Up until now I have been active only in the Internet Marketing Niche which has revolved around talking about and promoting products that tell you how to do something related to marketing.
One thing I haven’t done too much of is driving organic traffic to my offers or blog.
This is largely due to the connections I have built with other marketers (although I find that submitting regular Blog posts does in itself generate a fair amount of traffic).
I am now about to embark on marketing in some small niches which do not have the marketing activity that we see in the IM and other popular Niches so I am guessing that I will have to put in a lot more effort in generating organic traffic to attract people who are interested in what I am doing…
…After all we all know that a website is no use to anyone unless it has a purpose and a following,
Its also a commonly known fact that there are thousands of ways to generate traffic, but in order to be able to put together an effective and coherent strategy which isn’t going to send me down too many rabbit holes, I am going to stick to a small number.
So how am I going to do this?
1) Forum posting
This is a great way of drawing attention to yourself if done in the right way. Look for forums in your Niche and sign up for them and ensure you respect their rules.
DO NOT jump in there and start pimping your stuff by posting your links. The way to do it is by joining in with conversations on relevant topics and over time having posted a given number of times the forum owner will more than likely allow you to add the link to your blog in your signature which appears on each post.
Its important to remember that if you add value by sharing what you know people will find you eventually
2) Posting Articles
There are numerous article sites out there these days. Some people say articles are a great source of traffic, others say they are no where near as effective as they used to be.
My view is that many article publishers, particularly Ezine Articles rank highly in the search engines when the right key words are used, so a good article which a link to your blog as a call to action will sure attract the people to wish to attract as they are interested in the article.
There is also article submission software to submit your articles to several sites and article spinning software which creates several vairations of the same article so you could potentially submit one article in several varations to a munber of sites
3) Questions sites
There are some well known question sites such as Yahoo Answers or Ask.com out there which should be great sources of traffic and laser targeted.
Look for questions being asked in your Niche and create a blog post answering the question. Direct the person who has asked that question and they will often be so impressed that they will more than likely become regular visitors to your site and purchase things from you later/
4) Video presentations
Video is one of the most powerful mediums on the Internet. Video sites, in particular You Tube (which is owned by Google) rank highly in the search engines providing you use keyword rich tags.
In addition you have software such as Tube Mogul which gives you the capability of adding your video messages to several video sharing sites. Assuming you have used keyword rich tabs and links back to your sites the opportunities to drive traffic here are absolutely huge.
5) Social media
With the phenomenon of Facebook, Twitter, Bebo etall bringing people together on the web, there has come a whole wealth of traffic opportunities for you to take advantage of.
I am no Social Media expert but my view is that you find these communities where like minded people hang out and get to know people in there.
My issue with this is that surfing Social Media websites can take an awful lot of time (which I don’t have) for no tangible benefits.
Nevertheless I am sure if you take the time to post good content on Social Media websites people will find you.
6) Your email Subscriber List
If you have a decent email subscriber list which you have spent time developing relationships with you probably have hands down the best source of traffic you can ask for.
With your credibility In your Niche in the eyes of your email subscribers, you can be sure that sending decent newsletters out will generate the sort of laser targetted traffic you want – clearly though to have the subscriber list you will have had to generate the traffic in the first place.
This is a small number of simple methods which I intend to follow as I firmly believe in KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) – so by not falling into the trap of trying to follow too many strategies and become overloaded it is better to get into the routine of following one at a time.
It may be that I start using other methods as well, but for now its probably a good idea to stick to a few simple ones.
What are you doing to direct traffic to your sites? If you found this post interesting or have anything to add please leave a comment below
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I haven’t started to use questions sites and video presentations yet. More attention is on submitting of articles to different directories. However, it takes a time to prepare an article regardless on that affiliate sites provide spinnable templates of articles. Most of these articles are written to meet required minimum amount of words and has little value for readers. Therefore, I write an article that is a compilation the most valuable chapters of two or three articles provided by affiliate sites. The readers like them.
Hi, I am the Marketing Director at HeySpread.
Thanks for this good article.
That is true, Tubemogul is one service.
But you should really have a look at HeySpread for Professional Video Analytics and Video Distribution – http://bit.ly/5mD1CL. Far cheaper, with exclusive features such as YouClone (copy/paste your YouTube videos to any other platform automatically and in one shot), powerful and user-friendly interface, REST API for an easy and fast white label integration.
Hi Peter,
Thanks for that easy to follow read concerning driving traffic to your site.
I read your “about me”. It seems like you won’t have time for all your sporting pursuits for some time. The good news is that you can look forward to resuming all of this in a couple of years once you build your online business.
I am currently doing coaching with Mark Terrell and then straight into the advanced course.We would love to do cycling tours in the future however just like some of your interests they must be put to one side until we have achieved our goals online.
Here’s to your marketing success,
kind regards
Dawn
Dawn
I do think its a mistake to put too much of your life on hold whilst your doing this kind of stuff. I believe if you try to get the odd thing in it will enhance your lifestyle and give you something to talk about in your blog
So dont get too blinkered with this marketing
Thanks for sharing these strategies, are there any more strategies to increase traffic?
Keep an eye on the blog. As I get more success with my niche blogs I will post on here
LOL- I just got a video card for my Blackberry – now I just need to get the courage to actually post a video of myself online!
Just do it! You can always delete if if you dont like
Dear Peter
I’m just starting out with marketing. Just wanted you to
know: any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you for great posts!
Mark
Mark
Keep an eye on future blog posts from me. I did leave a comment that you may want to delete – it should have been emailed
Thank you VERY much for the comment. I did delete it.
I should have known better with that hoplink!
Mark
Hi, Peter
This is the perennially important topic – and it’s great that you’ve written a post. I needed it because I’m getting sooo sidetracked.
You’re right KISS and stick to the simple ways and milk them for all they’re worth and you’ll profit.
I too haven’t tried videos yet and I’m a little scared of the social media – mainly because of all the time it takes. lol
I must look into automating that side of it
Keep trucking
Jennifer
Hi Jeniffer – the way to go with vids if you are shy is by creating video presentations and recording your voice in Camtasia
Hi Peter,
I’ve been on the internet for six months now. I really like article marketing. I also do social bookmarketing, and blog commenting. I’m ready to do videos now, they look like they’re so much fun.
Thank you and God bless.
Randy Brickhouse Sr. recently posted..How To Choose A Website Hosting Service
” Keep It Simple Stupid” most of thing we think too complicated and we cannot sell the thing that really are. Good Keywords “Kiss”. I really like that keywords.
From most of the SEO forum, we only can find 5 steps. But for you, i can find another step which is Question Sites, which i never think of it. It really useful when people search for information will direct to your pages or blog.
Good Keywords “Kiss”.” Keep It Simple Stupid” most of thing we think too complicated and we cannot sell the thing that really are. Good Keywords “Kiss”. I really like that keywords.
From most of the SEO forum, we only can find 5 steps. But for you, i can find another step which is Question Sites, which i never think of it.
I really thankful to find this site on bing, just what I was looking for : D too bookmarked .
I absolutely agree with KISS. I would also add (and this is a particular passion of mine) is to test and track with a vengeance. If you can’t (or don’t) measure it, you can’t manage it. Markets are different. Strategies that work in one market may fall flat in another. To make the most efficient use of your time, you have to know what is working and focus on those things.
Charles recently posted..Choosing An Internet Marketing Consultant In Connecticut
It drives me crazy, as an SEO/marketing consultant to see websites that don’t at least try to capture name and email addresses of their visitors (your #6). This most basic Marketing 101 effort is totally over the heads of the average offline business owner. How can they not see the value of turning a visitor statistic (i.e. a “number” into a prospect.
Nathan recently posted..Video: How To Choose a Financial Planner
Capturing email addresses is absolutely vital for long term business success. If you have someone interested in your website, they most likely want to be kept up with the news in that niche. With an email list you can do that while slipping in a few promotions that will help your subscribers achieve their goals.