One of the most frequently asked questions by new website owners, a question that is still being asked today, is “how do I start getting traffic?” It has definitely become more of a challenge due to the rapid growth of the Web in general, and of Web marketing in particular; But it’s not impossible to get traffic to your new website! There are still TONS of ways to build up your website traffic. Here are some of the most common methods.
To generate website traffic!
Learn Search Engine Optimization – This is probably the most important way that you would want to get traffic and probably the hardest too. Search engine traffic is highly targeted traffic of people who are searching the web for a specific item. If they get to your site after searching for it, you’re almost guaranteed a sale or at least a “bookmark for later”. lot of ebooks on the subject
Trade links with other sites – It’s important to get your site name out there. So trade links with several other sites, even your competitors! People really do look at those links pages and they will find their way to your site from another site.
Post on message boards – When you post on highly trafficked message boards, BE SURE to put your site link in your signature! This is a highly effective form of marketing, especially if the message board you are posting at is relative to your site content. While we’re on the subject of message boards, joining Yahoo Groups is worth mentioning because this method is pretty much the same as message boards. Join groups that pertain to your site’s content and advertise (but don’t spam!!) your site there.
Email signatures, classified site postings, ad space buys
Use email signatures – Make it easy for your customers to contact you! When they write to you and ask for more information, be sure that you are using a signature with your site URL and name inside of it. That way if they want to retrieve it later, it’s easier for them than having to memorize your URL and open a web browser.
Post on free classifieds sites – Sites like Craig’s List or other free advertising classifieds sites will accept your site for free! Just do a Google search for “free classifieds” and you’ll see a ton of sites come up where you can promote your site!
Buy ad space – If your monthly budget allows, you can buy some ad space for your site. Find another site that pertains to your site’s content and ask them what their advertising prices are.
Auctions, offline ads, directory submissions
Hold auctions – Ebay gets TONS of traffic a day, while you’re not allowed to post your site URL within your auction listings, you are allowed to put it in your “about me” page. So think about listing some of your products as auctions and advertise your URL.
Offline advertising – Get custom t-shirts, bumper stickers, car decals, etc made for your site URL. Then whenever you are out in public, you are passively advertising yourself!
Submit your site to directories – If your site is a site about “fishing” for instance, do a Google search for “fishing directories” and see how many directories are out there that pertain to your subject matter. Most of these directories will allow free submissions.
Article writing, press releases, interactive content
Write articles – Writing articles that pertain to your site is another excellent way to get your site out there. Just write a short, informative article of 5-6 paragraphs and submit it to any site that accepts article submissions and make sure that your article includes a link back to your site in your “author biography”.
Submit press releases – Even if your site is a small work from home site (i.e. “Jane’s Recipes”) it IS newsworthy! Let’s say your recipe site released a new recipe called “Vanilla Cream”. Submit a press release about it, I’m serious!! A good place to start is called http://www.prweb.com Or you can do a Google search for “submit press release” and a zillion other sites will come up.
Have great interactive content – People will bookmark your site if you have interactive and dynamic content. Have polls, message boards, interactive games, news items, guest books, item of the day….whatever! Just make the site relevant and have good SUBSTANCE in your site content.
Make traffic generation a routine!
Don’t overload it with silly animated graphics, sounds, etc. That just makes it look like you had nothing else to fill your site up with but this annoying stuff. And Flash intros are only good if you are two years old and need to see flashing lights and colors. Most of all they are slow loading, and people generally click away if they see Flash.
Note: Submitting a press release as a traffic-getting technique may involve more effort and time than most new website owners care to invest in the early going. But you can use this method to get traffic to your new website as long as you take the time to format your press release properly and don’t violate the terms of the press release site(s).
