Finding Traffic Outside of Google

It’s true.  Google is the king of search engines.  Over 70% of searches happen via Google.  If you can get your site listed high in the search results for keywords relevant to your site at Google, you’ll experience absolutely stunning traffic levels.

That’s why everyone seems obsessed with Google.  Many of those in the pay-per-click world go ga-ga over Adwords, mentioning other PPC services only in passing.  The SEO gurus of the world are focused almost exclusively on how to excel Google’s world.  

And that’s a mistake.

You can find traffic outside of Google.  Sure, a 70% market share is impressive when compared to a search engine like Yahoo (who sees about 17% of all search engine activity).  It’d be a mistake, however, to pretend as if that 17% was an insignificant sum.

If you ranked highly for your keywords at Yahoo, you could still run a very profitable site eeven if Google never got around to indexing the site.  When you’re talking about big numbers like total search volume, figures like 17% actually translate into something of serious significance.

As you try to build traffic for your site, don’t put the blinders on when it comes to matters of SEO.  Google is such a huge player that you really don’t have much of a choice but to try to get some love in the SERPs there.  That’s fine.  It does not follow, however, that you need to completely ignore SEO for search engines like Yahoo and MSN.  You can still collect a very impressive flow of traffic if you’re handling the project correctly.

As you develop your SEO skills and your overall plan of attack, leave a little space in the margins for Yahoo and other smaller search engines.  These smaller fish tin he search engine pond aren’t going to set records, but they are going to give

Balancing Your Traffic Generation Efforts

Generating traffic.  It’s a massive field.  There are so many different things you can do and so many ways you can approach trying to secure more visitors.  You can advertise.  You can produce world-class content.  You can become a search engine optimization guru.  You can transform yourself into the ultimate online social butterfly.  

Within each of those possibilities, there are a range of different strategies and approaches you can take.  The whole thing borders on the infinite.  

Any one of many different plans can produce results.  However, the best way to really reach maximum performance is by using a variety of different strategies.  That not only avoids the “all of your eggs in one basket” risk, it also allows you to reach more people.

Picking a blend of traffic-creating strategies sounds easy enough, but many people run into one big stumbling block.  They fail to properly balance their efforts.  They get bogged down in one or two areas and begin to neglect others.  They spend a great deal of time working with methodologies that aren’t producing results instead of honing in on those that are really getting the job done.

Balance.  How do you achieve that perfect state?  Here are a few tips.

Remember the 80/20 Rule.  You’ve probably heard of this, right?  They say that 20% of your efforts are going to produce 80% of the results in viritually any field.  It’s basically true in terms of traffic creation.  You need to pay attention to what’s really working and then make a point of maintaining (if not increasing) your efforts in that area.  It also allows you to move away from those things that aren’t working, helping you to find just the right balance for your project.

Make a Plan.  A Real Plan.  Don’t just fly by the seat of your pants.  Create a real strategy.  Create a schedule.  Follow through with it.  Your site isn’t going to perform worth a hoot if you aren’t bringing eyeballs to it.  Traffic must be a priority and you need to approach the issue with organization and dedication.  Having a serious plan will help you to cover all of the bases, too, improving your balance.

Stay Informed.  Keep your finger on the pulse of what’s happening out there and be prepared to explore new and different ways to get traffic.  The Internet changes fast and once-powerful techniques can quickly become obsolete.  Likewise, new approaches may emerge that could become a critical part of your traffic repertoire.

Evergreen, High-Value Content Keeps ‘Em Coming

There are many different ways to drive traffic to your site.  Some of them can bring in a large wave of visitors quickly but don’t do much for the long-term viability of your project.  Others don’t create those massive influxes but can actually help you out more than the big traffic explosions.

That’s why everyone should make a point of including the production and publication of high quality, evergreen content as part of an overall traffic plan.

Quality?  Absolutely.  People are more likely to return to your site and to link to your site (which has both direct traffic flow and SEO value) if you’re giving them something into which they can really sink their teeth.  People love discovering strong resources that offer real information in an organized and logical manner.  If you can give people what they really want (and can really use), you’ll reap the benefits for an extended period of time.

Evergreen?  Of course.  Some content is red hot and valuable, but only for a short time.  For instance, you could be the go-to site for information about the current Hamas/Israel conflaguration and that could drive a ton of traffic to your site.  When things settle down, or circumstances change, you’re not going to get a lot of attention.  The person who has great content outlining the history underlying tensions, on the other hand, will continue to secure visitors long after the “news” has changed.  It’s the difference between being an encyclopedia and a newspaper.  Be an encyclopedia some of the time.  Provide timeless information that’s going to have real value over the long run.

It’s easy to get caught up in one-off traffic generation strategies.  You can easily find yourself spending most of your time chasing the next big wave of traffic.  In the meantime, webmasters who’ve concentrated on providing high-quality, evergreen material are going to enjoy consistent and, in the long run, greater visitor numbers.

Using Controversy for Linkbaiting

People swear by “linkbaiting” as a means of traffic generation (and, as the name suggests, SERP-assisting backlink creation).  The idea is simple:  provide some form of content that people find irresistible.

Linkbait can take many forms.  Some swear by the creation of something unique and funny.  Others trust in the power of building a solid and useful list of resources.  There are those who are true believers in writing a “list”.  They maintain that a “Top 50 _____” list will draw traffic like nobody’s business.

There’s another strategy out there, too.  Controversy.  If you come out loudly and strongly in defense of an unpopular position or aggressively criticizing some well-recognized individual, site, product or strategy you can get a lot of attention in a very short period of time.  Some maintain that controversial content is THE best way to up your numbers.

Relying on controversy, however, involves some risks.  You can brand yourself as an antagonistic figure, which probably won’t help your site’s long term prospects.  You can block the development of potentially valuable relationships.  If you’re on the wrong side of an argument, those efforts at stirring the pot can come back to haunt you as embarrassments.

So, if you do want to use controversy as part of your linkbaiting effort, keep these guidelines in mind.

Be Right. If you’re going to start an argument, make darn sure you’re on the stronger side of the issue.  You don’t want to be carrying the banner for the inferior position.  Do your homework, do your research, and construct a credible argument.  You can’t rely purely on smarminess to pull off the controversy angle successfully.

Stay Balanced. When trafficking in controversy, there’s a certain balance you need to strike.  If you go to far over-the-top you can actually decrease people’s interest  If you’re too soft, you don’t reap the benefits of controversy.  You have to find and “hit” that “sweet spot” where you’re attracting attention.

Use the Mama Test. Before you publish an intentionally controversial piece of linkbait, ask yourself whether your mother would approve of what you were writing.  If she wouldn’t, take a moment to reconsider.  You might be able to grab some short-term gains with something extra incendiary, but it’s not in your best long-term interests.  And, just as importantly, it’s not very nice.

Controversy can be a good thing.  Vigorous debate can be outstanding.  You can make controversy work as a traffic-driving strategy.  It just requires a little extra care and attention to do it the right way.

Remembering Traffic Quality

We spend a lot of time at this blog discussing ways to increase traffic levels. It’s a popular topic, after all. Everyone with an online presence wants to make sure his or her site is seen by as many people as possible. Every last webmaster out there is searching, scratching and fighting for traffic.

It’s easy to get lost in the various strategies and techniques of traffic generation and to lose track of a very important consideration in the process. Huge traffic numbers are great, but only if the traffic itself is of a suitably high quality.

As you strive to create a massive boom in your site’s stats, don’t forget to keep your eye on the actual quality of content you’re receiving.

Think about it this way. Would you rather have 800 unique visitors who don’t know a thing about what you’re trying to do or would you prefer 100 visitors who are completely in tune with your operation and who are ready to purchase your product?

It should be an easy choice.

This is why purchased traffic and traffic exchanges are such a bad bet for most webmasters. Sure, you can get some visitors. They just aren’t the kind of visitors who are going to do you any good.

How do you get quality traffic? The answer is easy, even though it takes some effort to implement.

You need quality content that fulfills a need or interest on the part of target demographic. Junk attracts junk. Quality material brings in quality visitors (and it keeps them there long enough to make it worthwhile).

You need good inbound links. Search engine optimization is, largely, a matter of acquiring quality inbound links to your site. If you have good backlinks, you’ll get good search engine placement. That tends to bring in good traffic.

You need to avoid cheap tricks and untargeted traffic generation methods. Concentrate on bringing the right people to your site for the right reasons. Crutching on trickery or utilizing traffic generation methods that send untargeted collections of “who knows what” to your site won’t help you out.

We all want big traffic numbers, but we should always remember that those numbers won’t mean a thing if their stuffed with low-quality visits.

When a Picture is Worth a Thousand Visitors - Getting Traffic from Google Image Search

It’s amazing.  Everyone and his or her dog is fighting like mad over search engine traffic yet almost all of them are neglecting one of the best ways to grab visitors via Google.  Images.

More specifically, we’re referring to traffic generated via Google Image searches.  More and more people are using Google to find photos and it’s not that hard to take advantage of that fact.  Competition for image traffic is jaw-droppingly low and one can develop a steady stream of visitors with relatively little effort.

We’re not talking about junk traffic here, either.  Smart, experienced users will often use image search to find products in which they’re interested.  If you’re ranking high for an appropriate image, you can secure some highly-targeted and highly-motivated traffic.

So, how do you start brining in the visitors via image searches?  Here are a few pointers to get you started:

Use images.  Unless you have a good reason not to do so, try to use images with regularity.  If you’re targeting a niche or demographic that tends to use dial-up or that has a natural disdain for images, this might not be a good idea.  Likewise if the use of visuals will muddy up your design to the point where it begins to interfere with usability.  In most other cases, though, it’s easy to integrate visuals into a web page or blog post.  If you want image search traffic, you gotta have images!

Use alt tags.  Not only are alt tags good in terms of usability, they’re also very good in terms of generating image search traffic.  When you’re coding your pages, take the time to insert that alternate text for every photo used.  This will help Google to clue in to the subject matter of the picture, improving your shot at snagging a good rankings for image queries.

Use good file names.  Your pics should be given descriptive names.  You might still get some image traffic from that file named pic0001-83763.jpg, but your odds are a lot better if the file name actually reflects the image’s content.

Use the right text around the picture.  Google will look at surrounding text as a means of determining graphical content’s subject matter.  If you’re writing the right things around an image, you can dramatically improve your odds of ranking highly for image searches related to that text.

And that’s really just the beginning.  Take a look at these nineteen ways to optimize your site for Google image searches for some additional direction.

Streaming Video for Traffic

Looking for a new way to attract an audience to your website? Then now may be the time to consider a podcast or a streaming video!

Streaming videos are relatively easy to create and they attract a lot of attention. They can be live presentations or they can be pre-recorded presentations. The great thing about the pre-recorded videos is that visitors can download them and watch ‘on demand’ - much like television that is ‘on demand’. It gives your targeted audience Read more

Keep it Fresh

Year-end is a great time to offer new deals and promotions. But it’s also a great time to use your newsletter to communicate valuable information to your target audience. Keep your information relevant and provide visitors and subscribers with information that will help them prepare for the new year ahead.

Consider some of the following tips for your newsletter production:

• Include articles with links to your website for more indepth information and content.
• Include teasers about products or services and encourage them to visit your site.
• Make special offers for year-end clearance sales.
• Promote an upcoming product that will be introduced or launched in the new year - give them an opportunity for an early preview by visiting your website.
• Provide simple instructions on how to add an RSS feed for the website.
• Make sure your newsletter is easily accessible for portable devicies such as mini-PCs, iPhones, Blackberry’s, and other devices - this means limited graphics and layout that is easy to download.

Give people a reason to read your newsletter by making it fresh and interesting. Publish it consistently and have your audience anticipate each issue by including vital information or special offers. Always provide links back to your website with more details.

Newsletters are a valuable tool for online marketers and they provide a great opportunity to communicate with your target audience. Solicit their feedback about what they like and what they’d like to see added. They will likely reply with information that will make your website more important and valuable to them in the coming year.

Get ‘em and hold ‘em

In our last post, we talked about using your social network to attract traffic. We promised to follow-up with some ideas to make your site stickier and keep your visitors on your site longer.

As we approach the upcoming holidays, people are looking for Read more

‘Dig’ This!

Today could be one of the best times to use social networks to drive traffic to your website. More and more people are turning to social networks for information, product reviews, and product recommendations. There are literally hundreds of social networking sites, many organized by subject matter or area of interest. Of course, Twitter, Facebook, and Digg are household names when it comes to social networks.

Your social network community can Read more

Next Page »