When many of my clients first come to me for coaching, they share that one of their biggest challenges is getting enough visitors to their site. Attracting traffic isn’t a cut and dry process – there isn’t one perfect way to do it. But there are many ways that, when used collaboratively, will build you a nice stream of visitors.
To get your marketing wheels turning, check out these 15 simple ways to attract new visitors to your site. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but it will give you several fresh ideas to try.
Now, remember – you don’t want to expel effort in getting just anyone to visit your site. You only want people who would likely be interested in what you have to offer. So before you read on, answer this question:
“WHO are your target clients or customers?”
Are they men, women, or both? Do they own a certain type of business or work in a certain profession? Are they young, old, or middle aged? Are they left handed? Do they own pets? Can they juggle?
I hope you see where I’m going here. The more you know about your ideal clients/customers, the better you’ll know where and how to find them .
So … keep that information in mind as you consider these traffic-building tactics:
___ 1. Search Engines and Directories
Why not be in front of people who are actually searching for your product or service? Get your site listed in the top search engines by either learning about this topic on your own or investing in assistance. Because there is A LOT to learn and the rules keep changing all the time, this is an area I advise you get some help in. (I recommend my friend Marc Harty at http://www.SearchEnginePatrol.com.)
___ 2. Pay-per-Click Directories
In pay-per-click deals, you only pay for how many people actually CLICK on your ad to get to your Web site. Services such as Overture (http://www.overture.com/) and Google AdWords (https://adwords.google.com/) let you bid on how much you’d like to pay per click, and many times your listings appear above the regular listings in the major search engines. (To learn more, see my article, “Pay Per Click: What’s It All About ?” at http://www.ezinequeen.com/payclick.htm.)
___ 3. Your Own E-zine
If you publish your own e-zine, you already have a warm pool of prospects who are likely interested in what you have to offer. Give them a reason to visit (or re-visit) your site by adding new content, giving away a free report or e-book, or offering a special subscriber-only promotion on your products and services. (To learn more about publishing your own e-zine, sign up for one of my FREE monthly teleclasses at http://www.ezine-queen.com/teleclass.htm)
___ 4. Your Articles in Other E-zines and at Other Web Sites
This has been one of my most successful traffic-building tactics. There are thousands of online publishers who would like to use YOUR articles in their e-zines and on their Web sites! Find them via the Directory of E-zines (http://www.1automationwiz.com/app/aftrack.asp?AFID=44985) (my favorite) or search for Web sites that accept “free content” submissions. Be sure to add an attention-getting blurb at the end of your article that gives the reader a reason to visit your site ASAP. (To learn how to do this, see my article “Recycle Your Articles and Gain Tons of New Subscribers” at http://www.ezinequeen.com/recycle.htm.)
___ 5. Ads in Other E-zines
Identify other e-zines whose readership matches your target market. Search the Directory of E-zines (http://www.1automationwiz.com/app/aftrack.asp?AFID=44985) and the Web. Find out if the e-zines accept advertising and learn what their rates are. Run at least three ads in a row, preferably five to seven, to get an accurate representation of how the ad pulls. Use an ad-tracking program to determine how many clicks each ad is getting. My shopping cart program has this built in, but if you’re looking for a separate ad tracking service at a low cost, AdMinder is a good one. (http://www.adminder.com/go.cgi?id=akb1)
___ 6. Ads on Other Web Sites
Research other Web sites where your target market visits and inquire about advertising. Have ready both text ads and banner ads of different sizes. (For examples of banner sizes, see some of the banner ads I provide to my E-zine Queen Affiliates at http://www.ezinequeen.com/graphics.htm)
___ 7. Online Forums and Discussion Groups
Where do your prospective clients and customers hang out online? What organizations do they belong to? Identify popular forums and discussion groups that are related to your subject area and where prospects in your target market may be lurking. You’ll find more than you ever knew existed just by doing a few online searches. Don’t be self-promotional in your postings – be helpful and answer questions as related to your area of expertise. Let your value shine through and include your Web site address underneath your name.
___ 8. Recommendations by E-zine Publishers
Do you know anyone who publishes an e-zine for the same target market as yours? If you’re not direct competitors, ask her about cross-promoting each other. Example: My friend Wendy Weiss, “The Queen of Cold Calling,” publishes a great e-zine called “Opening Doors & Closing Sales” (http://www.wendyweiss.com/). When we both launched our e-zines four years ago, I gave a two-paragraph recommendation for her site in my own e-zine, and she returned the favor by doing the same for me. That one exchange resulted in hundreds of new visitors (and subscribers) for each of us!
___ 9. Recommendations by Other Site Owners
Same idea as no. 8. Many sites offer a “recommended resources” page, so why not get listed on them? Find sites whose target market matches yours and ask if they’d recommend your site. You’ll get more yeses if you offer to list them on your site as well. (This strategy used to also be very powerful to help increase your search engine rankings, but not so much anymore.)
___ 10. Affiliate Programs
Grow your own sales force by offering a handsome commission on your products and services. While this requires you to give away some profits on those sales, they’re sales you would not have had otherwise. Right now almost HALF of my sales come from traffic sent to my site by my affiliates. Best of all, you can track and pay your affiliates automatically using programs like ClickBank (http://zzz.clickbank.net/r/?ezinequeen) or KickStart Cart (http://www.netofficetoolbox.com/app/adtrack.asp?AdID=36923).
___ 11. Your E-mail Sig File
You’re probably familiar with e-mail signature (or “sig”) files – – they’re the few lines of contact information that many of us put at the bottom of every e-mail we send. Add a few additional lines to your sig file that give us a reason to visit your site. Perhaps you’re having a special sale now or you’re giving away a free report, e-book, or e-zine subscription. Remember, e-mails get forwarded around all the time, so take advantage of this free exposure. (For more tips on sig files, see my article “Make Your E-mail Sig File Work for You” at http://www.ezine- queen.com/sigfile.htm)
___ 12. Exposure in Print, Radio, and TV
You can drive hundreds or even thousands of new visitors to your site with the right media exposure. Again, no matter how great your interview or article is, people need a kick in the pants to visit your site. So give them something free that they have to come GET at your site. For help in generating publicity at $0 cost to you, check out veteran broadcaster George McKenzie’s Get Free Publicity program (http://www.automateyourwebsite.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=73137).
___ 13. Speaking to Groups
Nothing leaves more of an impact on people than an in-person presentation. At each appearance, collect your participants’ e- mail addresses by offering something free (your free report, e- book, or e-zine subscription). The day after the event, send them a reminder to visit your site to pick up their free gift! My friend Tom Antion’s site offers tons of advice and resources on speaking for exposure and profit (http://www.netofficetoolbox.com/app/adtrack.asp?AdID=37477).
___ 14. Postcard Mailings
One of the most overlooked tactics in today’s marketing world is the humble postcard. Postcards are a fast, easy, and reliable way to increase visitors to your site. Best of all, they’re the ideal way to break through the online clutter and get your prospects’ attention! For a failsafe, step-by-step postcard marketing plan, look to my own marketing mentor, Alex Mandossian. He offers a wonderful tutorial package called Marketing With Postcards (http://www.marketingwithpostcards.com/).
___ 15. Sheer Shamelessness
If you live in the Los Angeles area, there’s a good chance you’ve seen “EzineQueen.com” whiz by you at speeds in excess of 70 m.p.h. Why? It’s emblazoned across the back of my black SUV in large, lime-green letters! At least once a month I get a friendly e-mail from someone who saw my giant URL and, out of curiosity, visited my site. A few of them have even turned into customers. Lesson learned? Think out of the box! For help in this area, see Debbie Allen’s “Confessions of Shameless Self Promoters” series. (http://www.confessionsofshamelesss.com/)
(c) 2003 Alexandria K. Brown
Alexandria K. Brown, “The E-zine Queen,” is author of the award-winning manual, “Boost Business With Your Own E-zine” and the publisher of the e-zine, “Publish for Profits.” To learn more about her book and FREE tips, teleclasses, and resources, visit http://www.EzineQueen.com.
