Saturday, January 24, 2009

All you need now is traffic

So you got a brand new site up and running. You have spent hours setting up and writing and placing information here and there. Placing banners and ads in places that will be sure to attract the interests of your visitors. all you need now are some visitors. Here is the problem you are about to face. Just having a website will not get you much traffic.



Many of the businesses I have worked for are stunned to find out that just having a web site with a name wont really cause the net hordes to come marching through the door to buy, buy, buy! In fact you can see the pain on there faces as you start to explain and show them the numbers of the traffic they have been getting on the web site. Some have received none at all.



They have fallen into the trap that so many others have fallen into. Thinking that just by buying a domain name and putting up your site, visitors are going to pour in. They think that it is like having a store on main street in a busy part of town. It just doesn't work that way.



The web can be an evil lady. You could have spent lots of money and have the best looking site in the world with great resources and content and still go unnoticed. It happens. In fact it is happening right now for some poor bastard. There is hope for that poor bastard and a way to get that evil lady to work with you.



Every website had its early days. Sites that are receiving hundreds of thousands of visitors every day, started out with no visitors. Here are a few simple things you can do now to help build traffic to your site today, this week and in the future.


1. Get Some Quick Links From Trusted Directories

Link building is a long-term process with long-term goals, but for brand new sites with no history you've got to start somewhere. Start your web domination here:


Yahoo!


Business.com


JoeAnt.com


DMOZ.org


BOTW.org


after you have worked with those start with this list of directories - bookmark it and visit it often. This will give you some building blocks to set a strong foundation with.



2. Start Blogging

Blogging isn't for everybody, but it's a great way to build fresh content on a consistent basis. It gives your visitors a way to interact with you. To be social and build bonds with you and your brand. But don't be too "corporate" on your blog. Discuss your mistakes, missteps you've made, and what you've learned from them as well as your triumphs. Be a human, not just a brand.



3. Set up a Twitter Account

The day when you receive all the traffic you need for free from search engines and other referrals is a long way off. But in today's economy paying for search engine placement is over rated. Your ROI will be far below what you were told. Often times paid search campaigns are a great way to get your site in front of your target market today. But they are also a way to eat up your budget with just a few clicks that lead to no sales. Go to Twitter and set up an account. Use your websites name to establish a brand name. Make sure you fill out the Url Info and the Bio. Use the bio section to provide information about the site you are promoting. Turn off all your e-mail notifications otherwise you will be flooded with e-mail for every time some one joins, messages or contacts your Twitter account. Once you have set up your account start making friends and getting your webpage in front of people. Don't be a jerk and again, remain human. Here is a link to a list of some other applications that will work with the Twitter platform.




4. Guest Blog At Relevant Blogs

This certainly requires some investment in terms of building relationships with bloggers in your topic and it can help get the gears turning on your site like nothing else can. Take the time to craft your post properly and show your knowledge on the topic, your host blogger will appreciate it, and it'll improve the likelihood of attention coming back to your site from the post you submitted. Links from blogs are some of the most powerful editorial links you can get, don't underestimate them for a second.



In the end, be patient. It's important to remember that you're not going to see your unique visitors count skyrocket immediately for your new website. Most real traffic booms take a year or more to gain momentum and get going. If you find yourself checking your traffic counts daily do yourself a favor and walk away. Get up and stop. Writing content for the page is one thing working on the value added content is good but getting so wrapped up in the numbers is a sure fired way to to get a good hole in the stomach. Go out back and play ball with your kid. You will have more of a positive effect on the website by doing that and coming back with a clear head than you would by stressing out over your traffic or lack there of. Just relax. They will come.