Sunday, July 7, 2013

How to Get Website Traffic Using Expert Information Content

You’ve got a book or two out, possibly more, and you’ve created an SEO friendly website to establish your author online platform. You have also taken the time to create a valuable ‘freebie’ to motivate visitors to subscribe to your mailing list.

Now, the question is:

How do You Get Website Traffic?

The answer: Create an information content funnel. This marketing practice helps establish you as an expert in your field and attracts traffic to your website.

As with the freebie, your content should be focused with your target market in mind and should be valuable. And, remember, any content you publish is a reflection of your writing ability, so it should always be quality writing.

Okay, now you know how to get website traffic: you have the site, the product or service to sell, the freebie, and the content, but where should you put your content to lure those potential customers back to your site?

Places to Publish Your Information Content

There are a number of places to post your content, including:

1. Your blog
2. Guest blogging on quality sites related to your niche and target market
3. Article directories
4. Newsletters
5. Joint ventures
6. Reprint strategy - allow others to reprint your content with your byline

Just keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities to share information content. Each new site that features your content has its own set of readers, kind of like another neighborhood or town; those readers may very well share your content, continuing to broaden your reach. And, in regard to reprint strategy, you have the capability of broadening your reach even more.

How to Get Website Traffic - Four Main Strategies
1. Use social networks.

Take advantage of sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and the new-kid-on-the-block GooglePlus. Promote your articles and other content on these sites. Your offer and opt-in should be readily visible on the page you’re linking to. You don’t want the visitor to have to scroll down to find your freebie offer.

2. Get involved in article marketing.
Write and submit quality articles to article directories. The content should impress the reader enough to look at your bio/byline. Be sure the link you include goes to the site or page that has your freebie offer and opt-in box.

With a number of article directories, the allowed word count for your bio will be a percentage of your article content, so write tight and choose your words carefully.

While there are hundreds, probably thousands of online article directories, here are five to start you off:

  • EzineArticles.com
  • Articlebase.com
  • Buzzle.com
  • iSnare.com
  • GoArticles.com

The first four currently seem to have the largest reach, but remember, in the marketing world strategies, sites, and the top contenders can change overnight.

3. Take advantage of Joint Ventures.

According to Peggy McColl, bestselling author of Your Destiny Switch, this strategy is the single most effective way to get major traffic and sales in a short period of time, usually within a 24-48 hour window. Done properly, it has the potential to launch you into Amazon and/or Barnes & Noble bestseller status, and has even created NY Times bestsellers.

4. Use search engine optimization (SEO).
   
Making the search engines aware of your website and content is essential in online marketing. You also want to ensure the search engines categorize your content correctly through relevant keywords. This is accomplished through an SEO friendly website and using relevant keywords, especially your titles and subtitles.

There you have it - four basic tips to help you get started in the right direction.

Boost your writing and marketing efforts with Karen Cioffi and The Writing World. Get weekly tips and guidance, plus updates on free webinars. Join today and get “How to Create an Optimized Website – 3 Essential Author Website Elements and 9 Must-Have Pages.”  

7 comments:

  1. Dear Karen,
    Thanks for sharing these ideas on how to get more internet traffic.

    Hope you're doing well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Joan, thanks for stopping by! Really. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Karen, what exactly are joint ventures?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Peggy, joint ventures are where you team up with other writers, marketers to create a broader marketing experience.

      In regard to book marketing, when a book is about to be launched, you would contact/connect with writers/marketers you know and ask if they'd promote your book on the launch day and possibly offer a free gift to be given to those who purchase the book. It's about giving the potential buyer more incentive to buy and broadening your marketing reach.

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