In pursuit of search engine traffic
Web Traffic! And lots of it is the dream of every webpreneur. After all, without a steady stream of visitors – or should I say potential customers – to your website, how will you earn your Web fortune?
In the first place, where do most Web business start-ups go when they need a quick traffic fix? The search engines! And rightfully so because, after all, the top ranking position(s) on a major search engine is one of the most effective ways of increasing traffic to your website(s) without spending your hard-earned advertising dollars.
Statistics have repeatedly shown that anywhere from 20% to 80% of your website’s visitors will find it via a search engine. However, you should also know that statistics show that most web surfers never search beyond the top 30 results they receive, and in many cases they don’t go beyond the first 10. With that in mind, it is clear that a top position should be the goal of any savvy site owner.
Ranking well in the search engines
But top spots are no longer achieved by crossing your fingers and blindly submitting your web site to 900+ search engines and directories using a free submission service. Competition for top spots is getting fierce, so it is important that you learn the “right” techniques if you want to ensure that your website is well ranked. Even more importantly, you should do so while this great advertising medium is still FREE!
As I said before; for high traffic generation to your website, it is very important that your site ranks in top spots in a search engines. You may ask “What are the search engine looking for when they rank my web site?” Well, although each search engine uses different set of algorithms to rank web sites, generally speaking, there are still basic similarities and requirements.
In the following paragraphs we discuss a few of the main factors considered by search engines over the last decade or so.
The link popularity method of ranking
Alta Vista, Excite, Lycos, and the web pages search promotion of Yahoo! use a ranking system that involves measuring and ranking the number of links that are directed towards a particular web site. This is an extremely powerful traffic generation tool because:
Reason One – Building a well thought-out linking strategy is a powerful way to attract large volumes of high targeted traffic. By putting your web site on every major web “intersection” where your target market meets, you will ensure that your web site receives a steady flow of qualified potential customers.
Reason Two – Links are equivalent to recommendations! They established credibility even before the visitor reaches your web site, dramatically increasing the likelihood that they will buy.
Think about it… David arrives at his favorite web site and notices that they have posted a link to your web site. He knows and trusts his favorite web site and therefore assumes that, because they have a linked to you, your business must be credible too. He clicks through the link to your web site and is immediately open to offers you present him with. Why? Because your credibility was established before he even arrived at your homepage.
Reason Three – Since many a search engines now factor link popularity into their ranking decisions, your linking strategies are that much more important! If you want to be ranked as high as possible in search engines, you now need a factor in your link popularity – and, as you already know, earning a top spot in the major search engines is key to increasing your web site traffic.
Obviously, developing a linking strategy that generates a high volume of targeted traffic to your web site is not an overnight process. It will take you anywhere from two weeks to six months to secure quality links you need. However, I promise you that it is worth the effort! Once you have done the initial footwork, the links that are established will remain on these web sites for years to come. Your perseverance will pay big dividends in the form of a continuous flow of targeted traffic generation.
Domain name and keyword density factors
A domain name plays a vital role in traffic generation to any web site. Domain names rich in keywords will rank higher in search engines because a search engines love URL’s that are saturated with keywords. Brainstorm keywords and key phrases for your web site and then use them to create a catchy URL, or load the domain name with your best keywords to get ranked higher in the search engines.
Keywords definitely refers to the number of times your keyword appears throughout your site. Your keyword density is a factor that is heavily weighted by a search engines, so it’s very important to make strategic use of your keywords.
So, these are some of the important facts, tips and tactics through which you can drive high traffic to your web site. I should also mention that you should not expect to enter a couple of your top keywords into the search engines and instantly start making money through your web site – that is a one-in-a-million possibility. But yes, you can really get high traffic via search engines without crossing the line into “keyword stuffing” and with a little time and very little money, if any at all.
