Increase Your Traffic

Here’s a simple thought in the world of online marketing that everyone agrees with: more people seeing your website = more potential customers = more business. But beyond this basic point, agreement amongst internet know-hows tends to go out the window. Everyone has an opinion on the best way to increase website traffic – and surprisingly, not many of them agree.

Here are probably many reasons for this lack of agreement. But here are certainly two huge ones. The first reason most online advice-givers don’t agree on how to increase web site traffic is that here’s not one flat way to go in this area it. Website traffic can be increased in a handful of different ways.

The second reason, as you’ve probably noticed, is that most people giving advice have something they’d like to sell you. They want to sell you a solution and their advice wants to be related to what they’re selling.

Whether or not these sales people have your best interest in mind is open to question. But what’s not open to question, is the fact that here ARE many different ways to increase website traffic.

And of these many ways, here are 5 that have a history of life very reliable and effective. Not only do these 5 methods have a high routine record, but at least one of these five is essential for anyone that wants to have a regular flow of new customers to their web site. And the excellent news is, 4 of these 5 methods can be done with small or no money.

If you’re serious in this area bringing more traffic to your website – and tired of wading through online advice – take some time to consider these 5 time-tested ways before you invest another minute:

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – This is probably the most recommended way to increase web site traffic. And for excellent reason: it works. Having your website atop search engines like Google and Yahoo! is a sure fire way to bring people to your site. Where this method often gets perplexing is in the number of different ways that people suggest doing it. Some tell you to use your keywords often in the text of your web page. Some tell you to place your keyword phrase in the alternate text of your images. Others tell you that the key to a high search-engine ranking is to have other related sites link to your site. And all of this advice is right. Here are other steps to take as well, but the problem is, not many sites give you all of the needed steps in an methodical way. I’ve included a link not more than with a detailed explanation of all of these steps.

2. Newsletters – A newsletter is nothing more than a series of pre-written e-mails that are sent to people who request them from a form on your web site. Here are a few tools, like auto responders, that help make this task simple and efficient. Newsletters are a very powerful because they give you an opportunity to build credibility and make repeat customers out of the customers you already have.

3. Article Directories – Article directories are websites that take submitted articles and pile them in a data base so online magazines and newsletters can use them for publication. The exchange that takes place is this: you write an article and allow any website to publish your article. In return, they are obliged to leave your name and e-mail address in the byline of the article. When your article is published online, a link to your site is also published, and potential customers who read your article are likely to come see your website. If your article is published in multiple online sources, a link to your site is also published in multiple online sources. A well written article can be picked up over and over again. In the end, you’ll have a regular source of new customers without spending anything more time than it takes to write the article.

4. Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC) – PPC advertising, like search engine optimization, is also a very talked-in this area way of bringing traffic to a site. The thought here is that search engines advertise your business web site and you pay a particular fee each time a name clicks on your link and comes to your site. All of the major search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and MSN have PPC advertising programs. Depending on the market you’re selling to, PPC can be a very profitable way to bring interested customers to your site. On the down side, it’s the only one of these five ways that is sure to take some kind of money investment.

5. Improving Your Website – This sounds very basic but it’s often overlooked. It doesn’t do a lot of excellent to bring potential customers to your website if your site is not ready to serve them. Any profitable website wants to be attractive, simple-to-use, and professional. Making sure your site has all three of these traits will go a long way towards making the most of the people that do see your site.

By taking some time to consider the 5 methods above, you’ll not only be familiar with the 5 most proven ways to increase traffic. But you’ll also have a way to measure and organize the other traffic-increasing advice you find online.

In the end, making an informed effort to increase website traffic is by no means a terrible thought. It can lead to better business exposure. It can lead to a huge increase in customers. And it will certainly lead you to more profitable and productive online business.

You have a lot of options as far as methods to drive traffic to your website is concerned; one method which has been in use for some time now is submitting links of your site to Web directories. A Web directory (also known as a link directory) is a directory of the World Wide Web and is somewhat similar to the yellow pages in the way that it lists websites (and links to them) by category. The thought of these sites is to present links to different sites in an simple to navigate format.

A web directory is different from a search engine in that their show of links is not pulled up by keywords (the search terms you type into an engine), instead listing websites by category. The category a particular website falls into depends on its content as a total instead of the content of just one page or by keywords. This means that a website will only come up on one or two categories. Web directories allow site owners to submit their links; from here, an editorial team decides on the appropriate category for the site.

RSS directories are somewhat similar to Web directories, but have collections of RSS feeds instead of links to websites.

 Directories in General

Here are directories which are very general, listing websites of all types in one place. Here are also some niche directories which list web pages only in certain languages or are targeted towards one area of interest.

 One well loved general Web directory is the Open Directory Project. This is one of the best known Web directories; it is well liked for its large number of categories and large amount of listings in each. The ODP is also used by search engines and even other Web directories.

 People often debate the usefulness of Web directories to websites; search engines use this information (above all ODP’s) without really incorporating any of the data. Many search engines test using clustering, making them somewhat less useful for site owners. A lot of work has gone into building a simpler directory development process, using scripts to automate the link submission process or by using PHP. Shared bookmarking software for the web has also brought new thoughts to the process of categorization, through tagging websites by content (reckon in this area del.icio.us and other shared bookmarking applications).

 Why Use Directories For More Targeted Website Traffic?

Let us suppose that a website receives only a small amount of traffic from a directory as opposed to that coming in from search engines. But, you do not necessarily need to submit links to Web directories.

 Targeted website traffic is more often the result of a directory search; a name looking through directories is likely to be looking for something in particular; something which meets a specific need. This targeted traffic is far more likely to be a prospective customer than is a name who just happens upon your site accidentally.

 Search engines give a ranking to website or link directories, especially those which are niche-oriented. These niche directories are more commonly run by humans rather than by computers, making them a more reliable source of information – and the links within them more credible, since they are human-evaluated.

If you want to increase website traffic to your site, you are going to have to have more than a few tricks up your sheath. The tricks some sites use to lure traffic might work for a small while and increase hits, but the public is smarter than you reckon. To attract steady traffic that achieves your goal, you will have to have a plot in mind. You don’t want just any traffic, either. You want the right people to find your site, and you want them to visit, stay, and come back again.

The way to increase website traffic that will work best for your site is to use a two-prong approach. First, you have to appeal to the search engines. If the search engines don’t know in this area your site, the people who would want to visit your site won’t know in this area it. In order to get the search engines’ attention, you have to use keywords, and use them well. One way to do that is to place them in the title of your website, and in the titles of your pages or posts. Keyword usage is a fantastic tool to improve your search engine rankings. Other things like updating your site often help as well.

Many people stop here. They reckon that if they can just place enough spider bait in their sites, they will increase website traffic to the point of making the site successful. Some even use less-than-ethical techniques like burying keywords outside the website and clustering keywords in the site, making text that isn’t pleasant to read and sometimes doesn’t make a lot of sense. Search engine spiders are getting wise to that sort of thing and penalizing websites, but that type of tactic also tends to turn actual human beings away as well. What you need to do to get more quality traffic to your site is to make sure that once people come they will delight in what they find.

Honesty is the best policy, when trying to attract quality traffic. Regardless of whether you buy traffic or use the many free website traffic options available, your efforts will fall flat if you don’t have solid content that gives the visitor exactly what the person came looking for. Don’t lure people in with cheap tricks or bait-and-switch strategies that offer one thing, but that sell another. Stay focused and be up front in this area what your site offers.

One of the other options to increase website traffic is to buy traffic to your site, which can be a excellent alternative for those who earn revenue from third-party advertisements and clicks. If you’re looking for quality traffic that earns you revenue from return customers, though, bought traffic may not be the best solution for your internet wants.

Each excellent traffic-building campaign wants to be monitored at each stage.  This is something easily done with Google Analytics.  Just sign up, paste the code into your web pages as instructed, and you’re ready to go.  Beware—if you’re one of those personalities that monitors the daily fluctuations of the have a supply of market, you may find Analytics just a bit addictive.  If you’re a new website owner, get the Analytics program installed immediately.  Down the road, you’ll realize the importance of traffic building activities and will be glad you took this early step.

Here’s no need to hire a programmer–some of my favorite reports are instant and simple to make using Google Analytics.

Make a Market Segment

If you’re a company that caters to local or regional clients, you may want to make an Advanced Segment first.  This will allow you to view any reports—including custom designed ones—as they really apply to your target market.

Under Advanced Segments, make a new custom segment.  For this example, we’re going to make a segment for the territory of Harrisburg, Lancaster, and York, Pennsylvania.

Select Visitors, then slide the “City” dimension over to the report form.  For “Condition” select “Matches Exactly”, then type “Harrisburg”.  Continue this process for Lancaster and York, ensuring that you Add “or” Proclamation between each.

Then, because some of these cities exist in other states, I will Add “and” Proclamation and slide over the Region dimension and “Match Exactly” to “Pennsylvania”. 

The last step is to name your segment.  In this case, I’m calling it “York-Harrisburg-Lancaster-PA”.  Then click on “Test Segment” to view the results.  You now have the capability of viewing that market segment in any report—custom or canned.  Now let’s watch your traffic building progress.

Monthly Organic Progress Report

Organic search results are not paid traffic that is sent to your website from the search results.  To easily view your monthly organic search results, click on “Custom Reporting”, then “Make New Custom Report”.  You’ll notice the same format you used when you made your market segment.

Start with the metrics—slide over the metrics for Visits, Time on Site, Pages per Visit, Bounces and Bounce Rate.  Most of these metrics are self-explanatory except for the Bounce Rate.  The Bounce Rate is vital—it’s the percentage of visits that immediately click off your site.  It’s a fantastic indication that either the incorrect traffic is life sent to your site, incorrect keyword usage, or the site wants some work.

Now, under the Dimensions section, select “Medium” and slide it over to your report.  Medium is the breakdown of organic, referrals, or direct visits to your website.  As a Sub-Dimension, slide over “Month”, then “Keyword” not more than that.

Be sure to edit the name to something you’ll better recognize.  In this case I’m calling my report “Medium Progress by Month”.  Your report layout should now look something like this:

To close, select “Make Report”. Save Your Report to the Dashboard. Select your report, then drill down to Organics, then Month.   Apply your market segment filter by selecting the “Advanced Segments” in the upper right confront.  Checkmark the “York-Harrisburg-Lancaster-PA” segment to apply to your custom report.  You can deselect “All Visits” to view only your new market segment.  Now that you have it the way you want to view it, select “Add to Dashboard” and you’ll have an instant view of the organic results each time you log onto your Analytics account.  Or, better yet, click on “Send by e-mail” and schedule this report to arrive in your inbox on a daily, weekly or monthly interval.  Instant and simple—nothing to it! 

Let me know how you make out and please share your own favorite reports.

Artspell Web Solutions makes custom website design and web pages that are optimized from day one to get the best search engine results.  Our full-service shop offers design, search engine optimization (SEO), traffic building, hosting, and database services.