Do NOT spend another dime on traffic generation ebooks/audios until you have read this post.
I have spent over a thousand dollars to generate traffic to MyJetStreamHawaii.com. I have purchased countless ebooks and audio training courses claiming to have the “Secret” to generating tons of traffic to your website. What I found out is that each secret is a discipline in itself that must be mastered in order to be successful.
Tip 1 - Write a blog - Yup, just write a blog and people will beat down your door…NOT! There are millions of blogs on the Internet. You have to write unique content on a consistent basis, read other blogs, post relevant comments on other blogs, and ensure your website is optimized for search engines, and these are just the basics. I am no blogging expert, but if you think you want to start your own blog, seek out the blogging experts. Keep in mind, successful bloggers write at least 1 to 2 posts per day.
Tip 2 - Social Networking/Web 2.0 - All you need is a MySpace/Facebook profile and a YouTube/Vimeo account and you are all set. Guess what, the only training I received for Web 2.0 was, create a memorable profile and make friends. None of the training materials I have purchased actually go into any detail on how to use Web 2.0 effectively and successfully to advertise/market a product or service. Either Web 2.0 is so easy that an explanation is not needed, or Web 2.0 is so complex that an explanation would just confuse us even more.
Tip 3 - Article Writing/Press Release - I know you just sit around all day writing articles and press releases, right? In one month, I wrote five articles, and only two were published. The link in my article was clicked a total of 4 times.
There are two methods to writing more articles.
Method 1 - Hire a “ghost writer” to write articles for you.
Method 2 - Write one article and re-write the article manually or use article re-writing software to re-use a single article more than once.
Writing a press release is similar to article writing; therefore, I am not going to provide more detail on the subject.
Tip 4 - Traffic Exchanges/Banner Exchanges - Banner ads are like commercials, most people tune these advertisements out and don’t even pay attention to the ad. Why do you think many banner ads are now made to look like error messages. People ignore ads, but they pay attention to error messages. NOTE: Most reputable banner exchanges do NOT allow banners that look like error messages.
The word “exchange” should already give you an idea of how much traffic you are going to receive using this method. The word exchange means, “reciprocal giving and receiving”. The problem with most exchanges is that the giving and receiving is not equal. For many exchanges, you acquire points for every banner or ad displayed on your site. You exchange your points for views of your banner, but you normally have to give more than one point for one view. If you do not have enough points, you are given the option to buy points. A few exchanges do allow you to accumulate bonus points via other methods. FreeTrafficBar has a downloadable toolbar which accumulates points when used. TrafficSwarm has a point system when you set their page as your home page.
Tip 5 - Viral Marketing/Affiliate Marketing - Write your own ebook, and use the power of viral/affiliate marketing to promote your ebook. Most ebooks are copywrited, but some give you the rights to resale and use, some even come with affiliate systems, but this suggestion is for you to create your own ebook and affiliate program.
You will need to create the ebook, and you will need to create a good capture page to convince others to buy, sell, and distribute your ebook. Yes, the instructions will tell you how to do this, but you still have to generate traffic to your capture page and convince others to sell your product.
For more information on this subject, go to ClickBank.com. I haven’t browsed the site that much, but what I read so far was very “eye opening”.
Other Tips
Google Analytics - If you own your own website, reporting is a must. I use google analytics to tell me what words people are using to find my site. What posts people are reading the most, and how many visitors I receive per day.
Google Webmaster Tools - These tools will help you make your site more google friendly.
WebsiteGrader - Before making any changes to your site, use the WebsiteGrader to see your site score, then make changes and check your score again. This is another tool to get your site search engine friendly.
Tips for blogs
Technorati - Claim your blog on Technorati.
BlogRush - A traffic exchange for blogs.
Pingoat - “Pings” several services with a single click. Services are used to notify blog readers that a blog has been updated.
Submit Your Website
Google
Yahoo!
Alexa
Articles
EzineArticles - Submit your article for others to read.
Directory of Ezines (DOE) - I purchased a lifetime membership to the Directory of Ezines, but I haven’t really had the time to use all the services available to me, but I did fine a few ebooks that I can freely distribute.
From the DOE
Hitting the Search Engines - Includes some very solid information about how to get your site rated higher by making simple changes to the page.
Free Traffic in 24 Hours - Learn how to combine the #1 traffic exchange with webrings to bring in real traffic.
Web Traffic Secrets - Although written in 2004, this book offers incredible insight into the simplicity of getting traffic.
Do any of these tips work?
I am currently doing tip 1, but my blog still only has about 35 visitors per week.
I tried tip 3 with very little luck. I guess my article writing skills are not that great.
I am also doing tip 4. I received one response, and I’m waiting to see if that person will convert.
Added on 10/12/08 - Check out About.com for more tips on Website Promotion.
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