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Alphatech5
Newsletter * *
ISSUE #183
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7
Simple Ways To Build
Traffic To A New Website
By
Mike Tekula (c) 2008
Got
a brand new website? That's great, but nobody cares.
OK, maybe that's a little harsh. The truth, however, is
that just having a website doesn't get you much.
Many business owners I meet are surprised to find, once we
look at the numbers, that the shiny new site they had
built not too long ago gets little to no traffic on a
daily basis.
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Many
newcomers to the web make the mistake of thinking that
just by buying a domain name and putting up your site,
visitors are going to happen by - something like when you
buy property and build a storefront in a busy part of
town.
It just doesn't work that way. The web is harsh. You can
have the best looking site in the world with great
resources and content and go entirely ignored or
unnoticed. It happens. It's happening right now. Somewhere
out there in the ether is a brand new gorgeous website
loaded with great content, and nobody cares. Poor little
lonely site.
But there is hope. Every website had its early days. Even
sites that get hundreds of thousands of visitors a day
started out with none.
Here are 7 simple things you can start doing right now to
help drive traffic to your site.
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. There are a number of
directories out there that provide free and paid
listings (subject to editorial review, of course). Here
are the ones I recommend:
2. Start Blogging
OK, blogging isn't for everybody (especially you boring
people), but it's a great way to build relevant content
at your site on a consistent basis. It also gives your
visitors/ customers a way to engage with you. But please
don't make the mistake of being too
"corporate" on your blog - do yourself a favor
and check your Public Relations cap at the door. Don't
be afraid to discuss your mistakes, missteps you've
made, and what you've learned from them as well as your
triumphs. In short, be a human, not a brand.
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3.
Consider Paid Search
For new websites, the day when you receive all the traffic
you need for free from search engines and other referrals
is a long way off - if not just a pipe dream altogether.
Often times paid search campaigns are a great way to get
your site in front of your target market today. Be sure to
keep your budget modest, though, until you're confident in
your ROI. Be sure to do your keyword research to find
lower-cost "long tail" keywords - going after
the big traffic keywords might be tempting, but it gets
expensive and the ROI is often not the best.
4. Use Article
Marketing To Build Links
As with any tactic, I'd recommend using this one in
moderation. Article marketing is, essentially, trading
words for links. It can help with link building, but the
quality of the links it garners is usually less than
stellar.
Here's how it works:
- Write an informative article on your site topic (or
something related)
- Include an "about the author" section as
well as links in the article that point to your pages
using relevant anchor text
- Submit the article through one of the many article
syndication services (such as EZineArticles.com
or GoArticles.com
)
- The deal is, anybody can come along and publish your
article on their website - provided they use the
article in its original format including the
"about the author" section. So when the
article is published, any links you include back to
your site are published as well.
5. Guest Post At
Relevant Blogs
This certainly requires some up-front investment, mainly
in terms of building relationships with bloggers in your
topic (a little brown-nosing never hurt), but it can help
get the flywheel turning for your site like nothing else
can. Take the time to make your guest post remarkable and
smart - your host blogger will appreciate it, and it'll
improve the likelihood of attention coming back to your
site (which you'll link to in your guest post, of course).
Links from blogs are some of the most powerful editorial
links you can get - don't underestimate them for a second.
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6. Submit Your Site to
Design Galleries
Is your website breathtaking to behold, beautiful enough
to make angels weep? Yeah, sure it is. But seriously, if
it looks pretty sharp there are plenty of web design
galleries that accept submissions for new sites and link
to the sites they feature. Particularly for CSS-driven
design there are a number of galleries that will
consider your site for listing (provided your site uses
CSS for layout/styling - and God help you if it doesn't)
- including CSSElite.com,
CSSHeaven.com,
CSSBeauty.com
and many others. Just search in Google for "CSS
design gallery." Unless your site is ugly - in that
case, I can't help you, and stop asking me to look at
it.
7. Sponsor a Local
Event or Charity
OK, I admit this is kind of a tired tip - but it works!
Especially for local small businesses. Is there a local
event coming up in your community? A local charity that
has a website? Not only will sponsoring such an event
give you all of the normal PR benefits (and
self-righteous bragging rights) that are the byproducts
of charity, but any web announcement for the event will
potentially include a mention of your website as well as
a link to it. And you can feel good about yourself for a
change.
Bonus
Tip: Be Patient
Alright, this one is cheap, I admit it. Not much of a tip.
But it's important to remember that you're not going to
see your unique visitors count skyrocket immediately for
your new website. Most "overnight
successes" actually take a few years to get
going.
And if you find yourself checking your traffic numbers on
a daily basis, please do us all a favor - step away from
the computer, go toss the ball around with your kid, maybe
take your niece out for ice cream. Contrary to popular
belief, staring at your site traffic data has no positive
effect on it.
About
The Author
Mike Tekula is the president of Unstuck Digital, a Long
Island Web Design and Search Marketing agency based in
Ronkonkoma, NY.
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