One of the biggest challenges businesses have with their online strategies is how to get enough quality visitors to their websites. There are hundreds of ways you can drive the right kind of traffic to your website, and usually a combination of several tactics brings the best kind of visitor to your site. Learn about 5 simple steps you can follow to start driving more traffic to your website today!
One of the biggest challenges businesses have with their online strategies is how to get enough quality visitors to their websites.
There are hundreds of ways you can drive the right kind of traffic to your website, and usually a combination of several tactics brings the best kind of visitor to your site - ones who are most likely to sign up for your list and eventually buy your products. There are five simple steps you can take to drive high-quality prospects to your website:
Step 1: Clearly identify your market niche.
This is foundational, but one of the main problems I see working with my clients is they don't have a clearly defined market niche (whether they market online or offline).
Be sure to dig deep and drill down to the common smallest denominators your market niche shares. What you are striving for is your market niche knows YOU understand THE problem they need solved, and you are THE problem solver. Once you define a market niche, it will be easier to know where and how to find them, both online and offline. Step 2: Prepare your website to capture visitors.
Okay, so you have a clearly defined market niche. Is you website ready for the traffic you're going to be driving to it? There are two essential pieces that you need to have in place before you start driving traffic to your site:
1. A Simple Invite Site.
This is a simple one-page website where you direct your market niche to sign up for your list, so you can communicate with them on a regular basis.
2. A Free Taste.
How are you going to entice people to give you their name and email? With an irresistible, free offer, of course!
This is your free offering to entice people to join your list once they arrive at your Invite Site. It gives them a feel for what you have to offer, so be sure to provide something of value to your market niche. Take a peek at the landing page of you website. Make sure it's clear what step you want people to take when they arrive. The first thing that your visitor should see is the sign-up form for your Free Taste.
If you're going to make the effort to get people to your site, you want to make sure you have a way to capture their contact information so you can get them on your list, and be able to communicate with them to build the Know, Trust, and Like factor. This also gets them into your marketing & product funnel. Otherwise, they may never visit your site again, and you'll lose them forever. Step #3. Find your market niche online.
You need to find ways to access your niche so you can drive traffic to your website.
To find your market niche you want to know where they are "hanging out" online. Following are some places you can look to find them:
* Online Networking Groups, Discussion Lists, Forums, Blogs
Find 2 to 3 online networking groups, and list your profile and website address that points directly to your Invite Site with your Free Taste. Some of the best places to look for networking groups are Ryze.com, LinkedIn.com, and Google and Yahoo Groups. Look for groups of people that are comprised of people in your market niche.
Also, check out discussion groups and Blogs that you enjoy, and contribute helpful comments for others to read. Becoming an active participant lets others get to know you, and your style.
* Offer Free Teleseminars.
Another great way to get in front of your market niche is to offer free Teleseminars for groups and associations that are made up of your target market. These groups can be online or offline! Invite people to visit your site to register for the teleseminar, and also during the Teleseminar.
* Do Internet Radio or Podcast Interviews.
Offer to be interviewed for an Internet radio or Podcast show, whose audience is your market niche. Again, be sure to mention the URL of your website during the interview or Podcast. After all, the goal is to get people to visit your site, and join your list so you can develop a relationship with them...and eventually sell products and service to them.
To find an appropriate show, Google Podcast and Internet radio shows for your niche. Go ahead, try it! It's easy to do, and many of the places to post your radio and Podcasts are free. Using these strategies will put more of the right kind of traffic on the path to your website.
Step #4. Let your market niche find you.
Another way to drive traffic to your site is to leave clues for people to find you online. This strategy works if your niche doesn't hang out in an organized fashion, or if you just want to include this strategy into your mix of promotional activities. Following are some methods you can use to let your market niche find you:
* Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Google Adwords and Yahoo Overture are the two biggest "players" in the Pay-Per-Click arena. It's difficult to get to the top of the "organic" search results (on the left side of the search results page). The benefit of using the Pay-Per-Click strategy to drive traffic is because it can be very easy to get on the first page of keyword search results, bringing targeted traffic to you.
Use the PPC's research tool to help find the best keywords for your market niche (keywords are search terms people use to help find information and YOU online). Be sure to use keywords in your ads to help the search engines drive traffic to your site.
* Write & Submit Articles.
Writing articles educates your market niche about you, and what you do. They also help to position you as an expert in your field. Article writing also gives people a taste of your style, and you will naturally attract people who like you style.
When someone enters your keywords in the search form, your article will pop up and that will drive traffic to your site.
Step 5: Optimize Your Website for the Search Engines.
There are a few basic things you can do to help your site come up for relevant keyword searches. Here are some to get you started:
* Define your keywords.
This is how people will find your business online. Find keywords that are highly relevant to what you offer, and popular enough so they will attract decent traffic to your site...but, not so competitive that you can't rank well using them. Be sure to sprinkle your keywords throughout your web page copy.
* Create your metatags.
This is how the search engines "read" your site. Put your keywords in the metatags on each page of your website.
* Submit your site to the search engines.
Submit your website (its best if you submit every page individually) to at least these three major search engines manually.
Begin implementing these simple strategies to drive traffic to your website. If you do them consistently over time, you will begin to see more qualified traffic visit your website and your online business will grow!
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