Archive for November, 2008

Often, I get asked what are some of the major methods for getting traffic to a website. This is very important because you want your site to be seen and to get traffic.  But you want quality traffic for major keywords that are relevant to your product or service.

The term Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) describes this method of getting your site visibility to your customers.  It involves getting high search engine ranking, preferably front page placement in the search results, for targeted keywords.  In SEO there are 2 major important factors involved:

1. On-page optimization with meta tags and internal website anchor text links
2. Off-page optimization with
- Quantity of incoming links
- One way anchor text links to your site is being used
- Domain power of the sites with your links (also called “authority” of the linking sites)

As you noticed in the 2 points above, link building is key.   Some methods for building links include
article marketing, blogs, press releases, getting listed on important web directories, etc.

So, that is a short look at SEO.  It’s a long term but is a major tool in website promotion.

Enjoy your holiday!

Technorati Tags: Backlinks, One Way Links, Search Engine Optimization, search engine placement, SEO, Website Promotion

Affiliates put their efforts out there, and usually their money too, before anything is returned to them. This makes them very selective and diligent to scout out a good offer. Here are some of the features that are important to affiliates:

• Great sales copy and professional website
• Affiliate marketing tools: banners, links, sample landing pages
• Good Payouts and Reliable payments
• Some merchants offer data feeds with product pictures, descriptions and availability
• Attractive offers
• Good relationships with the merchant or affiliate manager
• Articles, videos or other “viral” marketing material

Technorati Tags: affiliate marketing, affiliate programs, affiliates

Established networks can provide merchants with peace of mind and speed of implementation (speed to market).  Sales tracking, payout software and economies of scale savings make an existing network the first choice for many merchants. Also, an existing affiliate virtual sales force can be very compelling.

Here is a more detailed look at the top reasons an affiliate network can be attractive to a merchant:

• Affiliate management staff:  this staff knows the ins and outs of setting up and running a successful campaign. These professionals can help you avoid difficulties and can become key to growing your sales success.  Often, affiliate managers can help you with your offer and with getting affiliates interested.
• Software for tracking sales and commissions. Complete with link tracking and detailed reporting information. Payouts and paperwork filing (such as 1099s) are also handled by the networks.
• Networks have existing affiliates.  Affiliates are available and motivated to helping make sales. Also, affiliate payouts are only made when a sale is made, a very low-risk sales model to the merchant.
• Many networks help with credit card and transaction processing, thereby eliminating the need for the merchant to attain a merchant account.  ClickBank is an example of a network providing this service.

Technorati Tags: affiliate management, affiliate marketing, affiliate networks, affiliate program management, Affiliate Program Services

Long Term Traffic and sales techniques:
Sure, PPC programs like Google AdWords are great places to BUY traffic on the Internet, but while those strategies are at work, the next place to work toward are the techniques to get traffic longer term without paying for it…
Search Engine Optimization techniques: SEO is the method of getting traffic from search engines by  appearing high in the search engine results for targeted keywords. The higher – and more often – a website shows up in a search result, the more visitors will visit that site. SEO is a top strategy for longterm traffic to your website. It can take 6 – 12 months, or longer, to reach some of the top placements on the search engines.  Below, some of the techniques for SEO are discussed:
• SEO using website Keywords: Within your website, emphasize the keywords you want to be indexed with on the search engines. This is done using your keywords in the Title tag of the website, the Meta description and keywords tags, and by repeating your content at the beginning and throughout your website.
• SEO using Link Building techniques: What is done off of your website is tremendously important to your website’s Page Rank and Search Engine Placement. Offsite content building, directory submission and other techniques which will build back links to your site – demonstrating your site’s importance to the search engines.
• Article Marketing: Another off-website method for building back links to your site and increase your site’s relevance and importance to the search engines. Starting a viral article marketing campaign is a great way to get traffic, you will need to create an article generating machine to give this strategy the time needed to faithfully write/acquire articles and distribute them to websites and editors on a regular basis.
Other long-term traffic strategies that also give links to your site and build importance with the search
engines:
• Social Media Marketing: Pre-sold traffic to your site! MySpace, Scribd or other social media sites can get your customers familiar with your business, your ideas and thoughts, and win trust with potential customers. When that trust is created, they often become sold before going to your website. This important strategy also builds the natural ranking and search engine placement of your site.
• Press Releases: Let everyone know your big news! Great for announcing your latest products or services, special offers, or other newsworthy events. Establish your brand and get customer mindshare. We will discuss your activities and draft articles to be submitted upon your
approval. Our expertise is in knowing how to do it and what to avoid!

• Blog Marketing and RSS feed: A Blog (coming from the word “Weblog” usually shortened to blog) is a sequential discussion of a topic or topics usually showing earlier ones first. Why is it important to your business? The blogging websites where your business topics are posted and discussed have great traffic which can be directed to your website. Also, the search engines give importance to your website if these articles are written with a certain structure. Setting up a blog and RSS feed is a solid strategy, but can be a lot of work.
• Utilizing viral traffic networks such as Traffic Swarm can bring lots of traffic to any site. This is recommended to get long term traffic for free. The effectiveness of any such “traffic network” typically converts into sales at a lower percentage than traffic that comes from sources such as search engines, articles or personal recommendations, but is still very worthwhile.
Start your own affiliate program:
• Create your an Affiliate Program for your product/service: Have you considered taking advantage of affiliate marketing to sell your products or services? Add affiliate marketing and create a virtual team by tapping into the hundreds of thousands of people selling products and services as affiliates. This is the marketing wave sweeping the Internet and delivering results with no payout until sales are made!

Technorati Tags: Article Marketing, Blog Marketing, Creating an Affiliate Program, Link Building, Press Releases, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, Social Media Marketing

Traffic Right Now techniques:
After the website is up and submitted to directories and search engines, the Internet Marketing/PPC activities would be the best next step for the short-term to get traffic right away. Realize, though, that once the PPC campaigns stop, often so does the traffic. Here are some of the tools of Internet Marketing/PPC.
• Pay Per Click and Search Engine Marketing: Setting up and promoting with a Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising campaign can bring immediate traffic to your website. Promote your products and services on some of the highest traffic sites on the Internet: search engines, social media sites with high traffic, etc…
• Email Marketing: Still a very powerful tool to those who have opted in to receive special offers.
• Banner Advertising: Run ads about your products or service. There are advertising options across the entire Internet.
• Video introductions or animation about your site, placed on other sites. How about a personal greeting to your potential customers? Pictures and words can tell and sell like nothing else!
Encourage repeat visits:
• Add a newsletter to your website to capture names and emails from visitors.  Building customer lists allows you to communicate with visitors and turn them into customers.  Studies have shown that many visitors will visit your site more than 4 times before they buy.
• Forum or discussion areas on your site: Forums can be a powerful tool for letting the visitor interact and spend time on your site. This can get visitors to stay and visit your website longer.
• Contests or Special Offers: Ever won anything? Doesn’t it feel great to win contests or get something free. This strategy, done the right way, can bring great traffic and can result in great sales.

Technorati Tags: Email Marketing, Newsletter, Pay Per Click, PPC, Website Promotion, website traffic, Website Video Marketing, website visibility