How to Get Traffic? If I look back at the failed websites I created between 2002 and 2008, and especially those that didn’t profit me in any way, shape or form, I can see one common denominator – traffic. It’s literally the key to everything online – if you have targeted traffic in abundance then you’re laughing all the way to the bank.
That’s why I’m always looking at ways to siphon traffic from relatively unknown sources; those that haven’t already been exhausted or are so competitive that the return on investment (whether that be time or money) isn’t justified.
So, given that I’m pretty much certain that you want more traffic – here are some lesser-known traffic strategies you can use to get a foot up on your competition.
1. Document Sharing Sites and Ebook Directories
Over the last few months, I’ve been taking article marketing to the next level. Instead of simply writing a 500-word post to directories, I’ve been looking at ways in which I can leverage my article content to get added exposure in a variety of different formats. One thing that’s worked really well for me is to write short e-books on the subject of my niche and distribute to a variety of e-book websites. The statistics show over 2,000 visits and more than 30% opt-in over the last 3 months.
At the end of the day, the success of this strategy simply boils down to value. If you can provide useful material in your book and you add the occasional reference to your opt-in page or blog then book writing is a very useful strategy. I’d also recommend including a note at the beginning of the book to give the reader the right to give away the book to create that viral capacity.
Not a fast writer? I write my books with Dragon Naturally Speaking 10. Simply talk into your headset and the software will transcribe for you. You can have the book done within the hour.
Here are some great sites to submit to:- changethis.com, ebookjunke.com, getfreeebooks.com, thefreesite.com, ebook88.com, and docstoc.com
2. Video Marketing
YouTube, is the search engine with the most searches (even more than Google) yet a thousand times easier to rank for. Is it about time you started video marketing to the masses? I like to create videos from my article content to create as far wide reach as possible.
There seems to be this misconception that video marketing is difficult and time-consuming. In a recent case study, I wrote a series of articles and had the video creation outsourced for under $10 at elance.com. Failing that, you could have your videos created automatically at articlevideorobot.com although the quality is somewhat hit-and-miss.
Personally, I like to create my own videos using Camtasia and the PowerPoint plugin (free version available at camstudio.org). You can record your screen from within PowerPoint. Simply create a slide for each section you make in your article and freestyle the commentary. It’s wise to have a link back to your site within the video and within the description of the video box too.
When submitting your videos, try a free service called at tubemogul.com to submit your videos to a ton of different video sites – not just YouTube! This is another little tip to maximize exposure, and of course backlinks.
3. Podcast Directories
By simply taking the audio file of the video you’ve created in part 2, you can get exposure from podcast directories. Choose your keywords carefully and get in the habit of submitting to the major directories, namely: podcastdirectory.com, podcastalley.com and podfeed.net.
4. Article Marketing to Publishers
One of my favorite ways of driving traffic because it has the added bonus of a strong and varied backlink profile that does wonders for your PageRank and Google search listings. There are literally thousands of websites out there that are happy to accept your content. From ezine newsletters to high-profile news websites.
Finding them requires a bit of ingenuity. I like to download the SEOQuake plugin for Firefox (available from seoquake.com) and then do Google searches such as: niche + “guest post”
If the SEOQuake bar is on and active, you’ll then be able to sort the men from the boys by ordering the listings by PageRank. It’s also helpful to have the Alexa toolbar (from alexa.com) installed so you can roughly gauge the popularity of the results.
5. Cheap PPC Methods
Personally, I love driving traffic to my sites through free methods as opposed to paying for my traffic, but when I found out about this little strategy I simply had to check it out and take advantage of it.
Google Adwords is generally pretty expensive, but the big G has recently introduced new ways of advertising on the platform. By using image ads across the content network you can drastically cut down the cost per click. In fact, the last time I used it (a few months ago), I was averaging a little over 1 penny per click.
Affiliate marketers are warned – if you’re promoting poor-quality sites with the sole purpose of making a buck or two then you’re running the risk of getting your account banned, so be careful.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve dedicated my time to figuring out how to drive laser-targeted traffic to my websites and the results are paying dividends. My advice to you is to concentrate on one traffic strategy (article marketing, pay-per-click, joint ventures, video marketing, etc) and get good at it. You’re much better off being 90% good at one thing than 10% good at everything. Once you master one, you can always start to look at another.
This article is written by Paul McCarthy – a full-time internet marketer with a passion for article marketing, SEO and joint venture brokering at paulmccarthy.co.uk.