Bringing in traffic is not easy - it takes hard work, determination and lots
of elbow grease. So if you're ready, roll up your sleeves and follow these 26
simple steps, and within just one year you will generate enough traffic to keep
you busy for a long, long time!
A) Keyword research
Before you do anything else, use a keyword research tool and do an extensive
job researching the right keyphrases to use for your site. What keyphrases are
your direct competitors using? Are there any keyphrases that create a potential
for market entry? Are there any that you can put a spin on and create a whole
new niche with?
B) Domain name
If you want to brand your company name, then choose a domain name that reflects
it. If your company is Kawunga, then get www.kawunga.com. If it's taken, then
get www.kawungawidgets.com. No dashes, and no more than two words in the domain
if appropriate.
C) Avoid the sandbox
Buy your domain name early, as soon as you have chosen your keyphrases and
your company name. Get it hosted right away and put up a quick one page site
saying a little about who you are, what you sell, and that there will be more
to come soon. Make sure it gets crawled by Google and Yahoo (either submit it
or link to it from another site).
D) Create content
Create over 30 pages of real, original content on your site. This will give
the spiders something to chew on. It will also give you more opportunities to
been seen in the search engine results for a wide variety of keyphrases.
E) Site design
Use the "Keep It Simple" principle. Employ an external CSS file,
clean up any Java Scripts by referring to them off the page in an external file,
don't use frames, use flash the way you would an image, and no matter what,
do not create a flash site. Do not offer a busy site with lots of bells and
whistles to your visitors. Keep things nice and simple. Make it easy for them
to find what they are looking for and they'll have no reason to look anywhere
else.
F) Page size
The less kilobytes your page uses, the better - especially for the home page.
Optimize your images and make sure the page loads quickly. Most people and businesses
in the Western world may have high speed, but cell phones and other countries
might not. If your site loads slowly, you may have already lost your visitor
before they've even had a chance to browse around.
G) Usability
Make sure that your site follows good usability rules. Remember that people
spend more time on other sites, so don't violate design conventions. Don't use
PDF files for online reading. Change the colours for visited links, and use
good headers. Look up usability for more tips and tricks, it will be worth your
while.
H) On site optimization
Use the keyphrase you have chosen in your title (most important), your headers
(when appropriate), and within the text. Make sure that your page/content is
ABOUT your keyphrase. If you are selling widgets, than write about widgets.
Don't just stick the word widgets into the text.
I) Globals
Globals are the links that remain the same on every page. They are the reference
for new visitors to keep them from getting lost. Sometimes they are on the left
of the page, sometimes they consist of tabs at the top. Often they are in the
footer of the page as well. Make sure that you have an old style text version
of your globals on every page. I usually create tabs at the top, and put the
text versions in the footer at the bottom of the page. Find out what works best
for you.
J) Headers
Use bold headers. On the Internet, people scan they don't read. So initially,
all they will see are the headers. If your headers don't address their concerns,
they won't stick around long enough to read your content. Use appropriate keyphrases
when you can.
K) Site map
Build a site map with a link to each of your pages. Keep it up to date. This
will allow the spiders to get to every page. Put a text link to the site map
on the main pages.
L) Content
Add a page every 2-3 days: 200-500 words. Create original content, don't copy
others. The more original and useful it is, the more people will read it, link
to it, and most importantly of all - like it enough to keep coming back for
more.
M) White hat only
Stay away from black hat optimizing techniques. Black hat optimization consists
of using any method to get higher rankings that the search engines would disapprove
of, such as keyword stuffing, doorway pages, invisible text, cloaking and more.
Stick to white hat methods for long-term success. People who use black hat optimization
are usually there for the short-term, such as in porn, gambling, and Viagra
markets (just look at your email spam for more black hat markets). These black
hat industry sites are usually around just long enough to make a quick buck.
N) Competition analysis
Who is linking to your competition? Use Yahoo's "link:" service to
see the back links of your competition. For example, type in "link:http://www.yourdomain.com"
into Yahoo search without the quotes). Try to get links from the same sites
as your direct competitors. Better yet, see if you can replace them!
O) Submit
Submit to five groups of directories:
1. Dmoz.org and Yahoo (local, such as Yahoo.co.uk, or Yahoo.ca, etc... if you
can).
2. Find directories in your field and get into them. Pay if you must, but only
if the price is reasonable.
3. Local directories that relate to your country or region.
4. Any other directories that would be appropriate.
5. If you are targeting the local market, make sure that you are in the Yellow
Pages and Superpages (because search engines use these listings to power local
searches)
P) Blog
Start a blog about your industry and write a new entry at least once a week.
Allow your visitors to comment or, better yet, write their own entries. This
will create even more content on your site and will keep people coming back
regularly to see what is new.
Q) Links from other sites
Simply submit your website to appropriate sites, asking that they link to your
site as a reference because it will benefit their visitors. Don't spend too
much time on this, if your content is good and original, they will find you
and link to you naturally. Remember that Linking is Queen.
Stay away from reciprocal linking, links farms, link scams, and any other unnatural
links. They may not necessarily hurt you, but Google tracks when you get a link,
how long you have had a link, who links to the site that links to you, where
you live, what you had for breakfast, and more (not really... but kind of).
R) Statistics
Make sure your server has a good statistics program. Use it! If you don't have
access to a good program, then pay for one. Without the knowledge of who is
coming to your site, from where, and how often, you will be missing out on some
essential tools to improve your site.
S) Pay-per-click (PPC)
Sign up for Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing. Spend money getting
people to your site. Use it for branding too. This will create a steady flow
of visitors to your site, and will make your site more accessible to your potential
clients. You don't have to be #1, you don't even have to be #5... just make
sure you are on the first page of search results for most of your keyphrases,
when the cost is right.
T) Look ahead
Stay informed of what is coming up in your market. If a new product will be
out next season, write about it now. Take advantage of being a first mover.
The search engines, and linkers, will reward you.
U) Articles
Write an article once every week and get it published in as many online publications
as you can (with a link back to your site). Include the article on your site.
Not only will this create many links to your site, but it will also get people
to click to your site, and most importantly you will become an expert in the
eyes of your visitors. They may even begin looking for your site by querying
your name!
V) Study your traffic
After 30 to 90 days you will have enough results to analyze in your statistics
program. Go over them with a fine toothed comb. Get the answers to these questions:
- Where are your visitors coming from?
- Which search engines do they use?
- What queries do they type in?
- What pages on your site do they visit the most?
- What are the entry pages on your site?
- What are the exit pages?
- What path do they follow when they browse your site?
Use this information to tweak your site.
- Use the most popular page to encourage the visitors to make you money.
- Adjust the paths they use to send them where you want them.
- Figure out why they leave from the exit pages.
Also, see what search terms people use to find you, and fine tune your keyphrases.
If you targeted "green widgets", but your visitors are finding you
with the query "green leather widgets", then start creating content
about "leather widgets"!
W) Verify your submissions
After 3-4 months, check that you got into Dmoz.org and all of the other directories
that you submitted to. If you have not been included, then submit again, or
better yet, write a polite email to the editor and ask why. Also, find any new
directories that would be worthy of your submittal time and submit to them.
X) RSS feeds
RSS (Real Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary) is becoming a powerful tool
for Internet marketers. You can quickly and easily add fresh content to your
website. Article feeds are updated frequently, so you can give your visitors
(and the search engines) what they want - fresh content! You can use RSS to
promote any new content, such as new pages, articles, blogs, press releases,
and more!
Y) Press releases
A press release is a written communication that you submit to journalists in
the media (newspapers, radio, television, magazines) which are used to make
announcements that are newsworthy. Create press releases announcing publication
of any new articles or new company information or products. If it is interesting/original
enough, a journalist may pick it up and write an article about it. Before you
know it, your website address may get published in the NY Times.
Z) Keep your content fresh
Remember to write a new page every 2-3 days. I only mentioned it briefly, but
it is probably the most important point in this article. Keep writing! Without
fresh content, your site will gradually drop in the search engine results. To
stay on top, your content has to be the most up-to-date, freshest, and most
interesting and original content in your field.
Follow these 26 simple steps and I assure you that within one year you will
call your site a success. You will bring in a massive amount of traffic from
within your industry and watch as your business grows!
So start writing, and write yourself to the top!
