How To Market Anything Online

Lesson 6: How To Get Buyers To Your Website 

It would be impossible to cover all of the different ways to generate traffic to your Website in the limited time that we have in today’s lesson so I will cover the most effective methods along with resources you can use to learn more about each method.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

When you perform a search on a search engine you might have noticed that there are usually thousands or millions of results that are listed.  Most people don’t go past the first 20 results.  Because of this, you want your site to appear as high in the listings as possible so that more people will potentially see your site and visit it.  All of the search engines have different methods for determining how sites are ranked which they keep closely guarded and change regularly. 

SEO has more variables than we could possibly cover here. In a nutshell, make sure that you include the main keywords that people use to find your product or service in the copy on your Website and in the title of your Webpages. 

Many Search Engines also look at the number of related sites that link to you so it’s important to get sites to link to you.  There are many ways to do this through press releases, link campaigns, affiliate programs and blogging.  There are also some really fantastic software tools such as Webposition that will automate much of this process for you.  If you want to learn more about SEO click here. 

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

One instant way to drive targeted visitors to your Website is through Pay Per Click advertising.  We have covered this a bit earlier from the perspective of a publisher.  As an advertiser you bid on the maximum amount you are willing to pay for each time someone clicks on your ad.  The highest bidder ends up on the top of the ad listings.  Most major search engines offer some type of Pay Per Click advertising program.  

Articles

Webmasters are always hungry for fresh content for their Websites.  A free way to create traffic is by writing articles and making them available for people to use on their Websites and in their blogs.  The end of the article will feature an “About The Author” or bio that features links to your Website and contact info.  There are also thousands of directories that Website owners and bloggers use to find new articles.  These directories allow you to post your articles free of charge. Click here for more information on articles. 

Blogs

Blogs are basically online Web logs or journals.  Blogs have become very popular and have also become an important tool in your search engine optimization strategy.  You can easily setup a blog in a matter of minutes for free at Blogging Hotspots like Blogger.com.  Blogs can generate traffic directly to your Website and they can also help your search engine rankings.  

Podcasting

Here is the official definition of Podcasting as found on Wikipedia: 

Podcasting, a portmanteau of Apple's "iPod" and "broadcasting," is a method of publishing files to the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed and receive new files automatically by subscription, usually at no cost. It first became popular in late 2004, used largely for audio files.  

With Podcasting you can create your own radio show that is available to users “on-demand.”  Once they have subscribed to your Podcast they are automatically updated with any new shows that you add.  You can add new shows weekly, daily, monthly, hourly or however often you want.  It’s a great way to drive traffic to your site and help establish yourself as an expert. 

E-Mail

What I am talking about here is providing valuable content to your visitors in exchange for their e-mail address.  I am not talking about spam.  This can be in the form of a Newsletter/Ezine, special report, free e-book, teleseminar or online courses (like this one).  The key here is that if you want to maintain a healthy list of e-mail addresses, provide valuable content NOT just ads to buy your products and services.   

Press Releases

There are many press release distribution services online that will distribute your release to thousands of online news outlets. 

As I have mentioned earlier, it is very important to have many sites linking to your site.  Once these new outlets list your properly created release, they will in effect be linking to your site.  By creating well-written, keyword-rich online press releases you can quickly increase the number of sites linking to you and the amount of traffic your site is receiving.  

If you want more information on the items we've covered please visit our Top 10 Marketing Tools Directory.  Tomorrow you will discover The 9 Crucial Questions You Must Ask Before Getting Started.  If you want to skip ahead, click here.  Otherwise I will see you again tomorrow.  Until then I wish you all of the success you deserve, all of the challenges you need to grow, and all of the wisdom to enjoy them both.  I’ll see you on the other side. 

Wishing You The Best,

Ryan Azevedo 
www.MarketingGrade.com