Everyone who has a website knows that to have sales you must
have traffic, but not just any traffic; it has to be targeted
traffic.
What is Targeted traffic? It is simply visitors to your
website that are interested in what your website is about.
For example, people interested in buying jewellery will find
jewellery websites interesting.
How do I get targeted traffic I hear you ask? The following
are tried and tested methods:
Forums: Subscribe to forums that discuss
your topic. Answer questions and join in the debates there.
Become an expert in the field. Then with each article reply
you write have a discreet link to your website in the signature
file. What can be placed in your signature is often determined
by the forum moderators. Do not spam the forum or you will
be stopped from posting. This is one of the most productive
ways of getting free traffic as those who click your link
have already read and liked your style.
Linking from/to other websites: Contact
website owners that have similar but not competitive websites
to yours, ask them for a reciprocal link from their website
to yours. Be sure to select your link partner to match closely
your customer profile. Software programs such as Arelis are
very helpful in this process.
E-Zines: Contact e-zine owners that have
your target readership and buy advertisements from them.
Be sure to have a test run to see that the return on investment
is sufficient to cover the costs involved. If you are buying
an extended run of advertisements haggle with the e-zine
owner over price. You may save a considerable amount.
Newsletters: When people visit your website
offer them something of value for free if they sign up to
your newsletter (like an e-Book). Your newsletter should
be written tightly geared towards your topic. It should be
published regularly at weekly intervals.
E-Books: Often used, these are usually
free informational books for your clients and for others
to give away free if they leave your links in the book itself.
You can place links back to your website in the books you
sell or give to your clients.
Joint Ventures: Contact online marketers looking for new
products to sell. They often have large mailing lists with
eager to buy customers. Normally they are willing to email
their list for a cut of the sale price. This works particularly
well with informational products. It has several advantages.
It can give a very sizeable boost to both your sales and
mailing list within a very short period.
Buy Traffic: This is probably the cheapest in terms of time
and most expensive money wise. It gives a traffic boost normally
within 30 days. What are you buying? You are buying traffic
from expired domain names which the company selling the traffic
has bought. They are domain names still registered on the
search engines which get a considerable amount of traffic.
The previous domain name owners have either lost interest
in the name or simply forgot to renew the registration. This
means that the traffic from the expired domain name is simply
redirected to your website. This is usually high quality
traffic as only websites with traffic such as you want is
redirected to you. As always, a test run to see if this traffic
is suitable should be undertaken.
When you combine these techniques and apply them consistently
over time you will find a rich source of targeted traffic
coming to your website. This, combined with quality products
will ensure the success of your online business.
Ricardy Banks is a Certified Internet Consultant with WSI
and has over 20 years of experience in the IT industry.
WSI
Internet Consulting & Education
rbanks@easywsiwebsolutions.com
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