Internet marketing has quickly become overrun with people willing to give suggestions. The methods they suggest run the gambit from reasonable to absurd. This litany of suggestions can often leave people confused and unsure of whose opinion to trust. Worst of all, what is often lost in all of these suggestions is the simple and basic truth that traffic is the most essential thing to a successful internet presence for any business.
To help you generate more traffic for your site I have gathered the 5 most proven methods to discuss. These methods offer a truly long-term approach to increasing site traffic.
1) Advertise with search engines.
Search Engine advertising with companies such as Google or Yahoo has become very popular for several reasons: ads placed through these services can be precisely targeted to their desired market and demographic, campaigns can be started and stopped whenever desired, and the advertiser is provided with a significant amount of data concerning the users’ behavior after they click on an ad.
The effectiveness of Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising has been proven by the thousands of companies who have reaped rewards from it. Millions of internet users a day see these ads as they search on Google or visit other web pages. PPC offers an enormous amount of exposure for every dollar spent and is the fastest way to increase your site traffic.
2) Use viral marketing.
Viral marketing allows you to inform people about your company or product in a somewhat sneaky way. This can involve things like attaching your company name to a funny video, article, or game. With this method, people become infected by your interesting content and forward it to others. This gains exposure for your company as your viral marketing ad is forwarded around the internet.
Some notable viral marketing campaigns are:
- BMW Films
- Burger King’s Subservient Chicken
- Hotmail Email Footer
3) Write articles that can lead traffic to your site.
Submit articles to sites that pertain to the area of your business. If you are a web design company write press releases and articles about web design techniques. Find a way to post on your blog as much as possible and remember to provide content instead of advertising. Showcase your companies expertise on your blog by providing valuable information to your readers. Quality content is the only way you will keep them coming back.
4) Join forums and form online communities.
Much like with a blog, forums and online communities can showcase your expertise and increase your credibility. Once you have featured your expertise by providing answers in related forums people will trust you and your site. At that point, people will begin visiting your site to seek out more of your expertise. Make sure that you put a link to your site in the signature section of your forum posts so you are easy to find.
5) Offer a weekly or monthly newsletter.
Keep your customers (and potential customers) involved with a weekly or monthly newsletter. Feature articles full of helpful information. The purpose of this newsletter is not to simply serve as an advertisement for your business but to provide helpful information to your customers. The inclusion of useful content gives your customers a reason to turn to you for answers which will boost your traffic and keep your company fresh in their minds. You may even want to write an article for a partner company and have them write an article for you. This will help increase both companies’ web traffic as new readers are exposed to each business through the newsletters.