Flattery Will Get You… Traffic

A little bit of flattery will get you places when it comes to traffic generation.  Here’s a handy trick for producing a single article/post/page that will get the kind of traffic-producing attention you want.

It’s all about flattery.  More specifically, it’s about recognizing achievement.  Take a look at your niche and come up with a “Top 10″ or “Best of” list about some key component or subject in which you’re audience will be interested.

This kind of content produces great results for a few different reasons.

First, everyone seems to naturally love lists.  Lists get attention just by virtue of being a list.  Seriously, if you title a piece of content “The Top 10 ____” it will always attract some views because it’s an enumerated list.  The “list technique” is a proven headline tactic because, for whatever reason, people want to read lists.

Second, it almost guarantees a mention from those on the list.  If you mention a series of great sites or resources in your niche, you can bet that most of those named will bring it up on their sites.  That’s more links to you and more traffic.

Third, it creates a resource piece.  In our last post we talked about how valuable content produces long-term traffic results.  If you write a good “best of” post, it can become the kind of resource people can actually use and appreciate.

Fourth, other sites in your niche and interested parties are likely to bring attention to your list and/or to mention it.  It’s grade-A linkbait and there’s nothing wrong with that!

When you add those factors together, it’s easy to see why flattery can definitely get you somewhere when your goal is traffic production.

The next time you’re not sure what to do or to try, take a little time to construct and publish a list that recognizes quality and achievement in your niche.  You’ll be happy with the traffic results you’re likely to get.

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.

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

‘Amazing’ Traffic Idea

With the economy on everyone’s mind and the holidays and New Year quickly approaching, it’s the perfect time to think about something “amazing” for your website. You may recall from a September 14 posting on this blog that including something “amazing” on your website is one way to attract a crowd. People want to know something new and fantastic and now is a good time to give it to them.

There is so much negative news about the economy and people are starved for good news. The recent months of political bantering have worn many people down. They are desperate for some good news. So think of ways to give it to them!

Consider an interesting headline: “Economic Crisis Creates Stress” - for Read more

Pull and Push Traffic

I was talking with a successful online marketer the other day and the subject of website traffic naturally came up. In our discussions, I asked him what the number 1 mistake he felt most online entrepreneurs make when it comes to attracting traffic. That’s where he became passionate!

“The problem with traffic generation is that most people try to ‘pull’ traffic to their websites and they neglect the importance of ‘pushing’ traffic to their sites”. His point was well taken since there is a big difference in passive marketing and active marketing. Passive marketing attempts to pull traffic. Active marketing tends to Read more

5 Traffic Strategy Tips

Search engines can definitely bring new traffic to your website. They are a great way to increase your website exposure across the Internet.

But you not only want to bring the traffic one time – you want to keep it coming over and over again. Repeat visitors become loyal customers and can help increase your search engine ranking while contributing to your revenue growth at the same time.

What is website traffic anyway?

It’s people who Read more

Filed Under: Featured Article, Traffic Strategies
Tagged: interactive, repeat visitors, revenue growth

Traffic Strategies that Attract Visitors

October 20, 2008 by jp · Leave a Comment 

When you’re striving to generate more traffic for your website, it’s important to test out a number of options. We’ve talked about a lot of them here in our Traffic Strategies section. Here are a couple of ideas for you to try that can boost traffic.

Pop-up advertising

One thing to consider for your site is pop-up and pop-under advertising.  There is still an open question about how effective these ads can be since the data is limited at this point in time. But they are absolutely working for some online businesses.

Try using pop-up ads that are those little boxes that appear on the screen just before people are able to see the actual page they are searching for.  Paying to advertise on a site with relevant content will quickly catch the attention of the site visitor and they may decide to click onto your pop-up ad. It’s a paid strategy worth testing.

Pop-under advertising

You can also try the pop-under ads which are sometimes considered less intrusive since they don’t interfere with the visitor’s ability to quickly access the search results page. It’s only after they visit a website that the ad appears and the website they visited has been closed.

Pop-under ads could be an effective strategy if the visitor has already read about relevant content before the ad appears on their screen. It’s possible they’re ready to learn more and are searching for a product or content that you can offer.

You can test both types and see what works best for your business. 

Make the ads concise

Make the ads concise with attention-grabbing information to entice visitors to your site. You may find that this type of advertising is worth the money to generate more traffic to your site.

Let us know about your experience with these types of advertising so we can share the pros and cons of both types with our blog readers.

Filed Under: Traffic Strategies
Tagged: paid advertising, pop-over ads, pop-under ads

Next Page »