Increasing Website Traffic

Since the topic of website promotion is far too vast to cover in one article, our focus here will be on emphasizing forgotten basics or perhaps adding a new twist to some ones you are already using.

I think an underlying fact that we sometimes forget is that Internet marketing needs to be done daily. I even have a small sign in my office to remind me of that. As with most businesses and especially those online, because of the dynamic nature, you are either moving forward or falling behind. Investing a little bit of time each day promoting your web site will definitely keep the momentum going.

You have probably heard the expression in the real world that three things are important for a business to prosper - location, location and location. The same is true in cyberspace in a slightly different context. By this I mean the more places your site is located ( through links ), the greater chance some one has of finding you. You will also achieve a higher ranking with many search engines because of relevance.

One of the most common ways to get people to link to you is just ask them. If you have a good free product or service that is related to the website you are contacting, many webmasters will gladly provide a link to your site because it adds value to their own site. The same holds true if you publish any articles. Web masters are always looking for unique, valuable content.

An obvious but sometimes overlooked way to increase traffic to your site is simply give your current or first time visitors a reason to come back. The easiest way to achieve this is always provide plenty of fresh content. This accomplishes several things. First it establishes credibility by showing your visitors that you are actively involved with your business.

Secondly, it allows you the opportunity to educate your prospect, which is an important first step in the selling process.

Here are some promotional ideas to keep your content fresh and get your visitors coming back to "see whats new".

A section featuring a daily or weekly updates, news articles or press releases in a particular subject area. Your own review of some new software or book and how it helped you.
Quizzes, opinion polls, trivia games, contests, greeting cards, etc. Some good resources for these are:

http://www.cgi-resources
http://www.freecode.com
http://www.all-yours.net/postcard/response.html
http://www.worldwidemart.com/scripts/
http://bignosebird.com/card.shtml
http://www.free-scripts.net/
http://www.javascripts.com/toc.cfm
http://www.scriptsearch.com/
http://www.freewareweb.com/

People like to voice their opinion so a good "comments" form should be also readily available on your site. The feedback allows you to tailor your site to meet your prospects needs while adding credibility and value.

Another way to create a loyal following is to become an "expert" in a particular area. Too many sites try to be a one-stop shop for everything. Specializing in a certain subject or "niche marketing" as its called, also creates better word of mouth referrals. People are more likely to visit your site first when seeking an answer in that unique area.

A recent change in domain name registration now allows you to register sites with names up to 67 characters instead of the previous 23 characters. Most search engines give sites a higher ranking for a particular phrase if those search words are in the domain name. For example, www.discount-computer-hardware-and-software.com, www.how-to-make-money-on-the-internet.com or www.internetmarketingbooksandsoftware.com could be registered as
separate sites or as a doorway page to your main site.

Since most of the good ".com" shorter names are taken, this is a good chance to stake your claim in the "domain name gold rush". Please visit http://www.profitmatters.com/ and click on the "idr" (Internet Domain Registrars) banner at the bottom. You can check to see if your domain name is still available and get it registered right away before some else does.

There are countless other ways to drive more traffic to your site. I encourage you sit down for 30 uninterrupted minutes with a tablet and pen and begin brainstorming. I challenge you to come up with 20 additional ways to market your site. Take the top 3 or 5 ways and start using them on a daily basis. The key word there is "daily". Consistency will definitely pay off and I invite you to prove it to yourself.

About the author:

Barry Craft has helped thousands of entrepreneurs develop more income from their online businesses. He publishes "Cyber Marketing News" which provides the latest Internet marketing tips.


barry@profitmatters.com.
http://www.profitmatters.com/