you a small portion of the advertising that the article generates. The amount
you get per article usually is not very much, but enough articles over time can
add up.
6. Write Press Releases
Like many websites, newspapers need content. A lot of newspapers, especially
smaller local newspapers, have a hard time coming up with enough fresh content
to fill all of the space they have. With limited budgets, they do not have the staff
needed to come up with fresh material every day. This creates a great
opportunity for you.
While papers are not just going to give you free advertising, they will allow you
to write an article about something that your businesses is doing, especially if it
involves a service or a community event. The newspapers understand that they
are allowing you to advertise in exchange for the free content, but it can not be
blatant advertising.
All you have to do is write the article, making sure you mention your businesses
name, and list your web address so they can get more information. You just
have to make sure the piece is well written, and that your business is doing
something worth telling people about.
Not only does this get the name of your business out to the community, but it
also helps enhance your reputation. Even without knowing you, people will
make a judgment on whether they like you, and can trust you. By building a
positive reputation as someone who is active in the community, it makes it easier
for them to like you, and by extension, your business.
7. Employee evangelism
The best advocates you have for your business are already on your payroll. Your
employees already have a vested interest in getting the word out about your
company. If you succeed, they get to keep their jobs, but if you fail, they may
find themselves unemployed.
Your employees know your business like no one else does. They can discuss the
ins and outs of your business, and tell others why your product or service is
superior to the competition. Enthusiastic employees will spread the word to
family, friends, and colleagues about your company, and you do not even have
to pay them anything extra to do it. It is part of their normal conversation with
people.
Back in the early days of the computer industry, IBM ruled the world of
technology. A lot of computer companies were trying to get their legs under
them, but IBM was the king. One of the reasons IBM was able to continually
withstand the ever increasing competition was that they understood the power
their employees had to market the company. They had a ready made marketing
team made up of engineers, secretaries, accountants, and programmers. By
harnessing that power they were able to build a stellar reputation in the
computer industry.
From the day they were first hired, IBM employees were taught how to be
advocates for the company. They were trained in the company’s values, and
were shown the quality of the products they were helping to build. They bought
into IBM’s corporate culture, and they, in turn, shared what they knew with
anyone who would listen. The technology world heard the message so often,
and from so many different people, that they never questioned the fact that IBM
was the best.
The key to success is your ability to assemble a loyal dedicated workforce. If
you can do that, then you have the potential to tap into some of that power as
well. Turn your employees into a marketing team and let them spread the word
about how great your company is. If they truly believe it, their enthusiasm will
become infectious. People will believe what your employees say, because it is
obvious that your employees believe it themselves.
Take a good, objective look at your website. Once the traffic comes, what will
they do when they get there? You have to make sure your design is right, your
website is easy to navigate through, all of the links are working, and your
message will convince people to do what you want them to do.
A final reminder; any one of these methods are not meant to be used as the only
marketing you are doing. They should be used as a part of a larger marketing
campaign. Everything you do to spread the word about your site can bring you
traffic. Only a few of them will ever go viral, but each of them has the potential
to send traffic to your site, even without going viral. Do not waste opportunities
waiting for something to happen. Continue working on building traffic to your
site, and being ready when the traffic arrives.
Be prepared. When one of your marketing techniques does go viral, hang on for
a wild ride. It will all be worth your efforts.
To Your Search Engine Success!
Taylor Reaume, Founder, The Search Engine Pros
1. Online Press Release