Yahoo Answers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.