Basic Traffic Tactics

Traffic is the single most important aspect of a successful online based business. Each and every article you find about making your online business successful will more than likely include the importance of generating traffic. Which is all well and good. But what if you know how to get traffic?  What if you don't understand the basic ways that traffic is generated? 

Generating traffic is just like anything else in life. You have to understand the basics before you can move on the more advanced techniques. That's why over the next seven days we are going to go over the basic tactics that are used to create a steady flow of traffic to your website. 

Some of the topics that we will be talking about in this course are:
-Using Free Methods for Getting Traffic 
-Using Search Engines for Free Traffic.
-Using Pay Per Click Focus on Google Adwords
-Using Pay Per Click Yahoo versus Adwords ??'s
-Using Viral Marketing
-Getting the Most Out of Your Traffic
 
Some of the basic free methods for generating traffic.

There is one hard and fast rule in generating income for your  website "you need a steady flow of traffic" because if no one goes to your site chances you won't be making any sales.

While there are ways to rev-up your traffic flow, many sites don’t have the resources that it takes to generate massive amounts of traffic. The good news is you don’t have to spend a cent to get traffic if you don't want to. 

All you really need is some basic know how and a lot of determination. Getting traffic isn't always easy, especially free traffic. It will take some time, hard work and research, but it's free and it will be worth it in the long run.

Here we go.....

---Method One

Write good content for your site. Make sure that the content for your site is entertaining as well as informational. It  should provide certain keywords targeted to your market as well as great quality. You can create this content yourself, use private label content or you can hire a professional content writer. The choice is up to you. 

Keep in mind when adding content to your site that the search  engines track down the keywords and keyword phrases in your  content then index your pages based on how they are used.

---Method Two

Write articles that grab the attention of people that are interested in the product or service you provide. Try writing articles that will provide relevant information and tips that 
will make them want to visit your site for more. After your have  composed your article submit it to article directories with a link back to your site. 

Many sites offer free submission and posting of your articles. When people find interest in your articles they have a good chance of following the track by finding out where the article originated. Include a link or a brief description of your website with the article and there’s a great probability that they will go to your site.

Again if you don't want to write the article yourself you can  use private label content or hire a content writer.

---Method Three

Provide a free newsletter. This is a great way to ensure repeat visits to your site. Offer your visitors interesting and entertaining articles on your topic. Provide them with site
updates or a catalog of your products. Bribe them with a nice free gift for signing up to receive emails from you. 

Then you will have the ability to contact them and build a relationship with them. You can encourage them to recommend your site to other people. The more people who sign up for your newsletter, the more people there will be that will go to your site increasing your traffic. 

---Method Four

Trade links with other sites. This method may seem a bit out dated but it is still a very effective way to get free traffic.

If you don't want to hunt down link partners yourself there are many services that with do the hard work for you.  Just do a quick search for "link exchange" and you will find
many options. 

Keep in mind you don't have to stop at links you can exchange articles, ads or even product recommendations.

---Method Five

Use traffic exchanges. This is like exchanging links but on a different level. With most traffic exchanges you earn credits by viewing other people's site or ads. Then those credits are used when someone views yours.

You both benefit from each others efforts to generate traffic.  The other sites visitors can go to your pages and know more about your site as well as theirs. There are many free traffic exchange  programs available. Just use your search engine to find the one 
that's right for you.

---Method Six

Take advantage of online forums and online communities. The great thing about forums and online communities is that you  can target a certain group that fits the certain demographic that you are looking for. You can discuss about lots of things
about the niche that you represent or offer. Another great advantage is that you know what you are getting into and you will be prepared.

With online communities and forums you can build a reputation for your company. Show them what you are made of and wow them with your range of expertise about the subject, with that you can build a reputation and build trust with the people in your
expertise and knowledge.

All of these methods when used will drive more traffic to your site for free.  All it takes is a bit of effort on your part. 

I recommend that you check out these free resources.

Traffic Secrets Unleashed

Mega Traffic

Traffic Swarm

Search Engine Optimization

Often referred to as SEO. Search engines are a widely used Internet tool used by consumers to find the information, websites and products that they want or need.

Did you know that most people that use search engines use only the ten top search results on the first page. Making it to the first page, especially in to the top three can mean a huge increase of traffic to your site.

So just what is search engine optimization and do you have to use it? 

The answer to why you have to use it is an easy one. You need search engine optimization to be number one, or maybe at least make your site income generating. With search engine optimization you can get the benefit of generating a high traffic volume with no cash outlay. 

Search engine optimization begins by utilizing tools and methods in making your site top ranking in the results of search engines. Getting yourself in the first page and better yet in the top half of the page will ensure that your site will generate more traffic.

Search engine optimization requires a lot of work. There are many aspects you have to consider. This will include getting lots of information about the keyword phrases that are popular in your sites niche. 

You may also need to rewrite your sites contents so that you could get the right keyword phrases in your site without making it too commercial. There are certain rules and guidelines to be followed with making your site search engine friendly.

Although going in depth about SEO is beyond the focus of this course I do have a few tips you can use right away. 

1- Your domain name should have your keyword in it.
2- Title tag on each page should contain your keyword.
3- Your keyword should be in the first paragraph of your page.
4- The image alt tags should contain your keyword.
5- The file names of your page should also have your keyword. 

You should also regularly check your website's search engine rankings. They can drop very quickly because of all the competition. Keep informed of new search engine strategies by visiting informative web sites, subscribing to related newsletters and by reading how to books, etc.

If you can part with some money, there are many businesses that can help you with your search engine optimization. There are also content writers that have lots of experience in making good keyword laden content for your sites that have good quality.

And of course there is software available that can do most of the work for you.
Internet Business Promoter
Download your free trial here.

TrafficSeeker Version 8 Just Released
Download A Demo Today

SEO Elite from Brad Callen.
You can download a free trial click here.

I recommend that you check out these free resources.
SEO Ranking Resources

Ultimate Traffic Secrets
 
Learn The Basics

Basic Video Tutorials


Using pay per click advertising to generate traffic, more specifically using Google Adwords. 

Spending money on advertising can be a tricky business to say the least. But, with the right type of advertising, you will see an increase of traffic and profits. Pay per click advertising is one of the fastest ways to get traffic flowing to your website and it is also one of the most cost effective.

We are focusing today's lesson on Google Adwords because it is one of the largest and most popular pay per click advertising systems available. 

No doubt that you are familiar with Google Adwords. If not here's a quick overview. Google's Adwords is a pay per click advertising system where you pay a fee based on keywords that are related to your product or service. Each time a person does a search in Google for the keyword or keywords that you've chosen your ad will be displayed. 

When you use Google’s Adwords you will have the ability to reach thousands of prospective buyers on a huge network of websites like, AskJeeves, AOL and Netscape. But it doesn't  stop there, they also many non-search engine sites that your ad will be featured on. That is what makes it such an awesome tool for your business. 

One of the best things about Google Adwords is that you only have to pay if someone clicks on your ad and you are ensured that every click you pay for is a potential customer that is interested in what you have to offer. This is what is often referred to as targeted traffic.

Adwords allows you to easily set up an account, customize it with your own text, keywords or graphics and start advertising almost immediately. They also allow you total control over your campaign.

- You can set the price your are willing to pay per click. 
- You can set the amount you are willing to spend per day.
- You can target specific keywords, regions, countries and more.

The way your ads are shown is completely up to you. Google has a wide variety of tools that can help you get started. Including help files, tutorials and a blog. 

You can read more about the program here:
http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter  

Although I would really like to go into more detail with you about using Adwords it is a bit beyond the scope of this course. I only recommend that if you are interested in learning how to use Adwords that you take the time to use it correctly. Use the tools that they provide and seek out help when you need it.

It will take some time, testing and patience, but I firmly believe that it can make a huge difference in the growth of your business.

Here are a couple of other resources that you may like to
check out:

Google Cash 3 - Training Videos

Beating Adwords


I want to share with you some valuable insight into Yahoo Search and how it compares to Google Adwords, so that you can make an informed choice when it comes generating traffic through pay per click advertising.

First a little bit of history. Did you know that Yahoo Search marketing started out as GoTO.com and then transformed into  Overture which was the first company to successfully provide a pay per click search service. 

Yahoo Search utilizes the same principle as Google Adwords. In fact, they are very similar to each other that they use keyword and keyword phrase searches and to determine which ads to show. 

Although some may say that advertising with Adwords will result in higher conversion rates than with Yahoo I believe that it is better to consider that both programs have advantages and disadvantages.

Let's go over a few of the differences between the two programs and then you can decide if you want to try one or both.  At the time of my writing this is how they stack up.

When you start your bidding campaign at Yahoo you can start your bids as low as ten cents and bid as high as nine hundred plus dollars. They bid in 1 cent increments over your next lowest competitor. 

Quick example: if you bid $2.00 per click, and the next highest bid for the same keyword is $1.75 per click, you will only pay $1.76 per click. 

Another nice thing is that Yahoo lets you see who you are bidding against and what they are bidding, so you know exactly where you will rank, and how much you will pay.

Google's minimum bid starts at five cents and the maximum bid is one hundred. Google doesn't tell you how much you will pay per click. Therefore if you bid three dollars per click, you will pay anywhere from the five cent minimum to the full three dollars that you bid.

They don't allow you to know how much your competitors are bidding, so there is no way to know where your ad will rank until after they start showing. On the plus side your ad will rank higher the more clicks you receive. This means you may have a better rank than your competitor, even if they bid more than you.

Yahoo will drop your keywords if they are performing very well over a significant period of time.

Google will drop your keywords even before your campaign begins if the keyword has done poorly for other customers. 

Yahoo provides you with detailed reports although it may take you a while to sort them out. 

Google offers customizable reports. With them you can easily keep track of your campaigns. You can also have your customized reports emailed to you on a regular basis. 

Yahoo requires that you sign up separately for each county that you want to advertise in. This is a huge pain especially when you have to re submit all of your keywords.

Adwords allows you to choose your country and language by selecting them in a drop down box. The language is based on the language setting of the visitor's computer. 

With Yahoo you can expect to pay a lower cost per click. You will not have as much competition. You may have lower conversions rates.

With Adwords you may pay a higher cost per click. The competition for good keywords is heavy, but it receives more traffic and it provides more clicks, impressions, and conversions.

With all of that in mind we have to remember that Yahoo and Google aren't the only game in town. There are other pay per click search engines worth exploring.

Like FindWhat.com, which is possibly the third largest (PPC) search engine. Then there is Kanoodle, GoClick, 7Search, Search123 and in the UK E-spotting is comparable to Google and Yahoo in the PPC marketplace. 

Now, with that said please accept this little piece of advice. Don't jump into every pay per click program that you can find. Master one first and then when you are ready add in the others. 

That's enough about pay per click!

Creativity Using Viral Marketing. 

It doesn’t matter if you have a killer product or a fantastic website, if people don’t know you exist your business isn't going to make it!

With so many methods of getting traffic the fastest route to tons of hungry visitors is called Viral Marketing. 

Viral marketing is actually very simple when done properly. You allow people to giveaway your free product or service in order to multiply your marketing quickly over the Internet. 

The main goal of this is technique is to build rapid public awareness of your business and products. There are many ways that it can be used. Let's go over a few of them.

First we are going to shout out the word VIDEO! 

With the birth of Myspace, Youtube and many other has come the power of using videos as viral marketing tools. People will pass around a funny, heartwarming of informative video faster than you can say Ipod! 

You can attach your marketing message to a video and get it in front of thousands if not millions of people in the blink of an eye. Viral video marketing is on of the hottest trends in marketing today and now that I think of it, a great topic for another ecourse. 

Now let's move on some non-video ideas that you can use.

Allow people to reprint your articles on their website, in their e-zine, newsletter, magazine or ebooks. Include your resource box and the option for article reprints at the bottom of each article.

Let people to use any of your freebies as free bonuses for products or services they sell. Include your ad on all your freebies.

Allow people to place an advertisement in your free ebook if, in exchange, they give away the ebook to their web visitors or e-zine subscribers.

Start free web site directory and allow people to add their link to it. Just require that they return a link back to your web site, advertising your directory.

Allow people to give away your free web design graphics, fonts, templates, etc. Just include your ad on them or require people to link directly to your website.

These are only a few of the ways the you can use viral marketing. Remember the key is to think creatively and keep in mind what a huge asset going viral can be to your business, because it is free, it can get you a lot of publicity in a very short amount of time when used properly.

If you want to learn more about viral marketing I highly recommend you take a look at the Butterfly Marketing Manuscript. It explains in depth how you can use viral marketing to get massive amounts of traffic to your site.

Check Out This Free Viral Site.
My Viral Spiral

As this course is coming to an end, I want to show you how to get the most out of your traffic and start making money with it using the methods we have discussed over the last few days.

First we will talk about how to keep your visitors interested so that they will return to your site on a regular basis. This is often referred to as making your site sticky.

There are many ways the you can do this. The key is to remember that people get bored easily. That is why it's important to  give them things to keep them entertained. 

OK here we go.....

Give your visitors content they can't read anywhere else. I'm not saying all your content has to be 100% original, but a portion of your web site should have original information. People will usually read information they haven't read before. 

Supply news stories related to your web site topic. People want current and up to date news. If you can be their first source, they will become repeat visitors to your web site. 

You can do this by adding an RSS feed to your site that will update automatically. Better yet by creating your own feed that will allow others to put your content on their websites and in their news readers.
 
People love to get free stuff. List free stuff on your web site.  It could be software, services, sample products, ebooks etc. 

You could also:
-Give your visitors a free membership 
-Hold free online classes or seminars 
-Give away free consulting
-Hold a prize drawing on your web site
-Ask visitors a poll question

I could go on all day on this topic, but I'm pretty sure you get the idea. Now let's move on to how you can make more sales from the visitors you receive.

You've worked hard to get traffic to your site. Now it's time to  multiply your efforts and the best way to do that is by using viral marketing which we discussed in the last lesson and by starting your own affiliate program. 

Using these two methods together is a fantastic way to ensure the success of your business. The basic fact is that people like to make money and you can take full advantage of that by allowing your visitors to make money selling your products or services. 

There are some other major benefits to having an affiliate
program too. 

-It encourages your visitors to tell others about you
-It's the ultimate free advertising campaign
-Your affiliates will market your products
-You don't pay commissions unless your affiliate make sales
-It can also increase the perceived value of your product

And that's just a few of the reasons. Having an affiliate program will not only increase your traffic it will increase your sales and reduce your advertising costs tremendously. 
It is the best way to make the most of your traffic and multiply your efforts. 

As we come to the end of this ecourse I wouldn't want to close without mentioning a few more methods that you should explore. We didn't get to discuss these over last seven days. These are tactics that you can use to get even more traffic.

-Article marketing
-Banner advertising
-Offline marketing
-Testimonials tactics
-Joint Ventures
-Buying Traffic

The point I am trying to make is there are may ways that you can get traffic to your website and there is no way that I could cover every one of them in this short course. 

In closing the best advise I can give is to keep yourself educated and informed and start your quest for traffic with the basic tactics we have discussed in this course. They will
help you lay out a solid foundation for your business and the traffic to your site should increase significantly each month.

Again I want to recommend that you get your hands on a copy of the Butterfly Marketing Manuscript. It is the most informative resource that I have found to help you achieve your income  goals. Get your copy here.

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