How To Get More Website Traffic
by Steve Gillman
It used to be that you could actually get more website traffic by simply throwing a bunch of good keyword search phrases on your pages and in the HTML "tags." Of course search engines got better, and so the "experts" began to tell us that we just needed high-quality content. "Build it and they will come," became the operating theory of many.
Of course, it just wasn't true. You still needed to optimize the pages. After all, if your page was about ultralight backpacking, how would the search engines know that if you didn't use the phrase a few times on the page? And if you preferred to call it "fastpacking," there was never a way for all those searchers of "ultralight backpacking" to find your page - even if it was exactly the content they wanted.
So optimization still matters. But when the search engine algorithms changed again they began to place less emphasis on "on site" optimization. You still need those keywords on the page, but this is no longer enough. You also need to have other sites linking to yours, to show that you are important. Links have become very important if you want more website traffic from search engines.
The type of link matters though. Reciprocal links - where you trade with another site - are no longer of much value. Search engine algorithms have been adjusted for the fact that sites started trading irrelevant links just to boost rankings. Only one-way unpaid links are considered a true "vote of confidence" by the search engines, and so these are what you need.
Now, some experts still claim that you get links by having great content. People read your page, like it and so link to it. That would be nice, but it isn't common at all. In fact, there are several things wrong with this theory.
First, how do the readers find your page to begin with, so they can then decide they like it enough to link to it? If you have no incoming links, the search engines ignore you, so how does anyone find the page? Secondly, if some visitors do make their way to your pages, will they have websites to link to you from? Most internet users either don't have a website or they barely know how to create a link.
Finally, serious webmasters are hesitant to link to other sites too often now. Why? They don't want to link to possible competition for starters. But the bigger reason is that a given page can only has just so much "voting power" according to search engine algorithms, so owners of sites like to divide it up in beneficial ways - like by linking to their own pages and sites.
So getting incoming links is the way to get more website traffic, but they are hard to get. What can you do? You can pay for traffic, but with many sites this is impractical. If your site makes ten cents per visitor and you pay fifty cents to get one, you are just throwing your money away.
Now, before I answer the question of how to get more traffic, let me add an encouraging note. Contrary to what some are saying, good content is not irrelevant now. Don't listen to the skeptics. I recently read an opinion piece by a webmaster who said the old idea of "building a great website with great content" in order to get traffic was "foolish nonsense." It isn't.
What do we want when we search for things online? We want great websites with great content, right? That is exactly what the search engines are trying to point us too. The fact that they don't do it perfectly doesn't mean they aren't getting better at it. So as they get continue to improve, you want to have the kind of site that they are looking for. If you're thinking long term, have good content.
Finally, one of the best ways I have found to generate more website traffic is with simple articles like this one. Submit it to a few article directories, and you'll get some readers. If they like it, some will even take it and use it on their websites, creating valuable one-way links. That helps with your search engine rankings. Meanwhile, some readers will like it enough to want more, and they'll click that link in your resource or "about the author" box at the end of the article.
About the Author
Copyright Steve Gillman. For your Free Online Writing Course, and to see how you can get the ebook "50 Ways To Get Traffic," visit : http://www.999articles.com
The Importance of Tracking Your Web Site Traffic
The Importance of Tracking Your Web Site Traffic
by Julie Friedman Bacchini
You have a web site. You have web site visitors. You even have web site sales. Everything seems to be working: why should you go through the effort to track and analyze your web site traffic?
The fact is, the importance of tracking your site traffic is not stressed nearly enough. At most, people say, "Sure, I track my site traffic. We had 5,000 hits last month!" But that, quite frankly, isn't "tracking your site traffic." That is a simple datum, and it doesn't tell you anything about your site or your site traffic.
The importance of tracking your site traffic lies in the fact that proper web traffic analytics will help you answer these key questions:
Am I reaching my target market?
If you went about developing your web site systematically, you probably spent time researching and defining your target market. You then designed your site to reach those specific people. But all your research was still - at its base - a hypothesis. You made assumptions about how to reach your customer base. Tracking your site traffic will verify what is actually happening on your site (who is coming and what they are doing), compared to what you expected to happen.
How are people interacting with my site?
Sure, people are coming to your web site. But what are they doing there? Do they hit the home page and leave? Do they go immediately to your free section and never browse your sale items? Do 90% of the people who click on your online payment form subsequently abandon it?
Tracking your site traffic will allow you to see how people proceed through your site, where they spend their time, what they do, and any problems they may be encountering. And that information can help you significantly improve their user experience - and your sales.
Where is my site traffic coming from?
To drive traffic to your site, you are likely engaged in multiple marketing efforts. You may have search engine optimized your content, engaged in article marketing, and developed reciprocal links from key partners. You may be involved in a pay-per-click campaign. Perhaps you also explored email marketing or print advertising.
Web traffic analytics will tell you exactly how successful each and every one of those marketing efforts is. You will then be able to cut the fat from your marketing plan and focus on the most strategic and productive campaigns.
What trends do I see?
The web is a constantly changing place. What worked last year may not work this year. You can't rely on the mantra "we've always done it this way" and expect to see consistently positive results for years on end.
By tracking your site traffic, you will be able to see trends as they unfold: trends in who is coming to your site, how they are interacting with it, what they want, how they buy, etc. You will be able to respond proactively to changing patterns, rather than reactively scrambling to fix a situation after it has become a major problem.
If you are serious about using your web site as a tool for business, tracking your site traffic is an absolute essential. The questions above just scratch the surface of what web traffic analytics can do for you. But the bottom line is this: tracking your site traffic provides you with quantifiable data to allow you to make wise decisions for your business.
© 2009 Julie Friedman Bacchini
Article Source: http://www.neptunemoon.com
You have my permission to reprint and distribute this article as long as it is distributed in its entirety, including all links and copyright information. This article is not to be sold or included with anything that is sold.
About the Author
Julie Friedman Bacchini is President of Neptune Moon Design (http://www.NeptuneMoon.com), a full-service agency providing businesses and non-profit organizations with custom web designs, web site marketing plans, and strategic search engine optimization (SEO), all designed to build brand recognition, increase site traffic, and generate leads, clients, and revenue. Be sure to visit NeptuneMoon.com to read additional articles that will help you reach your business goals!
by Julie Friedman Bacchini
You have a web site. You have web site visitors. You even have web site sales. Everything seems to be working: why should you go through the effort to track and analyze your web site traffic?
The fact is, the importance of tracking your site traffic is not stressed nearly enough. At most, people say, "Sure, I track my site traffic. We had 5,000 hits last month!" But that, quite frankly, isn't "tracking your site traffic." That is a simple datum, and it doesn't tell you anything about your site or your site traffic.
The importance of tracking your site traffic lies in the fact that proper web traffic analytics will help you answer these key questions:
Am I reaching my target market?
If you went about developing your web site systematically, you probably spent time researching and defining your target market. You then designed your site to reach those specific people. But all your research was still - at its base - a hypothesis. You made assumptions about how to reach your customer base. Tracking your site traffic will verify what is actually happening on your site (who is coming and what they are doing), compared to what you expected to happen.
How are people interacting with my site?
Sure, people are coming to your web site. But what are they doing there? Do they hit the home page and leave? Do they go immediately to your free section and never browse your sale items? Do 90% of the people who click on your online payment form subsequently abandon it?
Tracking your site traffic will allow you to see how people proceed through your site, where they spend their time, what they do, and any problems they may be encountering. And that information can help you significantly improve their user experience - and your sales.
Where is my site traffic coming from?
To drive traffic to your site, you are likely engaged in multiple marketing efforts. You may have search engine optimized your content, engaged in article marketing, and developed reciprocal links from key partners. You may be involved in a pay-per-click campaign. Perhaps you also explored email marketing or print advertising.
Web traffic analytics will tell you exactly how successful each and every one of those marketing efforts is. You will then be able to cut the fat from your marketing plan and focus on the most strategic and productive campaigns.
What trends do I see?
The web is a constantly changing place. What worked last year may not work this year. You can't rely on the mantra "we've always done it this way" and expect to see consistently positive results for years on end.
By tracking your site traffic, you will be able to see trends as they unfold: trends in who is coming to your site, how they are interacting with it, what they want, how they buy, etc. You will be able to respond proactively to changing patterns, rather than reactively scrambling to fix a situation after it has become a major problem.
If you are serious about using your web site as a tool for business, tracking your site traffic is an absolute essential. The questions above just scratch the surface of what web traffic analytics can do for you. But the bottom line is this: tracking your site traffic provides you with quantifiable data to allow you to make wise decisions for your business.
© 2009 Julie Friedman Bacchini
Article Source: http://www.neptunemoon.com
You have my permission to reprint and distribute this article as long as it is distributed in its entirety, including all links and copyright information. This article is not to be sold or included with anything that is sold.
About the Author
Julie Friedman Bacchini is President of Neptune Moon Design (http://www.NeptuneMoon.com), a full-service agency providing businesses and non-profit organizations with custom web designs, web site marketing plans, and strategic search engine optimization (SEO), all designed to build brand recognition, increase site traffic, and generate leads, clients, and revenue. Be sure to visit NeptuneMoon.com to read additional articles that will help you reach your business goals!
6 Ideas for Viral Marketing! by Trevor Gardner
6 Ideas for Viral Marketing!
by Trevor Gardner
Here are six ideas to help you start your viral marketing campaign:
1. Purchase the branding rights to a viral E-book. Allow people to give away your free E-book to their visitors. Then, their visitors will also give it away. This will just continue to spread your ad all over the Internet.
2. If you have the ability to set up a forum or other bulletin board, you really have a great tool. Allow people to use your online discussion board for their own website. Some people don't have one. Just include your banner ad at the top of the board.
3. Do you have a knack for web design? Create some templates, graphics, etc. and upload them to your site. Then, allow people to give away your free web design graphics, fonts, templates, etc. Just include your ad on them or require people to link directly to your web site. Make sure that you include a link back to your site in the copyright notice and require them to keep your copyright notice in tact.
4. Write an E-book. Allow people to place an advertisement in your free E-book if, in exchange, they give away the E-book to their web visitors or E-zine subscribers.
5. Write articles that pertain to your product or service. Allow people to reprint your articles on their website, in their E-zine, newsletter, magazine or E-books. Include your resource box and the option for article reprints at the bottom of each article.
6. You can easily find products on the Internet that will sell you a license allowing you to distribute the product free of charge to other people. Look for those products that provide "branding rights". That is where you can include your own name, website, and contact information.
by Trevor Gardner
Here are six ideas to help you start your viral marketing campaign:
1. Purchase the branding rights to a viral E-book. Allow people to give away your free E-book to their visitors. Then, their visitors will also give it away. This will just continue to spread your ad all over the Internet.
2. If you have the ability to set up a forum or other bulletin board, you really have a great tool. Allow people to use your online discussion board for their own website. Some people don't have one. Just include your banner ad at the top of the board.
3. Do you have a knack for web design? Create some templates, graphics, etc. and upload them to your site. Then, allow people to give away your free web design graphics, fonts, templates, etc. Just include your ad on them or require people to link directly to your web site. Make sure that you include a link back to your site in the copyright notice and require them to keep your copyright notice in tact.
4. Write an E-book. Allow people to place an advertisement in your free E-book if, in exchange, they give away the E-book to their web visitors or E-zine subscribers.
5. Write articles that pertain to your product or service. Allow people to reprint your articles on their website, in their E-zine, newsletter, magazine or E-books. Include your resource box and the option for article reprints at the bottom of each article.
6. You can easily find products on the Internet that will sell you a license allowing you to distribute the product free of charge to other people. Look for those products that provide "branding rights". That is where you can include your own name, website, and contact information.
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