How To Create a Flow of Free Traffic to your Site

Blogging

2008-08-11T16:57:00.000-04:00

Blogging is a powerful way to generate traffic and
if you're not already doing it you should start now.

The search engines love blogs and you'll often see
blog posts dominate the top rankings for keywords.
You can take advantage of this by starting your
own blog (or blogs) to generate lots of new traffic
and funnel it all towards your main website.

You can build your website as a subsection of your
current website or you can build it as a separate,
standalone site.

Whichever you choose you'll want to make sure you link
back to your main site. Don't just link to your home
page either. Sprnkle in links to some of your other
pages too.

I recommend using either Blogger (good) or Wordpress
(the best) to create your new blog. They're both easy to
learn and use, and they're feature-rich and customizable.

You can host your blog on their servers, but I recommend
you register your own domain and host your blog yourself.

There's 2 very good reasons for you to host your own blog:

First, your url will look more professional and credible.

If you use Blogger, your domain will look like this:

yourwebsite.blogspot.com

And in Wordpress it will be:

yourwebsite.wordpress.com

But if you host it yourself it will simply be:

yourwebsite.com

That's much easier to remember and much more credible to
your readers.

The second reason you should host your own blog is even
more important. Many blogs that are hosted on free services
like Blogger disappear without warning or reason. It's
happened to many a blogger, and you don't want to take
the chance of losing all your hard work for nothing.

Keys to a successful blog

Show some personality. A dull blog won't build much of a
following. Don't be afraid to take a stand. Stir up a
little controversy and get people talking about you blog.

Post often...at least a couple times a week. Stale blogs
that aren't regularly updated quickly lose ther following.

Add an RSS feed so readers can subscribe to your blog and
be notified when you add a new post.

Find other blogs in your niche and add comments to their
posts. Most blogs let you add a link back to your own site.
You can use this method to build relationships and links
to your site, but don't abuse it. Post useful comments,
not sales pitches or SPAM.

Web Traffic Methods to Avoid

2008-08-10T10:58:00.002-04:00

If there's one question that every website
owner asks herself, it's this:

How can I get more traffic to my website?

The more visitors your site gets, the more
opportunities you have to make money through
sales and advertising.

But as more and more websites pop up everyday,
the competition for traffic is getting fierce.
Ideally, you should be getting traffic from
many different sources. And for the most part,
anything that brings you new visitors is good.

But there a few traffic-generating methods that
are just not worth the headaches. Let's talk
about two of them now.

The first traffic method you should avoid is
paid hits.

Now let's not confuse this with legitimate
advertising programs like Google AdWords. I'm
talking about services that advertise:

"10,000 unique visitors for only $9.95!"

Common sense should tell you that something is
fishy about these types of services. How can they
possibly deliver quality visitors for that price?

They can't.

They generally work in one of two ways. They
either use a script to "hit" your website over
and over again or they are part of a "paid to
surf" program. This type of program pays people
to visit websites, so all that happens is they
add your site to their queue and pay people to
visit it.

Unfortunately, your visitors will mostly keep
your site in the background while they do more
important things. Your sire will be visited, but
rarely read.

The second traffic method to avoid is called
"safe lists".

A safe list is a list of email addresses of
people that have supposedly agreed to receive
promotions via email.

A major problem with safe lists is that you have
no real way to verify that the owners of the email
addresses actually opted in. Their email addresses
could have been scraped from any number of blogs,
websites, forums, or discussion groups.

Sending emails to a safe list could result in
a rash complaints that could get your entire
website banned by your ISP.

It's just not worth the risk.

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Offline Methods For Generating Web Traffic

2008-08-08T11:55:00.003-04:00

One of the biggest mistakes website owners
make is to limit their marketing and traffic
generation efforts to online methods only.

Let's face it, as much time as we spend on
our computers these days, most of us are
not online 24/7. If you're not making an
effort to tap into offline marketing
opportunities you're missing out on a
boatload of traffic.

Let take a look at some ways you can use
promote your website offline.

The Yellow Pages

You'd be surprised how many people still
use telephone books to find what they need.
Advertising in your local Yellow Pages is
an inexpensive way to promote your site
offline.

Turn your car into a traveling billboard.

You don't need to invest in expensive car
wrap advertising. A bumper sticker, license
plate holder or magnet that sticks to your
door will work fine. Everyone you pass on
the road will see your website's name and
logo.

Clothing.

Have your domain and logo printed on some
t-shirts and baseball caps and waer them
proudly. Give a few to your family and
friends too and let them be your mobile
sales force.

Sponsor a local sports team.

The Yankees and Red Sox have plenty of cash
to spare, but what about your local Little
League team? Help sponsor a team by paying
for uniforms and equipment. You'll get plenty
of press with each game played. Plus you'll
be doing good for your community.

Radio and TV.

National advertising is beyond the reach of
all but the biggest websites, but there's
nothing wrong with your local television and
radio stations. You can reach a whole new
audience with thousands of people who had
never heard of you before.

Snail mail.

Direct mail advertising was around long before
the internet, and it's not going away anytime
soon. It can be expensive though, so you'll
want to track your campaign carefully to be
sure you're not losing money.

Gifts and freebies.

There are lots of places that will put your
name and logo on just about anything...pencils,
calenders, coffee mugs, etc. These inexpensive
trinkets make great gifts for prospects and
associates, and they serve as a reminder of
what you have to offer them.

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Pay Per Click (PPC) - Part 2

2008-08-07T11:00:00.003-04:00

In part one, we explained how Pay Per Click programs
work, gave a short list of the most popular PPC
networks, and explained the difference between
appearing on search engine results pages and on
niche websites.

In this article, we'll share some valuable tips for
making the most of your PPC campaigns.

Entire books have been written on Google Adwords and
other PPC networks. Obviously we don't have room for
that kind of analysis here, but let's go over some
basics that will help improve your profitability.

1. Your choice of keywords is vital. You must choose
them wisely if you want to succeed. You'll have to
learn to balance two key factors.

First, people must actually be searching for the
keyword phrase you're using. You can get a rough
idea of how many monthly searches a keyword gets
by using programs such as Wordtracker or Keyword
Elite.

But you must also take cost into account. It makes
little sense to pay $1.25 per click if each visitor
generates only fifty cents.

You need to find keyword phrases in the sweet spot
where they receive a good number of searches, but
the cost per click (CPC) is low enough to turn a
profit.

2. Use prequalifiers to discourage tire-kickers.
You have to pay for every click your ad gets, even
if that visitor has no intention of buying anything
from you.

One way to discourage information-seekers from
clicking your link is to mention the price in your
ad. This simple step makes it clear to them that
they should go elsewhere if they're looking for
freebies.

3. Learn how to write effective sales copy. Don't
forget that you're writing an advertisement to
induce someone into clicking on your link.

Learning how to write persuasive copy and a powerful
headline will go a long way toward improving your
clickthrough rate.

4. Test constantly. PPC advertisers who don't test
their ads quickly blow their budget with little to
show for their troubles. You should constantly be
testing new headlines, copy, etc. to determine
what brings the best results.

You can then go back and adjust your PPC campaign
to funnel more money towards the ads that convert
the best.

5. Never stop learning. Look at competing ads. If
you see the same ones over and over again it's a
good bet that they're making someone money. You
can't just copy someone else's ads, but you can
learn from them.

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Pay Per Click (PPC) - Part I

2008-08-06T08:25:00.004-04:00

Pay Per Click (usually just called PPC) is a
traffic-generating method that involves paying
for each visitor to your site.

Depending on your niche and keywords you can
expect to pay anywhere from a few pennies to
ten dollars or more per visitor. PPC is an easy
way for any website to generate lots and lots
of traffic, but you have to be very careful or
you'll spend too much and run yourself right
out of business.

How exactly does PPC work?

Go to google.com and search for the first thing
that comes to your mind. Take a look at the
search results. See the column on the right
labeled "Sponsored Links"?

Those are advertisements. Website owners and
internet marketers paid to have a link to their
website listed on that page through a sophisticated
system called Pay Per Click.

Let's look at a real life example.

Pretend you're in the market for a new charcoal
grill for barbecue season. You want to do some
research and maybe compare a few different models.
So you search for the term "charcoal grills" and,
in addition to the regular search results, Google
also displays some Sponsored Links.

These links are likely merchants who sell charcoal
grills or grill accessories. They each paid to be
there by bidding on the term "charcoal grills" with
the highest bids receiving the most prominent
positions on the page.

They paid to be on that particular page because they
know you are looking for exactly what they have to
offer. Pretty convenient, huh?

Think about your own niche and what kind of keywords
someone would use to find what you're offering. Then
you can use PPC advertising to buy ads to bring in
traffic by using those same keywords.

There are countless PPC networks on the internet and
more are popping up all the time. Here is a short list
of the most popular networks:

-Google Adwords
-Yahoo Search Marketing
-MSN Ad Center
-Chitika
-Miva

Search Results vs Website Content

If you're going to advertise your site through a
Pay Per Click network, you'll need to decide where
to advertise. You can bid for a spot on a search
engine's results page for a specific keyword or you
can bid to appear on another website whose content
is about your keyword.

The general consensus is that you'll get better
results by appearing on search engine results pages.
But it really depends on your niche and your ad.
The best choice is to test both options and see
which works best for you.

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Get Free Traffic with eCourses

2008-08-05T14:28:00.004-04:00

An eCourse is a an automated emails that are sent out
over a specified period of time.

eCourses usually consist of a series of lessons, and
they can cover any topic you'd like. If your site is
about babies you could create an eCourse called "How
to Get Your Baby to Sleep Through the Night in 7 Days"
and set it so subscribers receive one email per day
for 7 days.

The user remains on your mailing list, even after the
initial series is complete, so you can continue sending
future messages unless he manually unsubscribes.

Every message you send is an opportunity to steer your
subscribers back to your website (or to a merchant's site
via an affiliate link). Since they've already signed up
for your eCourse, you know they're already interested in
exactly the kind of information or services you have to
offer.

The real beauty of an eCourse is that once you set up
the series of emails you want to send out, it's
completely automated. It can continue to bring you
targeted traffic for years to come without ever doing
another thing. Of course you can always go back and
make changes any time you like.

How do I create my own eCourse?

It's easy to do. All you need is a tool called an
autoresponder.

There are lots of autoresponders to choose from, but the
two biggest are Aweber and Get Response. You definitely
want to choose an autoresponder that is well-known and
trusted. A big part of your business will rely on your
autoresponder providing reliable service.

Once you sign up with an autoresponder, you'll be given
some code to paste into your site. The code will place
a box on your web pages to collect names and emails to
add to your mailing list.

VERY IMPORTANT - you want an autoresponder that uses a
double opt-in subscription method to protect you from
SPAM complaints by requiring subscribers to confirm
they want to subscribe before they can begin receiving
your eCourse.

The next step is to write your series of emails and
choose the frequency at which they'll be sent. From
there on in, your eCourse can be left on autopilot
while you work on other things. Once set up, an eCourse
can continue to bring in fresh traffic indefinitely.

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Video

2008-08-04T11:07:00.002-04:00

For website owners searching for new ways to
drive traffic to their sites, video is the next
big thing.

The drop in price of hardware and software needed
for creating video has made it possible for anyone
to make their own short films or commercials. You
could be the next Steven Speilberg or M. Night
Shymalan.

Faster internet connections and the popularity of
sites such as YouTube allow you to share your video
creations with the entire world.

Even better, you can use them to drive lots of free
traffic to your site. Let's think of a few different
ways we can use video to get more people to your site.

Say you run a merchant site that sells bicycles. You
can make your own commercial for the bikes and post it
on YouTube. Of course, you'll need to be creative to
make your videos stand out from the masses.

Post a video that's really funny or different and it
may start spreading virally. Once a few people find it
they'll send it to their friends, family, and co-workers
to enjoy.

Or perhaps you sell an innovative product that is new
to the market, something unlike anything ever seen
before. Video is the perfect way to get your message
out because you can actually show people how your
product works rather then explaining it to them. A
picture (or video) really is worth a thousand words.

Let's pretend your site offers accounting software for
small business owners. You can create a video tutorial
that demonstrates the software in action. Walking
prospects through a few transactions so they can see how
easy it is to use will be more effective than just saying,
"My accounting software is easy to use."

Plus, you can create a whole series of video tutorials
to serve as customer support. You'll spend less time and
resources helping confused customers if you have videos
that teach them step by step.

In order to create these types of tutorials, you'll need
some special software that lets you record screenshots
and add your own audio commentary.

You have two basic options.

Camtasia is the best but it costs a few hundred dollars
(you can take a free trial to feel it out before buying).

Or you can use CamStudio, which is free. It's not as
powerful as Camtasia but it's fine for most of your video
needs.

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Yahoo Answers

2008-08-03T13:01:00.000-04:00

More and more website owners are realizing the
traffic-generating potential of Yahoo Answers.

This article will teach you how Yahoo Answers
works and how to tap into the huge amounts
of traffic it generates every day.

In a nutshell, Yahoo Answers is a way for people
to ask questions on any topic imaginable. Users
can post answers to each question and vote for the
best answer.

How does this translate into traffic?

When you answer questions posted by other members,
you can include your website address as a source of
more information. If you do it right, you can get a lot
of people to click through to your own site.

Follow these simple tips for success with Yahoo Answers:

Read the terms of service before you begin. If you
don't follow the rules you may find yourself banned.
Advertising is not allowed, so you'll have to learn the
art of subtlety.

Keep in mind that users are there to find information,
not listen to your sales pitch. Concentrate on providing
really useful and informative answers to the questions
posted and you will build a reputation as an expert in
your niche.

Here's a tip that will increase the number of clickthroughs
to your site: post a short (but still complete) answer to
a question and then mention that more details can be
found at your link. Of course you want to be sure your
site really does have more information on the topic.

Don't spam Yahoo Answers with tons of answers either,
even if your posts are informative. Posting too frequently
could be viewed suspiciously and your account could be
deleted. One or two quality posts a day should be fine.

Quality is important, so spend some time writing a really
useful answer. Your goal should be to get voted "best
answer" as often as possible. Many users only read the
best answers and links in these posts will bring you the
most traffic.

One trick I've seen used to get the "best answer" is to
create multiple accounts and use them to vote and choose
your own post as the best.

Use this tactic with discretion though. If users catch on to
what you're doing they could report you and get all your
accounts closed. Your old posts would all disappear,
and so would all the traffic they bring you.

Ezine Advertising

2008-08-01T10:26:00.000-04:00

Ezines are the online form of newsletters. Website
owners use ezines to keep in touch and build a
relationship with their visitors. Ezines are
used to share news, updates, and promotions.

So how can you use ezines to drive traffic to
your site?

Just about every ezine accepts advertising from
third parties. By mixing a few paid ads in with
their content, website owners can defray the cost
of operating an ezine and open up an additional
stream of revenue.

You can place an ad for your website, product,
or service in various ezines. If you do it right
thousands of people will see your ad and click
on the link to your site.

You'll want to place your ads in ezines that
are narrowly targeted toward your specific niche.

Think about it. If your site is about rose gardening,
would you be better off placing an ad in an ezine
that was about rose gardening or just gardening in
general? Obviously the one that is closest to your
own topic will provide the most bang for the buck.

Prices can vary wildly from one ezine to another
depending on the niche and the number of subscribers.
But there are also different prices based on where
your ad is placed within the ezine itself.

Many ezines contain several different ads. They may
have one ad on top, another in the middle of the
content, and another at the bottom. Prices can vary
from one to another.

The most expensive (but by far the best) type of
ezine ad is called a solo ad. As the name implies,
a solo ad means "one ad". When you take out a solo
ad, your ad is the only one readers will see.

How to create a successful solo ad.

First, you need to find an ezine that narrowly targets
the market you're looking to reach. Browse sites in
your niche and take note of which ones run ezines.
You can find more prospects by going to Google and
searching for:

"your keyword" + "ezine"

and

"your keyword" + "newsletter"

Once you have a short list you can narrow it down to
find the most highly-targeted ezines to advertise
in. Compare prices and the number of subscribers for
each.

Before you place an ad, you should subscribe to an
ezine and read through at least a few issues. You
need to get the feel of an ezine and its style to
make sure it conveys the message and tone you need.

Prepare to spend some time crafting your ezine ad.
The words you choose will determine how successful
your ad will be.

Lastly, you need to track your ads carefully. Test
which ezines get the best response. Play around with
your copy and see what kind of results you get.

Only testing will tell you which ads are bringing
in traffic and which ads are wasting your money.

Search Engine Optimization

2008-07-31T09:46:00.001-04:00

One of the most discussed and analyzed topics on
the internet is search engine optimization (SEO).
Discussions on SEO forums often get heated as
members argue about which tactics work best.

Search engine optimization is merely the art of
making your site friendly to the search engines
so you will rank well for keywords related to
your niche.

As a website owner you want search engines like
Google, Yahoo, and MSN to rank you highly. For
example, if your website is about wines from
California, you want to show up on the first
page of results when someone searches for
"California wines."

Top rankings for popular keywords can bring
hundreds of visitors to your site day in and
day out.

Unfortunately, there are many opinions on how
to achieve top rankings, and these opinions
often conflict with one another. Google and
other search engines carefully guard the
algorithms that determine ranking to prevent
manipulation. But through trial and error,
clever minds have reverse engineered the
process to identify several factors that
help websites rank well.

The key is to make it easy for search engines
to figure out what your site is about. Let's
look at some ways to make your site friendlier
to the search engines.

SEO Tips

Each page of your site should target a different
keyword. Go back to our wine example. You'll likely
have pages on red wines, white wines, wine tasting,
wine tours, etc.

Each page should target a single keyword phrase
and that keyword should be featured prominently
throughout that web page.

You'll want to place your keyword in each of the
following places:

-In the Title of your page (preferably at the
very beginning)
-In the Description
-As the Header (H1) of the page
-In the "alt" tag embedded in an image
-In the anchor test of a link
-In bold somewhere in your text

You'll also want to use your keyword phrase
throughout the text. But do so carefully. You
want it to appear natural. Going overboard and
packing your keyword phrase all over the place
is called "keyword stuffing" and could cause
the search engines to drop your site altogether.

These simple on-page SEO tips will help you get
top rankings for many long tail keyword phrases.
But for more competitive keywords you'll need
some help...lots and lots of backlinks!

Getting More Backlinks

2008-07-29T16:46:00.001-04:00

Backlinks are links that are directed to your website
from other websites or blogs. Backlinks are vital to
any website.

Not only do they generate traffic themselves by giving
web surfers an active link to click through to your
site, but they also increase your PageRank. PageRank
is Google's way of measuring the importance and
relevancy of website.

The more inbound links pointing to your site,
the higher your PageRank will be. And the higher
your PageRank, the more willing other websites will
be to link to you.

As you can see, increasing the backlinks to your site
can have a snowball effect on the number of visitors
to your website.

Now let's take a look at a few ways you can increase
your number of backlinks.

1. Many of your visitors will have their own websites
and blogs. Ask them to link to you. You'd be surprised
how well this works if you offer content that is really
useful and informative.

2. Make it easy for others to link to you by creating
a "Link to Us" page and give them the html code so all
they have to do is cut and paste it onto their web pages.
The easier you make it for them the more likely they'll
be to link to you.

3. Submit some articles to article directories in
exchange for a link back to your site.

4. Submit your url to various directories. Back in the
early days of the internet, there were no search engines
like Google or Yahoo. People found what they needed by
searching a directory that was broken into categories.

Today, most people prefer to use the search engines to
find what they need. But the directories haven't died
out just yet. Some people still use them and the links
still count for PageRank.

For a comprehensive list of directories you can submit
your website to, check out StrongestLinks.com.

5. When you agree to link to a website in exchange for that
website linking back to you, it's called a reciprocal link.

As with directories, many website owners have all but
given up on reciprocal linking. They argue that the search
engines have devalued reciprocal links to the point where
they're not worth the time it takes to obtain them.

But there are others who still have great success with
this method. The key is to not just link to anyone for
the sake of linking. Link to sites that are truly useful
and relevant to your visitors.

When done right, reciprocal linking will work for everyone
and both websites will receive a boost in traffic.

Posting To Forums

2008-07-28T09:50:00.001-04:00

When done correctly, posting to forums is an
effective way to generate targeted traffic to
your web site.

But you must use discretion. Failure to follow
a forum's rules will not only result in no
traffic, it will also get you banned and
labeled a spammer.

Below are some tips to help you post to forums
more effectively.

First find the best forums you can. Go to Google
and search for:

"keyword forums"
"keyword discussion groups"
"keyword message boards"

Just replace "keyword" with whatever term best
describes your website's topic.

Be as specific as possible so you find the forums
that are most relevant to your site. Make a list
of any that look promising.

Then go down your list one by one and check each
forum out. You want forums that are active with
lots of new posts. you also want to be sure they
allow you to place links in your posts, or at least
in your signature. You don't want to waste time
in a forum that doesn't allow links because you'll
never see any traffic from them.

You should now have a list with a handful of active
forums that allow you to link back to your website.

Before you do anything, go back and read the rules
of each forum to see exactly what is allowed. You
don't want to make a bad first impression by doing
something that is frowned upon.

Go ahead and sign up and create your profile. But
before you start posting right away, spend a little
time reading through some old posts. Get a feel for
the forum and its members. What questions do they
ask? What do they complain about?

Start answering some of their questions and offering
solutions to their problems. Build your reputation
as an expert in your niche. Be friendly, helpful and
polite.

Always think about what you can give to the forum,
and not what you will get out of it. Don't post
messages with the sole intent of getting visitors
to your site and never say, "Check out the site
in my sig!"

These sorts of messages are frowned upon and will
often be deleted.

Concentrate on building relationships with other
forum members and the traffic will soon follow.

The Forgotten and Undervalued Email Signatures Could be your Best Aliado For Generating Free Visitors

2008-07-27T14:03:00.005-04:00

Your email signature is a valuable piece of real estate.
That short little blurb at the end of each email you send
is a useful reminder of who you are and what you have to
offer.

But few people use this powerful marketing tool to its
full advantage. Most people don't use it at all, and those
who do tend to do it all wrong.

This article will share some do's and don'ts for creating
effective email signatures.

What Not To Do

Do remember to provide a link back to your site. Keep in
mind that not all email providers will allow active links.
Formatting your link and using anchor text in place of your
url may backfire if your link shows up as plain text to
your reader. You should always include a simple link that
can be cut and pasted into a browser.

Example: http://www.yourwebsite.com

Don't just give them your name and website, or you'll be
making the same mistake as countless other website owners.
Your email signature is to important to waste by being
boring. You have to give your readers a reason to go back
to your site.

Do remember that your email signature is in fact an ad.
Be prepared to spend some time crafting and perfecting
your message. Try several variations and test which brings
the best results.

Don't get carried away. Many of us run several different
websites and it's tempting to mention them all in your
signature. But it leads to information overload for your
readers. Keep it simple.

Do feel free to use bribery in your email signature. Offer
something of value such as a free report or eCourse.
Discounts and coupons also work great for generating
traffic. Put a deadline on the discount to make it clear
they'll miss out on something good if they don't click
your link right then and there.

You may even want to set up a special landing page just
for your email signature. It will make tracking easier and
you can customize the page specifically for the offer you
advertise in your signature. You can then funnel the traffic
in any direction you choose.

Joint Ventures

2008-07-26T08:21:00.001-04:00

A joint venture (JV) is when two or more people work together on
a mutually beneficial project. It's a kind of "I'll scratch your
back if you scratch mine" arrangement where you agree to do
something that benefits someone else and in return they do
something to benefit you.

JVs are a powerful way of building traffic to your own site by
leveraging the work and assets of others to your benefit. They
are also a great way to build professional relationships that
can last for years.

Let's brainstorm some ways you can use JVs to get more traffic
to your site.

1. If you have a mailing list, you could agree to send out an
email promoting another website in exchange for the site's owner
doing the same for you. You could reach a whole new audience
that has never heard of you before.

2. You could trade content. You write a series of articles to be
posted on another website (with a link back to your own site),
and you post their articles on your site.

3. Create a joint blog or website. If you're a great writer but
you're no good with graphics and you know someone who is just the
opposite, work together to put your best skills to work for both
of you. Include links to both of your own websites so you can
both share in the traffic generated by the shared site.

4. Create a community blog where several others have the ability
to post. Each author can have his own column and links back to
his own sites.

5. Let another website owner interview you and post it on her site.
She'll be getting unique content to add to her site, and you'll be
gaining valuable exposure and building your reputation as an expert.

JVs are only limited by your own imagination. Be creative.

How do I find partners to JV with?

I recommend starting small with someone you know and trust.
Promoting to each others lists is a great way to start with
little financial risk.

If all goes smoothly you can look for a bigger project to work on
together. Just make sure you both agree on what is expected of
each party and you stick to your end of the agreement. JVs are
as much about building relationships as anything else.

Social Bookmarking

2008-07-25T11:57:00.000-04:00

Social bookmarking is a an increasingly popular way
for website owners to drive traffic to their sites.

Social bookmarking sites are all about community and
participation. Unlike static websites and blogs which
consist of articles and other content to be read or
viewed in some way, social bookmarking sites allow
users to interact and even create their own content.

Social bookmarking sites generally operate in one of
two ways.

First, there are sites that allow you to bookmark all
your favorite links in one place. This comes in handy
when you use different computers and need to access
your favorites from more than one location.

But you can also make your list of favorites public,
so you can easily generate some traffic by bookmarking
your own sites and articles.

The second type of social site we're going to discuss
allows you to submit articles which are then voted up
or down by the community. Stories that get the most
votes are featured on high-traffic homepages, which
can result in an avalanche of traffic.

You should try to write at least some of your articles
with these social sites in mind. Write something that
you know will be controversial and then submit it to
a few social sites. If your article strikes a nerve it
could skyrocket to the top of the rankings and your site
could see literally thousands of new visitors from that
one submission.

Hint - you can encourage your visitors to add your sites
to their favorite social sites by adding bookmarklets to
the end of each web page you create. Bookmarklets are
small icons that you can download from each social site
and add to your own web pages. When a visitor clicks on
one, your page is automatically added to their favorite
service.

Which are the best social bookmarking sites to submit to?

There are far too many to name here, and new ones are
popping up every day. But here is a short list of some of
the most widely used.

Del.icio.us
Digg
Furl
Fark
Reddit
Simpy
Stumpleupon
Netscape
Blinklist

There are countless others to choose from and you should
also try to find some that are specifically geared toward
your niche.

Black Hat Tip - An easy way to get the ball rolling in your
quest for bookmarks and votes is to set up multiple profiles
with each social bookmarking site. If you have a dozen
accounts you can automatically get 12 votes for each page
you submit.

But be warned...if you're caught your accounts will be
deleted and your entire website may be banned from the
service permanently. Use caution if you decide to use
this method.

Backlinks and SEO

2008-07-24T09:42:00.002-04:00

Ranking well in the search engines for highly
competitive phrases takes more than just on-page
SEO tactics. It takes backlinks, and lots of them.

A backlink is simply when the owner of another
website or blog links to your site. As you'll see,
a few high-quality backlinks can be far more
powerful than anything you do on your own website.

To search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN, when
someone links to your site it's like they are voting
for it. Someone thought your content was valuable
enough to link to, so it must be important. The more
people linking to your site, the more important it
must be.

Even more important than the number of links to your
site is the anchor text. Anchor text is the visible,
clickable text of a link. For example:

This is Anchor Text

Above is the html code for a link to a site called
yourdomain.com. On the web page, the anchor text is
what readers actually see.

Search engines see anchor text too, and they use it as
a way of determining what your site is all about. This is
why you want anchor text of incoming links to include your
main keywords whenever possible.

So now that you understand why backlinks are so important,
let's look at ways to get them.

The biggest factor in getting people to link to you is to
offer high-quality content that can't be found anywhere
else. Be different. Be controversial. If people think
your site is valuable and unique, they'll want to link
to it.

You should make it as easy as possible for other websites
to link to you. Set up a "Link to Us" page that contains
snippets of html code they can just paste right into their
site. Of course, you'll make sure your keywords are in
the anchor text.

Write some articles and submit them to article directories.
They'll get picked up and reprinted on other sites with your
link in the Resource Box. A single article could bring you
dozens of backlinks.

Try contacting a few sites within your niche and offer to
write a regular column for them. Or work out an arrangement
where you trade content so each side gets a backlink.

Submit your site to free directories that are related to
your niche.

Find blogs in your niche and post comments to some of their
posts. Be sincere, and you may even form a new relationship
with the blog's owner.

Do you Squidoo?

2008-07-23T11:42:00.001-04:00

If not, you're missing out on a truly powerful traffic
machine.

Squidoo.com is a relatively new site that allows anyone
to create a web page devoted to any topic they want. The
brainchild of marketing whiz Seth Godin, Squidoo is an
example of the community-driven nature of Web 2.0.

Squidoo web pages (called lenses) can take on a life of
their own with very minimal work. It takes zero technical
skill to set up a lense and you can add all sorts of
modules that create an interactive and visitor-friendly
atmosphere.

Some of the key modules you'll want to add to your lense
include:

1. Text Blocks - This is where you post your articles or
blog entries.

2. Polls - Use interactive polls to make your visitors
feel like they are involved.

3. Guestbook - Allow your visitors to make comments to
keep your lense fresh and active. Encourage them to
include a link to their own lense.

There are also modules that let you link to products from
eBay, Amazon, and countless other vendors. It's a great
way to monetize your lense since you get a commission for
anything sold through those links.

But the real beauty of Squidoo is its ability to drive large
amounts of highly-targeted traffic to your site for free.

I'm sure you've noticed when researching keywords that Google
absolutely loves Squidoo, and lenses can easily achieve top
rankings for long tail keyword phrases.

You can set up a whole network of lenses targeting various
keyword phrases. With just a little bit of work you can get
some serious search engine traffic to them. Offer up some
quality content and then drive your visitors back to your
main site.

Website owners who saw the value of Squidoo early are already
reaping the traffic rewards. But it's not too late to jump
on board. Every keyword phrase can have its own lense, so
there is still plenty of room for everyone.

What if a lense already exists for the keyword phrase you
want to target?

Not a problem. Since they can easily be sold or transferred,
even fully developed lenses can had for the right price.
And buying a lense that is already generating traffic will
save you most of the work.

Quality Content

2008-07-22T13:42:00.001-04:00

There's a saying that's common among website
owners and internet marketers:

"Content is King."

What that means in simple terms is that the best
way to build long term traffic to your websites
is by offering unique, high-quality content that
can't be found elsewhere.

Quality content can help bring you traffic in a
number of ways.

First, the search engines love sites that offer
lots and lots of quality content. One page sites
with nothing but links and no content don't rank
well in search engine results for long.

And your visitors are unlikely to return to your
site if it doesn't have any quality content.

People don't use the internet to hear sales pitches
or look at a bunch of sponsored links. They have a
question they need answered or a problem they need
solved. If you can give them what they're looking
for, they'll return again in the future.

High-quality content is also likely to be mentioned
and linked to from other websites and blogs.

What kind of content should I add to my site?

1. Informative articles should be the core of your content.
The more articles you can add to your site the better.
Each one gives you another chance to rank in the
search engines, and free traffic is the best.

If you don't have the time or skills to write your
own article, you can outsource the work to others.

2. A blog makes a nice addition to any website. Blogs
usually rank well in the search engines, and since
they're updated regularly, visitors will return
again and again for updates.

3. Add audio or video to give your visitors something
to do besides reading.

4. Surveys and polls add interactivity and keep your
site fresh and interesting.

5. Message boards and forums let your visitors help
create new content for you. Be prepared to spend some
time moderating the discussions.

6. Add testimonials from satisfied customers. Just be
sure you have permission to use them.

7. Archive each of your old newsletters as web pages.

8. If you have a merchant site, add some keyword-rich
product descriptions.

9. Let your visitors add their own comments. Be sure
to set up a SPAM blocker or your site will be full of
jibberish and suspicious links.

Search the net and find whatever you need.
From music to fishing accessories and everything in between.
Search Right Here

Writing Articles

2008-07-21T11:26:00.000-04:00

Article Marketing

Article marketing is a tried and true method for
generating traffic to websites. It's been used
since the early days of the internet and it's
still as effective as ever.

A successful article marketing campaign will bring
you a flood of valuable links and a steady stream
of visitors for years to come.

How does article marketing work?

Put simply, you write articles for other websites
in exchange for a link back to your own site. You
should use different articles than the ones already
posted to your own website.

The more unique, high-quality articles you can share
the better. You'll get more backlinks and traffic,
and you'll build your reputation as an expert in your
niche. It's possible other websites may start seeking
you out for your opinion or for interviews.

How do I start my article marketing campaign?

First, write some articles (or pay someone to write
them for you) of around 300 to 600 words. Don't write
ads in disguise. Offer genuinely useful information
and tips.

You wouldn't want to publish someone else's garbage
on your site, so don't expect them to publish your
leftovers. Write separate articles specifically for
your article marketing. You should also do the same
keyword research you would do for your own website.
Also spend some time proofreading for typos and
grammatical errors.

The next step is to find places to submit your articles.
Building one-on-one relationships with other website
owners in your niche can be beneficial, but it's
time-consuming.

Fortunately, there are many article directories which
allow you to post your articles for free. Other websites
can then publish your articles on their own sites.

There are literally thousands of such sites to choose
from, but here is a short list of some of the most
popular article directories:

ezinearticles.com
goarticles.com
articlealley.com
articledashboard.com
searchwarp.com
buzzle.com

Or you can use a service such as iSnare, which will
distribute your article to many different directories
for a small fee.

Hot tip - Your author's bio is vital to the success
of your article marketing campaign. You definitely
need to spend some time crafting the perfect message.

You should keep it short and punchy, but always include
the following:

1. Your name

2. Your url as http://yourdomain.com (this ensures your
link will be clickable.

3. A short teaser that entices readers to visit your site.
Offer a free report or something else of value to get them
to click on your link.

Using Craiglist for Driving Traffic

2008-07-20T02:44:00.001-04:00

Craigslist is one of the most frequently visited
websites on the entire web. It's an absolute
traffic monster!

Millions of people use Craigslist every day and
if you can tap into this massive market your
website will receive an enormous flood of traffic.

But the best part is that people who are browsing
Craigslist are already in buying mode, so if you
offer any kind or product or service you can
expect a conversion rate higher than usual.

What exactly is Craigslist?

Imagine a huge online flea market where people
from all over the world offer their goods and
services to the public. There are people selling
everything from designer shoes to real estate.

The site is broken down into regions and you can
place your ads in any state, city, or country
you want. Of course, you don't have to limit
yourself to advertising only in your own local
region. You can post an ad in Raleigh, North
Carolina, Osaka, Japan, or anywhere else in
the world with just a few clicks of your mouse.

Most ads stay active for 45 days, but you can go
back and repeat your ads over and over again to
maintain your presence on the site.

But the real flood of traffic from Craigslist
won't come from people browsing the listings.
It will come from Google.

See you Next Post