How to Generate a Steady Stream of Traffic to Your Website – Part 5
This is part 5 of my series on How to Generate a Steady Stream of Traffic to Your Website. My goal was to cover as many areas as possible in these short articles so those new to Internet Marketing could have a good overview of the many ways that they can generate website traffic. Many of the topics mentioned would take a full course of study to cover all the details and “how to’s” to fully implement these concepts.
You do not need to learn and understand all these systems, tricks and techniques to become successful with your online business. You do need to know something about each area so that you can communicate your needs to those who you hire to work for you.
Most successful Internet Marketers don’t do all the work of product creation, website development, database coding, graphics, copy writing… or many of the other tasks associated with running a business. You can’t be good at all the skills needed and, you don’t have time to do all the tasks yourself. Stop trying to juggle it all yourself, find others to work with you and for you.
At the end of this article I will give you some resources that you can use to get help to build your own successful online business. It does not need to take all your time and energy. Be sure to read the following topics and then look over the resource area.
Blog Commenting
Commenting on blogs, especially industry-specific ones, allow for broader scope of networking and exposure. Blogs have literally exploded in recent times, and as such, should not be dismissed.
Blog commenting helps to increase visibility, and the great feature with blogs is that the one posting the comment can always link back to his site, since, on top of signatures in the comment, signing-in for commenting allows one to provide the link back to any site.
Blogs also help to increase the exposure of your site, especially for content sites. These comments can be seen as preludes to the in-depth content offered on the site.
Commenting can also further help to brand your site and your own way of responding can be a unique experience people look for. In a way, by reading your comment, readers may be intrigued to know more and thus head over to your site. This can work well with product promotion.
It is a good idea to remain brief and concise on comments, and to comment on blogs and topics that relate to and are pertinent to your own sector of operations.
Also, links should not be added in the comment itself but kept to the signing-in name section, where your name can link to your site.
Joint Ventures
Joint ventures have garnered increased popularity lately as networking sites started to abound and everyone could connect on the same platform. My friend Reed Floren is one of the best JV Brokers around. He can help build lists of customers for you fast.
Aspects of joint ventures cover product sales, links exchange, banner swaps, referrals and reviews.
MyBlogLog
MyBlogLog (www.mybloglog.com) is a social media-networking site that builds communities of bloggers and allow those bloggers to have a MyBlogLog calling card featuring their own avatar or picture.
Featuring the MyBlogLog widget on blogs is a good way of knowing who dropped by your blog, and also allows others to see you when you leave your calling card somewhere.
The widget further helps to determine who dropped by and thus have an idea of the audience visiting your blog and site.
It is advantageous to have a very good and accurate profile set up if you are planning to use this opportunity to promote your site and this way earn more traffic. A catchy avatar also intrigues and garners attention and a second glance. The username you allow to have displayed could be set up to give the name of your site or your domain name, further increasing awareness.
For this feature to work though, one needs to remain logged in the project. Surfing lots of blogs and leaving relevant comments allow further exposure. Leaving comments also encourages people to do so on your page, and by returning visits to those who visited you, you encourage them to notice you as a ‘good’ presence out there.
Press Releases
A press release can help generate increased awareness and provide avenues of immense professional distribution. As such, it should not be overlooked, and it also helps provide a reader base.
Contrarily to the press releases of the past, the ones that are drawn up now are also featured on the virtual world, and as such, are search engine optimized with keywords too.
The press release can also use links to your hubs and the fact that it allows feed subscriptions ensures that any update to the information will immediately be communicated to anyone subscribed to the feed, thus allowing for instant updates.
Free Gifts
Giving away freebies is another way of generating additional traffic to a site.
Product sites have more scope as they can offer prizes, rebates, discounts and contests. Another tip is to offer a freebie for every purchase, thus enticing people to buy.
Content sites can offer the following: checklists for a task, templates for specific documents, text workbooks on the site’s topic, classes and seminars, a dictionary of terms of the industry/niche, a live advice chat room, plans for setting up specific things, email reports, as well as designed forms.
Facebook is another social networking site that boasts high levels of activity and membership. As such, in itself, Facebook is a great opportunity to increase your contact base by ‘friending’ many people.
The network allows you to customize your profile and page, and making effective use of the layout boxes can provide better awareness and exposure for your site, its content or products. The Marketplace widget/plug-in is a good tool for showing your products.
Additional features that can help generating traffic pertain to activity on the site. Commenting on walls increase exposure, and the profile name links back to your page which can in itself be a window as to what your site offers.
‘Friending’ people with extensive contacts lists is another way of making yourself seen out there.
Other options to generate traffic from Facebook would be to create applications and widgets that the network can support. These can then provide glimpses as to what your site offers, and is a wonderful opportunity for content sites.
The update status feature should also not be neglected, as it can trigger curiosity as to what your profile is up to.
Twitter (www.twitter.com) is another site which allows social networking, but the difference here is that Twitter is more a ‘talk’ site and more social in its approach, by allowing users to ‘follow’ others’ moves and updates (auto updates) and to leave short messages (twits).
Good options to generate traffic from Twitter would be to post questions or ask questions at the end of your posts. This generates attention and encourages people to reply.
As with all networking sites, using your signature and linking back through it to your site is the thing to do to create a buzz around your site.
Twits can also be about your content, products, or the updates that just happened. In this light, twits can act as teasers to encourage visiting the site.
Participation is key at this site. Visit, reply, and return visits and comments for those who came by yours – all these help to create a presence and goodwill for you and your site in people’s minds.
All the above-mentioned avenues to help gain more traffic quickly and on a daily basis work. It is up to you now to find the best possible combination and strategy to make it work for your site.
Conclusion
You know it, I know it, and all Internet marketers know it: without receiving a steady stream of visitors, no business will be able to stay in business for long. Thus, if you want your business to be successful and to flourish, you must find ways to constantly sustain and increase your traffic flow. Using the strategies outlined in 5 articles you should be fully equipped to do this. All you have to do now is take action!
Resources
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Outsource Workshop, November 8-9, 2008 in Minneapolis, MN Join me along with Jeff Mills, John Jonas, Brian Kos and Karen Lund and learn how to build your online business with the help of outsourced team members from around the world.
Outsource Coaching Program. This monthly membership program by Jeff Mills will connect you to some of the top Internet Marketers in the world. Each month these marketing experts share with Jeff their inside tips and tricks that earn them thousands of dollars monthly using outsourced team members.
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If you join the Outsource Coaching program today I will make sure you get a FREE Ticket to the November Outsource Workshop. I would love to meet you at the workshop and help you to reach your online goals. To ensure your free ticket to the November Outsource Workshop, just forward a copy of your receipt for the coaching program to me at henry@whoishenry.com. And it gets better. The first month of the Outsource Coaching program is free. You only pay $9.95 for the shipping of the physical product package with DVD, CD and transcription of the current month’s call.
Get your own FREE Copy of the Outsource Compendium, over 60 pages of resources and information to help you build your online business fast and on budget.
