Today I'm going to tell you how
to increase the kind of web site traffic your business really
needs...
- AND build your crediblity...
- AND improve your ranking in
the search engines...
- AND get your customers talking
to others about you...
... all with a simple
four-step process that won't cost you a single dime.
Sound too good to be true? It's
not!
Let me give you a quick rundown
of the plan before we dive in:
-
You're going to find a
handful of keywords that the ideal visitor to your site
would use to search for your product
-
You're going to plug those
keywords into your web site
-
Then you're going to write
a SHORT article that contains those same keywords
-
And finally, you'll distribute
your content all over the web and get people passing
your information on to other people who will
be interested in what you have to offer
You'll be surprised how quickly
and easily you can get this strategy going -- AND how fast
you'll see an impact on your traffic numbers when you put
yourself on the radar of people who are looking for what you
provide.
Let's check out the first step
in a little more detail...
Step
One: Set up your web site for maximum "searchability"!
If you haven't taken the time
to...
... your traffic is going to
be sluggish right off the bat. How are the people who really
want your information supposed to find you?
When I tell people that they've
missed an important step in their traffic-building strategy,
they always ask me: how are you supposed to figure
out the right keywords for your web site? Here are the two
tools I recommend to help them with the job:
- Yahoo
Search Marketing's Keyword Selector Tool
is a good place to start your investigation. You just
type in a word or term you think people in your market might
search for, and the Keyword Selector Tool will tell you
how many people searched for that particular term in Yahoo
Search Marketing over the last month.
It will also show you a list of related words and phrases,
and tell you how many times people typed those terms into
the free search engines over the last month.
This is a great way to find
out how many people may be searching for information to
solve a particular problem, and give you a picture of the
demand for your product on the Web. But best of all, it
gives you tons of ideas for keywords that you might never
have thought of.
Once you’ve generated a list of useful keyword ideas,
you’re ready to dig in and do some serious research
with Wordtracker.
- Wordtracker
goes into more depth to show you not only what people are
searching for online, but also how many other web sites
are competing for the same audience. Basically,
it keeps a record of how many times a particular keyword
or phrase was searched during the past 90 days across the
Web.
When you enter the keyword
phrases your market is searching for, you search the Wordtracker
database of over 330 million searches (or “queries”).
You're looking for search terms that are popular, but don't
have too many sites competing for them.
You can also pop all of this
detailed information into useful reports that help you determine
which keywords and phrases will bring you the most traffic.
To check out Wordtracker and
get a step-by-step guide to the process, just head to:
www.marketingtips.com/wordtracker
and click "Tour"
on the navigation bar.
Wordtracker is a paid service,
but you can sign up for a day for under $8.00 and a week
for under $27.00. It's a great investment.
Step
Two: Plug your keywords into your site
Now that
you have some great keywords for your market, find as many
places as you can to plug them into your web site!
Use them
in your title tags, in your source code, in the copy on your
pages, and in your opt-in offers.
If you
find your domain name isn't telling people what your web site
is about or showing up in the right search results, consider
purchasing a new one.
A keyword-rich
domain name is a small investment that really pays off by
making your site easy for your potential customers to find
and remember.
(One quick
note: remember to use only keywords relevant to your
product -- search engines will penalize you if they
find keywords sprinkled through your code that have nothing
to do with the content of your site.)
Now to
move on to the next step -- your foolproof way to snag people
searching for your product on the Web and bring them back
to your site!
Step
Three: Create a keyword-rich article to distribute on the
Web
When you're ready, get your keywords,
sit down, and write a keyword-rich article that relates to
what you sell.
Then give it away to other sites
-- for FREE!
Believe it or not, this is one
of the best ways you can drive a steady stream of eager customers
to your site.
Why does it work? Well, people
basically come online for one of two reasons: To check their
email or to look for information. Sure, some of them end up
making purchases, but this is not generally the reason they
log on. They want...
- the answer to a question
- the solution to a
problem
That's why it's your job to give
them that information, as it relates to your product.
You already do that with the copy on your web site, but why
stop there?
Writing a short, informative
article to distribute on the Web is a great way to gain recognition
as a valuable resource in your industry.
Of course, you'll want to write
about something that relates to your products or services,
since the ultimate goal of the article is to drive visitors
to your site who are interested in what you're selling. But
the article should be informative, not "sales-y".
Make sure that each article you
write contains rare, valuable, or hard-to-find information.
Not only will this increase the chances that other site owners
or managers will post your article, it will also increase
the number of visitors who click through to your site after
reading it.
For example, if you have a web
site that sells used golf equipment, you could write an article
about three things to look for in a good, pre-owned putter.
Or if you sell an eBook about setting up your own home computer
network, why not write an article about common problems people
have in setting up a wireless router?
Look for article ideas in the
questions that people ask you all the time, or in the things
you often see people doing wrong. Share hot new tips on how
to use the products you sell, or talk about trends that you've
spotted in your industry.
I'm not talking about a major
essay here, though.
Did I just hear a big sigh of
relief? :-)
Nope -- you don't need to be
a professional writer to turn out a solid, traffic-boosting
article! Your quick piece should...
-
be no longer than 400 words
(not even a whole page!)
-
contain a keyword related
to your product in first 90 characters
-
contain the keyword in the
first and last paragraphs
-
have a short, credibility-building
"bio" with link to your site at the end. Here's
an example: "ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joe Smith is a recognized
authority on the subject of widgets. His web site, www.JoesWidgets.com,
provides a wealth of informative articles and resources
on everything you'll ever need to know about widgets."
Now for the
fourth step in this traffic-driving strategy.
Step
Four: Get your content headed EVERYWHERE on the Web
Once you've taken a few hours
to write one or two quick articles, head to one of these top
online content distribution sites. Upload
your keyword-rich content to:
It only takes a couple of minutes,
but the rewards for your site will be huge.
These sites carry hundred or
thousands of articles on a range of topics. If someone is
looking for content for their web site, they can download
or copy an article from the distribution site without paying
a dime to use it! They can't change the text of the article,
and they must publish it with the author's name and information
intact.
Now people who are plugging your
keywords into search engines will be directed to your
content at these highly-ranked sites, and web site owners
who are looking for fresh, search engine-attracting content
will download your article -- along with your bio
and link! -- and put it up on their pages.
And once visitors see that you
know what you're talking about, they'll click on the link
in your bio, and head straight to your web site!
The best thing about this strategy
is that these visitors are QUALITY, TARGETED traffic -- they
actually WANT what you're selling, because you are meeting
a need or giving them help with the problem they came online
to solve!
Some content distribution sites
also offer "send to a friend" links
next to articles posted on their sites -- so make sure you're
uploading your articles to sites with this kind of capability!
Every time someone enjoys your
article enough to pass it on, your audience grows. And since
people don't forward BAD content on to their friends, they
are basically recommending you as a credible source just by
passing it on.
You can also create a "send
to a friend" link on your own web pages with the help
of a simple script added to your code. Here are some examples
of what this kind of link might say:
- "Did you enjoy this article?
To recommend it to a friend, click here..."
- "To pass this important
info along to a friend or family member, click here..."
- "Share this with a friend
-- just click here..."
- "Can't wait to tell a
friend about this? Here's how..."
To find scripts to make links
like these ones fully functional, check out the resources
at:
The visitors who come to your
site through articles or forwarded material are highly targeted...
and likely to take action when they actually arrive
at your web site seeking your specific information.
Final
thoughts
See how much you can do with
one little article?
It's amazing how effective a
small piece of content can be when you...
- know your keywords, and...
- know all the places to position
that content so it's viewed again and again
Once you've done your keyword
research, you might feel a bit intimidated by the idea of
writing something yourself for the 'Net. Or maybe you don't
feel like you have the time to do it justice.
Remember -- any free content
you create shouldn't be too long, and it definitely shouldn't
be too complicated, since the people reading it won't know
your product or your subject as well as you do.
If you're still concerned, you
can always hire a writer from a freelance web site like Elance
to do a couple of short articles or an eBook (with a bit of
basic information from you, of course.) Expect to pay anywhere
from $25 to $35 an hour for their time.
But I recommend that you try
to write something yourself first. You definitely don't need
to be a professional writer to create something readable and
interesting... (I sure don't have a degree in creative writing
myself!)
Just try to think like your audience
-- what do they want to know, and how much do they know already?
Then tell them simply and clearly. We're not talking Shakespeare
here.
Here's one more quick peek at
my easy four-step plan to increase web traffic:
-
Find the keywords people
are using to search for your product
-
Make sure all the content
on your web site contains these keywords!
-
Write short, keyword-rich
articles with links directing people back to your site
-- nothing too long or complicated; just enough content
to establish you as someone "in the know" about
your industry
-
And finally, send your article
to content distribution sites and -- with just a simple
suggestion or a script-based link -- encourage people
to pass your material on to their friends (and direct
them back to your site!)
These simple steps are things
that practically anyone can do to drive traffic. They'll help
you get the kind of targeted, quality traffic
that can make all the difference to the success of a business,
especially when you're just starting out!
In other words, these are the
types of visitors who are most likely to take action on your
site, whether they make a purchase, or simply opt in with
their personal information.
And I don't know about you, but
I'll take more of those visitors any day of the week!
