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Get Traffic to your Website!

It’s about getting traffic to your web site, web store, or web…thingy.

It’s such a huge, scary issue for new webmasters and e-commerce owners that the industry responded by  created a sub-market just to address it.

Sometimes badly.

You’ve seen some of the Product Headlines…

“1000 Visitors to your Web Site Per Day!”

“ Millions of Hits A Month!” (my fav)

Yeah, Yeah…

The definition of traffic has been butchered, bastardized and mis-defined – to all of our detriment, making it easy for us to fall victim to these sorts of pie-in-the-sky services. 

Take it from me, they don’t work. 

What a surprise…

Usually, the Traffic Statistic refers to the number of visitors that a web site has during a given period – like in the space of one day.

Fine, I’m good with that definition, but the truth is that the number of folks you have visiting your web site could be meaningless. It doesn’t have anything to do with how successful your online business will be.

I’m not trying to condescend to anyone who claims that they get 1,000 visitors a day to their web site and because of that traffic, they make a good living…

The point I’m trying to make is this:

It doesn’t matter how many people come to your web site, it’s WHO comes to your web site that will determine your sales success.

It’s the quality of traffic that matters, not the quantity.  I don’t want visitors who are looking for Frozen Soy Milk to come and visit me.

I'm sure they are fine humans, but what would I say?

“Hi! Thanks for stopping by, but I have NOTHING that you would be interested in here…Bye!”  (Frozen Soy Milk Drinkers, Please take no offense.)

It’s all about focus. You need Quality Traffic – the kind that’s visiting because you have a product or service that they’re interested in.

This begs the question - “How do I get Quality traffic to my website?”

This is one of the ways that I do it. 

Time to look behind the curtain….

I write.

Sometimes not all that well. Most of the time, with spelling mistakes and grammar errors. Often when I’m frustrated, but especially when I’m fascinated.

I write newsletters to my newsletter subscribers, to my customers, to my students, and sometimes, I surf around the internet looking for a web site that I LOVE/HATE and write them a little email to tell them so.

But, I make sure I know what I’m talking about when I crank up Outlook or Microsoft Word.  I can usually speak from a position of authority, and if I can’t do that, I have experience to draw on.

And when I’m all out  of experience, I'll stir up some passion- the little fire, my  “el fuego pequeño”.

Yeah, writing can be a bit of a catharsis, but it’s also proven to be the best, most effective traffic generator that I’ve ever used.

Let me explain.

A lot of Marketing Experts have been reviewing Yahoo! Store Profits lately (probably because they like to write, too) and Audrey and I are getting labeled as Yahoo! Store Experts.

I have to tell you that the word “Expert” and I get along about as well as Garfield and Odie.  It’s not a title that I’m comfortable with.  But, when I write articles about owning and operating a Yahoo! Store, folks that read them seem to think that I have something valuable to say – so they come to my site.

…So they come to my site

Ding Ding Ding Ding!

I want to translate this experience of mine into a practical application for webmasters and e-commerce store owners simply because every time I publish a newsletter to my subscribers, or send one out in a paid e-zine, my traffic and sales usually double.

Writing an article about a product in your store, a service on your web site or an affiliate program that you’re promoting will, time and time again, prove to be one of the most cost- effective advertising and marketing techniques that you’ll ever use - Period, Proven, and Documented.

When someone reads an article about a subject they are interested in, the article can make an impression.  It causes them to consider the source of the article as a possible resource for a product that they want to buy, or a subject that they are interested in.

Ask yourself, “Why do you subscribe to a newsletter?” I mean, most of us probably don’t need any more emails, but we subscribe anyway…

The reason? To get information.

You get information so that you can make a decision about something.

And if you make a decision about something because you read a newsletter, chances are, you’re going to take the advice of the newsletter and check out whatever it is the articles author has to offer.

It’s as simple as educating a future customer. 

Let me give you an example: 

I have a former co-worker who has decided to hike the Appalachian Trail.   She is a pretty outdoor-savvy woman, but she wanted to find just a little extra comfort level before she set off on her six month hike.  She decided to look into personal Global Positioning Systems (GPS) so if she ever got lost on the trail, she could whip it out and re-orient herself.

Problem: She had no idea what kind of GPS to buy.  I mean come on! Who would?  Theses are pretty complicated things, right?

She surfed the Internet until she found some sites that sold GPS equipment, but there was simply not enough information for her to make an informed buying decision.  She found a site that offered a free report “The Right GPS for YOU” and signed up.   In 2 days, she knew the right kind of Garmin GPS she needed for the trail.

She bought it from the same site that sent her the free report.

The bottom line? If you write to educate a customer, you’ll end up with a money making article.

Now, let’s not put the cart before the horse.  You need readers to send your educational articles to.  You need folks to stand up and say “Hey, I want information about XYZ Stuff”.

There are many wonderful options available to you…

Option #1 (This is a cardinal rule of internet marketing, no matter what you sell) You need to build a list of subscribers from people who come to your website.  The folks who are willing to take the time to find you in all of the Internet flotsam and jetsam just might be interested in what you have to say.

So, offer them something to join your newsletter.

This is KEY!  In order to entice a visitor to join your newsletter, you need to bribe them.  Offer them something for FREE.  It can be anything of value, but the best offers are usually information, like A FREE Report, A Free Download, A FREE Evaluation…

A FREE BEE!

And if you’re passionate about what your selling on your website and in your store, writing a FREE BEE NEWSLETTER is as simple as “Remembering what you already know”.

When they sign up for your free information, you have just made yourself a potential customer.  In a nutshell, they’ve said “Tell me about what you’re selling – EDUCATE ME!”

Then,  after you have earned their trust as an authority (That whole expert thingy) you become a potential resource for their next purchase.

Option #2 – Submit your Information Articles to other e-zine Publishers.

This is a powerful technique!

There are literally hundreds of thousands of e-zines on the Internet that will let you place your Articles in them, sometimes for free.

That’s right, you read correctly.  If the article that you’ve written has real relevance to an e-zines subscriber base, there’s more than a good chance that the e-zine owner will publish your article in their e-zine for no cost. 

You see, they want to educate their subscribers too.  And as payment for using your content, they’ll let you use a link to your website at the bottom of your article.

I’ve actually had publishers approach me asking if they could re-print one of my articles.  Now, depending on the circulation of that e-zine, my traffic and sales have increased as much as 300%.

Do the math.  How much will it cost you to write an e-zine article? And if it’s published for free???

Yep, it’s a pretty good technique…

Option #3 – Pay to Advertise in an e-zine.

You’ve seen an infomercial right?  Do you know why they are called “Infomercials”?

Because they educate the viewer (That’s the “Info” part).  They convince the viewer that you absolutely must have the product their taking about by educating them all about how it will make their life easier if they just call in the next 5 minutes to order….

They educate, and then they sell.

That’s how you succeed with a paid e-zine Ad – Educate, then Sell.

Let’s call that kind of Ad and “Info-torial”.  It’s full of good editorial content, and it’s causes the customer to react with a CTA (Call to Action). 

A good Info-torial’s Call to Action will be a gentle recommendation to visit your website for more information. You know, that little link on the bottom of your article (It’s called a Resource Box)?

After "Schools Out", a shopper who reads your Info-torial might just decide to visit your site...

Let me just lay down a few thoughts and experiences for you.

The Internet and it’s audience is growing, a lot – everyday.  And the “Bewilderment Factor” is already starting to cause surfers and shoppers a great deal of frustration.  They have tons of choices, and many alternative destinations when it comes to finding information and shopping on-line.

I can recall a similar experience during the  mid 90’s in the Film and Video Industry.  The market was flooded overnight with cheap, high quality Digital Video Camcorders.  Just about anybody with a credit card could pick up a Digital Video Camera from Circuit City and shoot pristine Digital Video.  The signal properties rivaled the expensive broadcast cameras that we had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in, but they cost less than a tenth of the typical professional set-up.

Everyone freaked out.

A year later, everything was the same. 

The moral to the story is “Cream rises to the top, no matter how much coffee it has to rise through”.

Just because an intern could afford a Digital Video Camera doesn’t mean that they could make pictures look pretty, or the videos worth watching.

If you want to capture customers and turn them into shoppers, give them a reason to find you by floating at the top.  Educate them; help them to understand how the product you’re selling applies to their own needs. 

The biggest challenge for a shopper is finding an outlet that’s right for them.  The websites that show the shopper why they are the best (and showing them how with information) are the ones who will succeed.

Resources:

Turn Words into Traffic

Jim Edwards, a prolific writer and editor of “The Net Reporter” has created the best, and I’m pretty sure the ONLY resource for effectively using Newsletter Articles to generate copious amounts of traffic to your website.

It’s not your typical e-book.

It’s authored “Interview Style” with the talents of another Internet Newsletter notable, Joe Vitale.  The book explains how to weave interesting, pre-selling content into an e-Article that you can then submit to e-zine.  I thoroughly enjoyed the style they used to teach these methods. The question/answer format allows you to follow in a logical progression through all of the techniques that these pro’s use to write their digital rags, and get’em read.

Jim’s information is all original, and all surprisingly easy to apply. Again, even though I spend a fair amount of time writing, it’s generally a laborious, fragmented experience for me.  Jim explains a simple little strategy that helped me organize my thoughts into little bite-sized chunks of material that can be easily edited into something that resembles good content. 

I highly recommend this tool if:

•        Your serious about understanding and utilizing Articles to generate Highly Targeted traffic to your web site

•       You think you can write, but you're really more like me – Just a wanna-be that can’t spell but has a lot to say.  Look in the mirror or ask you mom about this one…

Check out Turn Words Into Traffic at:

http://www.yahoo-store-builder.com/traffic.html

Once you’ve written your killer article, you’re gonna need to find a place to publish it.

This is the place to find that place..

The Directory of Ezines contains an intelligently searchable database of over 750 High Quality e-zines that accept both paid and un-paid advertising.  The owner of this site, Charlie Page has distinguished himself among Internet publishers with his knack for knowing what sort of e-zines Internet Marketers are looking for.

You won’t find huge 500,000 subscriber e-zines that reach absolutely no one specific. Instead, this Directory carefully evaluates it’s Database for quality, focused publications.  There’s quite a few niche e-zines to choose from, just in case you happen to be selling a niche product…

Charlie also has tons of great information about e-zine advertising and the ins and outs of article submission.  It’s an impressive site.

Check out the Directory of Ezines at:

http://www.yahoo-store-builder.com/ezines.html

Until the next time I decide to melt my spell checker…