20 EASY WAYS TO INCREASE TRAFFIC TO YOUR
WEB SITE TODAY
By Sandi Hunter
Everyone with a web site knows the importance of traffic. If you don't have ways of continually generating new and repeat traffic to your site, you might as well be selling sand boxes in the middle of a remote desert. You can do several things to increase traffic to your web site, many of which are free and some which are extremely cost effective.
1.Use effective, descriptive titles on all your web pages. Make sure your web pages have descriptive titles that include both your company name and the page content. Some web page editor programs will name your pages automatically "home page" unless you change or insert a new title. The benefit of doing this is to assist search engines to better index your web site and therefore make it easier for people to find your site. For example, if your company name is Joe's Athletic Wear, make sure your pages all have your company name and each page has proper titles identifying the content of that page. Example, your home page could be titled, "Joe's Athletic Wear: Athletic Supplies, Equipment and Sports Store." Your product pricing page could be titled "Joe's Athletic Wear - Sports Product List." Your Athletic Wear Section - "Joe's Athletic Wear - Hiking Equipment." Your Sports Equipment page titled, "Joe's Athletic Wear - Sports Wear Equipment." Get the idea. Think about what words people would logically search for in a search engine if they were looking for what you have to offer. Consider that they may or may not know your company name, so although they might not search under "Joe's Athletic Wear", they might search using the words athletics, sports equipment, hiking gear etc.
2.Insert key word and description meta tags on all of your web pages. Metatags are simply lines of text entered into the HTML code of your pages and are used by search engines spiders to index your web pages more effectively. Some, not all search engines use this method to catalog your site in their index. Most web page editors offer you the option of inserting metatags into your web pages without having to know anything about HTML. Microsoft's FrontPageÒ for example allows you to insert the metatags using the page properties option and doesn't involve any manipulation of the HTML code itself. If your site is sparse in descriptive text and heavy in graphics it is especially helpful to use the metatags. When entering your key words metatag you should select words that would logically be used by someone searching for what is offered at your site. Pluralize these words when possible and separate by commas. Example, for Joe's Athletic Wear, logical key words would be; athletics, sports, equipment, hiking, skis, surfboards, hats, boots, shoes, skates, inline skates, rollerblades, golf, golfing, etc. Your description tag should be a few sentences that summarizes what your site is about and includes as many key words as possible avoiding non-helpful "fluff" that contributes nothing to your site's findability. A good metatag description example; Joe's Athletic Wear offers a complete inventory of athletic and sports equipment including, shoes, boots, surfboards, ski equipment, golf equipment, hiking gear and supplies, rollerblades and sports accessories. 10 percent discount for frequent purchasers!
3.Register your site with search engines, directories, and web page indexes. Some visitors to your site will find you through a search engine. Alta Vista is an example of a search engine and Yahoo is an example of a search directory. It's a good idea to register your web site address with the major engines and directories. This includes Alta Vista, Yahoo, Excite, Hot Bot, Webcrawler, Info Seek, and Lycos. Roughly 80% of your traffic from search engines will come from these "biggies" so be sure to register with them. As for the other smaller directories they will help contribute to your overall traffic so take the time to register there as well. There are several one stop shops where you can do this yourself, such as http://www.mmgco.com/top100.html or you can pay for a service to do this for you, such as http://www.incor.com or you can purchase automated software for doing this, the Exploit Submission Wizard is an example of such a product.
4.Create web pages that are rich in content and offer value to your visitors.You will get better ranking in the search engines, better feedback from your visitors, more referral visits and more sales if your site is full of solid useful information. Consider the purpose of your site and its value from the visitor's perspective. Your site should be about the visitors and what you offer them more than about your company. Every visitor to your site is a prospect and a potential customer so cater to each of them with information of value, compelling sales offers, ease of use and order/service convenience.
5.Use headers or section titles within your web pages. A site that is easy to navigate is good for your customers, good for your sales and helpful for search engine indexing. Create your site so that you have main headings or at least easy to find and navigate buttons and directional aids.
6.Avoid the problems of marketing spam (unsolicited bulk e-mail), by creating and publishing your own "opt-in" subscriber based e-zine or e-mail newsletter. If you are annoyed and frustrated by spam, chances are your customers and prospects are too. The way to build a solid e-mail mailing list is what is known as "opt-in" or subscriber based e-mail list publishing. This simply means that you offer your site visitors the choice, (the key word here is choice) of receiving your newsletter or publication. Then on a regular basis, perhaps once a week or once a month you send to your list of subscribers a free newsletter or service/product update. It does take some time to create the newsletter, but publishing to a list of 10,000 subscribers takes literally minutes and even a computer novice can do it using a tool called a listserver. Visit http://www.worldprofit.com for information on listservers and a free article on how you can use them in your business. Listservers allow you to publish your newsletter or e-zine cost effectively and is a great way to maintain contact and establish trust with prospects and customers.
7.Update your site often. Remember, if you have an effective site, chances are that you will have return visits so it's important to update your site on a regular basis. This doesn't mean you have to change the entire look every week it just means that you should be creative and change your offers, your specials etc., to keep your site fresh and as an effort to continually improve your site. The advantage of web publishing is being able to change your site fairly easily and inexpensively.
8.Create motivating copy in your site. Contests, special offers, discounts, limited time offers, and frequent buyer discounts are all examples of motivational sales tactics. If a specific offer isn't working or generating the response you want changes it until you get it working for you. As mentioned in the last point, some of your visitors will be new and some will be repeat customers. If your site is effective you will likely get some referrals from visitors so make sure that your site speaks to the visitor and clearly states what your site is about and what they are going to get there. Remember we all like to feel important and appreciated. Create wording and copy in the site that makes the visitor think the site was designed just with their needs in mind. Offer the benefits of your products and services and what's in it for them if they buy them and why they need to buy them today!
9.Consider various methods for encouraging visitors to contact you so you can capture the e-mail addresses of interested parties. Think of every single visitor to your site as a potential customer. If they've come to your site they are interested in what you have to offer. But if they merely browse then click off your site, they are lost prospects and possibly your competitors' newest customer. Knowing this should emphasize to you the importance of capturing the e-mail or contact information of every single visitor to your site. You can do this by offering a free newsletter subscription, as mentioned earlier. You can do this by offering an incentive of some type. For example if visitors fill in your guest book or an information request form with their contact information you will e-mail a valuable 5 page free report on your product or service. Get the idea? Get the e-mail address or contact information of your visitors and you increase your chances of making the sale. Just make sure you offer your visitors something of good value for taking the time to provide you with their contact information. It helps too, if you offer assurance of privacy and that the information they enter will be kept confidential and not be resold.
10.Include a signature file on all your outgoing e-mail messages. When you receive a request for information on your product or services, make sure that your e-mail reply is sent out with a signature file. Configure your signature file using your e-mail software tools. An effective signature file includes your company name, your name, your web site address, e-mail address, phone, fax number, and most importantly some type of incentive for people to contact you or visit your site today. Essentially it's a free promotion tool. Remember that free newsletter I mentioned in an earlier point, here's a perfect place to plug your site with a free offer for a newsletter, free report, time limited offer, etc.
11.Consider traffic generation tools. You may have noticed while surfing on the web that a number of large sites are offering features like free classified advertising and free postcard greetings. Why are they doing this? To generate traffic of course! People come to their site to place a free ad or send or receive a free postcard greeting and this creates free promotion for the site owner. You can do this to create traffic to your site. Go to http://www.trafficcenter.com and you will see these kinds of programs and others too that you can have installed on your site to create more traffic. An example of some of the goodies you can offer are a Free Fortune Cookie service that allows your site visitors to send a Fortune Cookie to a friend, colleague or family member. The Updater System is another nifty tool that allows visitors to subscribe to a service that sends out an automated e-mail message whenever your site is updated. While there have a look a the Reminder Service that allows visitors to enter dates of events they wish to be reminded about, when that date approaches they receive an e-mail message reminder. (No more forgotten anniversaries, birthdays or deadlines). You've probably heard of the popular Link Exchange program that allows you to participate in a banner advertising exchange program, well you can have a similar system on your site too! Information on this and the other traffic generating systems I've mentioned are all at http://www.trafficcenter.com
12.Promote your web site address on all of your print marketing materials including business cards, letterhead, radio and television ads. But don't stop there! Give people a reason to go to your web site by offering them something of value for doing so such as a free newsletter, 20% off sale, or some other incentive. Change your offers periodically to keep them fresh and exciting.
13.Use free promotional vehicles on the web such as free classified advertising. There are all kinds of free ways to promote your site on the Internet for free. Enter "free advertising" in just about any search engine and you will find thousands of places to list either a classified ad, a link or a brief promotional blurb about your site, product or service.
14.Join a link exchange program (or consider setting up your own). There are a variety of link exchange programs available that allow you to exchange banner advertising with another site of similar theme. These programs are free for the most part and do contribute some traffic to your site, but why not offer your own banner advertising exchange program. Get the details on how to do this at http://www.trafficcenter.com
15.Purchase low cost banners, featured ad positions or sponsorships in high traffic malls or target web sites. Find sites that have high traffic that can be confirmed (meaning they can prove their traffic) and purchase banner advertising, featured advertisers and links that can bring traffic to your site. Worldprofit at http://www.worldprofit.com is a good place to start for low cost high traffic advertising.
16.Run low cost classified ads in newsletters that reach your target market. Many site owners offer free newsletters to a subscriber list and include a classified advertising section. The cost to run an ad in an e-zine or newsletter is reasonable usually about $25 - $50 per insertion. Just be sure before placing an ad to confirm that it is indeed an "opt-in" subscriber based newsletter (not a spam list) with a guaranteed circulation of at least 5,000 and up. Expect to pay more for an ad in a newsletter with a larger circulation.
17.Learn how to barter. Make deals with other site owners, run free ads, links or sponsorships for non-competing equitable sites in exchange for running yours in their site or newsletter. Or consider offering something for free at your site with every product or service purchase. This doesn't have to cost you anything and can be as simple as running a free ad or link for your customer if they order from you. Be creative here and it will help increase traffic and sales.
18.Make your site into an "expert" or niche site. Too many site owners try to be all things to all people. It's more effective to offer specialized services and create the sense that your site is THE site to go to for information on your specific product or service. Example, have a look at http://www.heintzmanfarms.com. This site is about flax seed and the health effects of flax. It offers specific information all related to the product, the benefits of the products, the sale of the product and information related to its use. You will not find the weather forecast at this site, or a world atlas, or a dining directory but if you are a health conscience individual or a diabetic you will certainly find lots of information of good value about this specific product.
19.Spend time on the web researching what other sites are doing that is successful. You don't have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to generating new ideas for traffic generation. The Internet is a wealth of information. Look at what your competitors are doing, adapt (not steal) good ideas for your own purposes, and stay current on new developments in technology.
20.Subscribe to free resource information on the web. Visit web sites that offer current information and news in the field of web marketing. Make use of free information articles discussing Internet commerce and marketing strategy available at many sites. You can start by subscribing to the Worldprofit Worldgram weekly free newsletter at http://www.worldprofit.com/fmcatalg.htm and reading the free web site building report library at http://www.incor.com
Sandi Hunter is Co-Founder of Worldprofit at http://www.worldprofit.com
For all your on and offline design needs, go to World Design Services at http://www.worlddesignservices.com To get your FREE Banner on websites worldwide, go to http://www.worldbannerexchange.com
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