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Generating Organic Website Traffic |
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Written by Patrick Schwerdtfeger
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Tuesday, 25 September 2007 |
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It's the biggest mystery on the internet. Everyone wants to open an online business. Everyone has a great idea. Everyone has a sure-fire strategy for success. And in many cases, they go out and build impressive websites around their idea.
They include features that make the site sticky, drawing visitors in and inviting them to browse around. The graphics are slick and the layout beautiful. Java and Ajax make the browsing experience smooth and seamless. But in the end, no one shows up.
The vast majority of websites never get much of any traffic. Of course, this should come as no surprise. There are millions of different websites, even within a single topic, and there's no way for the average internet browser to find one specific website without some help. And that's what this article is about. What can you do as an online entrepreneur to identify yourself to the masses and help them find their way to your website? More importantly, what can you do to achieve that objective with little or no money?
That last sentence is the most important one so far. We all know the pay-per-click options exist and our hard earned money can quickly and easily drive traffic to your website. We all know it can be done at the click of a mouse. But how much will it cost? For those of us who have tried this type of advertising, it's truly amazing how quickly you can run a tab paying for one click here and one click there. Well, as it turns out, there are some other options available that can drive just as much traffic and won't cost you a penny.
The first strategy is encompassed by this article you're reading. I wrote this article and posted it to the internet for free. Nobody's paying me a penny. I took the time to write is all down because I know how to post it to thousands of different article directories quickly. And at the bottom of this article is a short bio with some brief information about me along with my website address. That means everyone who reads this article has the option of clicking through to my website directly. It's called article marketing and it's one of the best strategies for driving website traffic.
The second strategy involves posting comments on popular industry forums. Once you register with a forum, you can post comments within any topic you can find a string for. Your profile usually allows you to create a signature and that signature can include your website address. Once again, you've leaving behind a direct link to your website every time you post a comment. And as such, I would post as many comments on industry forums as you possibly can - perhaps as many as 15 or 20 comments each day.
The third strategy is to post comments on popular blogs in your area of expertise of beginning a blog of your own. If you post comments on a blog for 10 consecutive days, I can almost guarantee you that someone is reading your posts. It just happens. People find stuff and you can quickly gain an audience by creating a blog. And of course, you can revert to posting comments on someone else's blog. You can always leave behind a direct link to your site when you do so.
The forth strategy is to make your website easy to bookmark with any one of the many social bookmarking sites that have emerged during the past year or so. It's the new craze and sites like StumbleUpon or Boing Boing or Digg can quickly drive traffic to your site if the content you're providing is appreciated by others. Adding the appropriate buttons and links only encourages that process.
Driving internet traffic doesn't have to be a mystery. It doesn't need to be a secret. And there are lots of things you can do to get plenty of organic traffic landing on your website. In most cases, it doesn't cost any money. It just takes time. And if you can allocate the time, you'll be amazed at how quickly it will also start happening. Good luck! About the author Tactical Execution with Patrick Schwerdtfeger is a strategic company focused on growth marketing and program implementation across business markets.
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