How to Generate Traffic

and get those crucial site visits

Targeting

Without targeted traffic all is in vain. It needs to be targeted, since 100 visitors with a conversion rate of 3% on a $500 item gives $1,500 revenue, compared with say 10,000 visitors with 0.1% conversion on a $10 item, giving $100 and a lot more hassle.

So it is best to start with keyword generation, and factual research into how many people are actually searching on what related keywords.

That way you are addressing known demand, and tailoring your web site or offer to meet that demand, not the other way around. One of the proponents of this approach is Ken Evoy, with his Site Build It! system. This also includes an integrated tool set, although you don't  have to go the whole hog with their hosting service.

Web Position Gold is good for offline keyword analysis and optimisation of your site content. But it is still better to submit by hand.

Traffic generation techniques include:

• Keyword research
• Search engine optimisation
• Your own E-mail Lists
• Viral marketing (e.g.. via e-books)
• Link generation tools (but not "free for all" web sites)

Search Engines

The only one that really matters is Google, since it generates some 90% of traffic if you consider that Google also feeds the Yahoo and AOL search listings. You can submit directly Here, but Google will find you anyway if you have enough incoming links from quality sites for a listing. (See link popularity below).

Directories

Try and get listed on one of the reputable human edited directories. Most of these feed into Google, and help tremendously with your link popularity on Google:

1. Yahoo Directory. See How to Suggest Your Site. They are now (December 2003) charging $299 pa non-refundable for any site that is at all "commercial", which seems excessive.
2. dmoz, the open directory project This is strictly a moderated directory rather than a search engine. It will not list any sites deemed commercial.
3. LookSmart was relaunched as UK Directory in March 2004. This move follows a successful buyout of LookSmart's remaining UK assets, including its directory and domain name, by UK Net Guide. LookSmart's UK operation, the company's only European venture, closed in January 2004 following the loss of global client, key distribution partner, and chief revenue source, MSN.
   

Don't use any of the services that promise to submit you automatically to tens or hundreds of sites, even those services offered by ISPs. It is better to hand submit to the crucial search engines such as Google. Many of the more obscure search engines seem to exist mainly to grab your details and send you porn or viruses.

Link Popularity

The number, of inbound links pointing to your site from other sites is another key factor, but they must be of high quality and relevance. It is best to have links from the major "hub sites" such as www.quaker.org and www.quaker.org.uk that exist in your area of interest and that everyone links to. And propose cross-links to related sites that are not your direct competitors. You have to give to receive!

But be careful because the proper search engines downgrade you for non-relevant links, or links from "free for all" sites or farms (which they consider spam).

Popularity on the second tier but legitimate search engines can also help, and can be gained in part via the Pay per CLick programmes described below. You can use Link Popularity Check to check your own and your competitior's links. Or try Optilink.

Pay per Click

Once you know your conversion rate and Value per Visitor, you can start paying up to that amount for traffic:

Where you bid for keywords on certain search engines. This is an arcane technical subject, and doing it manually looks like hard work. But, again, there are plenty of tools available. You can also hire the services of an expert consultant, or see the Ebook Pay Per Click Commando. The top services are:

1. Overture (previously GoTo.com) pay per click, see also below. But  newsletter, Overture put up its minimum bid price to $0.10 in February 2003, and seems to be no longer interested in or attractive to smaller businesses. Instead try:
2. FindWhat.com - adverts are displayed on partner sites such as CNET's Search.com, Excite, Webcrawler, MetaCrawler, Dogpile, and Microsoft Internet Explorer Autosearch. FindWhat nnounced plans in June 2003 to merge with Espotting (see below) and raised its minimum bid from 1 to 5 cents in September, 2003.
3. Google AdWords is their own pay per click. You control your costs by setting a daily budget for what you are willing to spend each day.  
4. Espotting, a leading UK based pay per click search engine. The top 5 listings appear on Yahoo! UK, Hotbot and Lycos UK, reaching over 70% of the UK Internet population (Source: payperclicksearchengines.com).

Email Advertising

Advertising on other people's email lists, swaps etc. But not banner adds which no longer work and detract from a site's focus.

Strategy Summary:  

• Pay for two to four line adverts in established exines
• Measure, track, test everything, including the list and the advert.
• Once you have found a combination that works for you and your target market, roll out massively until the ad no longer works, then pull it.

Direct approach to the owners of ezines (email newsletters) you may already be taking and respect. This may be paid for, or a swap if you have enough of your own subscribers to trade.

Ezine Directories

These vary tremendously. But the best seems to be the Directory of Ezines (DOE), as endorsed by the industry leaders. It costs $47 pa, but is comprehensive and (almost) all the exines listed seem ethical and of reasonable quality. They teach you how to get started.

Some such as Ezinead.net has over 170 Ezines with 1 Million+ subscribers, in four groups. This looks attractive and cheap, but each group is a mixed bag of 25 or more Ezines so this is hardly targetted marketting. Some of the Ezines included may not be ones you would wish to be associated with, and there is no way of being certain that they are really all "opt-in". To publish ad in a newsletter, you are required to subscribe to it. Noozles.com works on the same principle.

Other directories of newsletters worth a look are:

• Emailresults.com
• Ezinehub.com

More commercial or big business email advertising sites include:

• Emailuniverse.com
• Bidclix.net
• Liszt.com, based on Topica's hosted email lists.

Free Articles

Submitting free articles with attached "resource box" (links to your site) to other email newsletters.

Advert Tracking and Analysis.

The Directory of Ezines (DOE) recommends: "If you have access to your own server, you can use a unique URL or email address and track response through your logs. If not, we use and recommend Hypertracker. They offer a FREE account, making the price just right!"

You can use scripts in your cgi-bin, such as Fluid Dynamics: xav.com, or use remote server based services such as Hitbox.com, Hypertracker.com and Extreme-dm.com.

The list or media you use accounts for 40% of your success!

John Wragg