How Writing A SINGLE Article Can
Create a 100% -- OR MORE -- Increase in Your Web Site Traffic!
Today I'm going to tell you how to increase the kind
of web site traffic your business really needs...
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AND build your credibility...
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AND improve your ranking in the search
engines...
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AND get your customers talking to others about
you...
... all with a simple four-step process that
won't cost you a single dime.
Sound too good to be true? It's not!
Let me give you a quick rundown of the plan before
we dive in:
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You're going to find a handful of keywords
that the ideal visitor to your site would use to search for
your product
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You're going to plug those keywords into your
web site
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Then you're going to write a SHORT article
that contains those same keywords
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And finally, you'll distribute your content
all over the web and get people passing your information on to
other people who will be interested in what you have
to offer
You'll be surprised how quickly and easily you can
get this strategy going -- AND how fast you'll see an impact on your
traffic numbers when you put yourself on the radar of people
who are looking for what you provide.
Let's check out the first step in a little more
detail...
Step One: Set up your web
site for maximum "searchability"!
If you haven't taken the time to...
... your traffic is going to be sluggish right off
the bat. How are the people who really want your information
supposed to find you?
When I tell people that they've missed an important
step in their traffic-building strategy, they always ask me: how
are you supposed to figure out the right keywords for your web
site? Here are the two tools I recommend to help them with the job:
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Yahoo
Search Marketing's Keyword Selector Tool
is a good place to start your investigation. You just
type in a word or term you think people in your market might
search for, and the Keyword Selector Tool will tell you how many
people searched for that particular term in Yahoo Search
Marketing over the last month.
It will also show you a list of related words and phrases, and
tell you how many times people typed those terms into the free
search engines over the last month.
This is a great way to find out how many people
may be searching for information to solve a particular problem,
and give you a picture of the demand for your product on the Web.
But best of all, it gives you tons of ideas for keywords that you
might never have thought of.
Once you’ve
generated a list of useful keyword ideas, you’re ready to dig in
and do some serious research with Wordtracker.
-
Wordtracker goes into more
depth to show you not only what people are searching for online,
but also how many other web sites are competing for the same
audience. Basically, it keeps a record of how many times a
particular keyword or phrase was searched during the past 90
days across the Web.
When you enter the keyword phrases your market is
searching for, you search the Wordtracker database of over 330
million searches (or “queries”). You're looking for search
terms that are popular, but don't have too many sites competing
for them.
You can also pop all of this detailed information
into useful reports that help you determine which keywords and
phrases will bring you the most traffic.
To check out Wordtracker and get a step-by-step
guide to the process, just head to:
www.marketingtips.com/wordtracker
and click "Tour" on the navigation bar.
Wordtracker is a paid service, but you can sign up
for a day for under $8.00 and a week for under $27.00. It's a
great investment.
Step Two: Plug your keywords
into your site
Now that you have some great
keywords for your market, find as many places as you can to plug
them into your web site!
Use them in your title tags,
in your source code, in the copy on your pages, and in your opt-in
offers.
If you find your domain name
isn't telling people what your web site is about or showing up in
the right search results, consider purchasing a new one.
A keyword-rich domain name is
a small investment that really pays off by making your site easy for
your potential customers to find and remember.
(One quick note: remember
to use only keywords relevant to your product -- search
engines will penalize you if they find keywords sprinkled through
your code that have nothing to do with the content of your site.)
Now to move on to the next
step -- your foolproof way to snag people searching for your product
on the Web and bring them back to your site!
Step Three: Create a
keyword-rich article to distribute on the Web
When you're ready, get your keywords, sit down, and
write a keyword-rich article that relates to what you sell.
Then give it away to other sites -- for FREE!
Believe it or not, this is one of the best ways you
can drive a steady stream of eager customers to your site.
Why does it work? Well, people basically come online
for one of two reasons: To check their email or to look for
information. Sure, some of them end up making purchases, but this is
not generally the reason they log on. They want...
That's why it's your job to give them that
information, as it relates to your product. You already do
that with the copy on your web site, but why stop there?
Writing a short, informative article to distribute
on the Web is a great way to gain recognition as a valuable resource
in your industry.
Of course, you'll want to write about something that
relates to your products or services, since the ultimate goal of the
article is to drive visitors to your site who are interested in what
you're selling. But the article should be informative, not
"sales-y".
Make sure that each article you write contains rare,
valuable, or hard-to-find information. Not only will this increase
the chances that other site owners or managers will post your
article, it will also increase the number of visitors who click
through to your site after reading it.
For example, if you have a web site that sells used
golf equipment, you could write an article about three things to
look for in a good, pre-owned putter. Or if you sell an eBook about
setting up your own home computer network, why not write an article
about common problems people have in setting up a wireless router?
Look for article ideas in the questions that people
ask you all the time, or in the things you often see people doing
wrong. Share hot new tips on how to use the products you sell, or
talk about trends that you've spotted in your industry.
I'm not talking about a major essay here, though.
Did I just hear a big sigh of relief? :-)
Nope -- you don't need to be a professional writer
to turn out a solid, traffic-boosting article! Your quick piece
should...
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be no longer than 400 words (not even a whole
page!)
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contain a keyword related to your product in
first 90 characters
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contain the keyword in the first and last
paragraphs
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have a short, credibility-building
"bio" with link to your site at the end. Here's an
example: "ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joe Smith is a recognized
authority on the subject of widgets. His web site, www.JoesWidgets.com,
provides a wealth of informative articles and resources on
everything you'll ever need to know about widgets."
Now for the fourth step in this
traffic-driving strategy.
Step Four: Get your content
headed EVERYWHERE on the Web
Once you've taken a few hours to write one or two
quick articles, head to one of these top online content
distribution sites. Upload your keyword-rich content to:
It only takes a couple of minutes, but the rewards
for your site will be huge.
These sites carry hundred or thousands of articles
on a range of topics. If someone is looking for content for their
web site, they can download or copy an article from the distribution
site without paying a dime to use it! They can't change the text of
the article, and they must publish it with the author's name and
information intact.
Now people who are plugging your keywords into
search engines will be directed to your content at these
highly-ranked sites, and web site owners who are looking for fresh,
search engine-attracting content will download your article -- along
with your bio and link! -- and put it up on their pages.
And once visitors see that you know what you're
talking about, they'll click on the link in your bio, and head
straight to your web site!
The best thing about this strategy is that these
visitors are QUALITY, TARGETED traffic -- they actually WANT what
you're selling, because you are meeting a need or giving them help
with the problem they came online to solve!
Some content distribution sites also offer "send
to a friend" links next to articles posted on their
sites -- so make sure you're uploading your articles to sites with
this kind of capability!
Every time someone enjoys your article enough to
pass it on, your audience grows. And since people don't forward BAD
content on to their friends, they are basically recommending you as
a credible source just by passing it on.
You can also create a "send to a friend"
link on your own web pages with the help of a simple script added to
your code. Here are some examples of what this kind of link might
say:
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"Did you enjoy this article? To recommend
it to a friend, click here..."
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"To pass this important info along to a
friend or family member, click here..."
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"Share this with a friend -- just click
here..."
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"Can't wait to tell a friend about this?
Here's how..."
To find scripts to make links like these ones fully
functional, check out the resources at:
The visitors who come to your site through articles
or forwarded material are highly targeted... and likely to
take action when they actually arrive at your web site seeking your
specific information.
Final thoughts
See how much you can do with one little
article?
It's amazing how effective a small piece of content
can be when you...
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know your keywords, and...
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know all the places to position that content so
it's viewed again and again
Once you've done your keyword research, you might
feel a bit intimidated by the idea of writing something yourself for
the 'Net. Or maybe you don't feel like you have the time to do it
justice.
Remember -- any free content you create shouldn't be
too long, and it definitely shouldn't be too complicated, since the
people reading it won't know your product or your subject as well as
you do.
If you're still concerned, you can always hire a
writer from a freelance web site like Elance
to do a couple of short articles or an eBook (with a bit of basic
information from you, of course.) Expect to pay anywhere from $25 to
$35 an hour for their time.
But I recommend that you try to write something
yourself first. You definitely don't need to be a professional
writer to create something readable and interesting... (I sure don't
have a degree in creative writing myself!)
Just try to think like your audience -- what do they
want to know, and how much do they know already? Then tell them
simply and clearly. We're not talking Shakespeare here.
Here's one more quick peek at my easy four-step plan
to increase web traffic:
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Find the keywords people are using to search for
your product
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Make sure all the content on your web site
contains these keywords!
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Write short, keyword-rich articles with links
directing people back to your site -- nothing too long or
complicated; just enough content to establish you as someone
"in the know" about your industry
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And finally, send your article to content
distribution sites and -- with just a simple suggestion or a
script-based link -- encourage people to pass your material on
to their friends (and direct them back to your site!)
These simple steps are things that practically
anyone can do to drive traffic. They'll help you get the kind of targeted,
quality traffic that can make all the difference to the
success of a business, especially when you're just starting out!
In other words, these are the types of visitors who
are most likely to take action on your site, whether they make a
purchase, or simply opt in with their personal information.
And I don't know about you, but I'll take more of
those visitors any day of the week!
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Psst!...Have you Heard the Buzz? 
