Generating Website Traffic

It gets a similar reaction every time we say it:

"Well, now that the website is finished,
its time for us to really get to work."

The unfortunate truth is that even though we've just created a great website, the majority of the hard work is yet to come. Search engine optimization, a term often overused and misunderstood, is a very important part of the website creation process and doesn't simply happen on its own. We do everything we can when building your website to make it search engine friendly, but that is just the beginning.

Our approach to search engine optimization is a broad one. Rather than commit to shady linking practices that in all likelihood will do more harm than good, we prefer to engage in more honest methods of generating traffic, including some that are just good marketing practices for your business.

This graphic shows some of the different methods we like to use, and also how much weight we tend to put on each of the approaches (the bigger the circle, the more attention it gets).

As you can see, much attention is given to Google because of its dominance in the search engine market (as of 2008):

Google has an estimated 70%+ market share
Followed by Yahoo at around 15%
And MSN around 5%.

However, one of the best ways to improve your Google ranking is by pursuing other sources of generating traffic. It might seem counterintuitive at first reading, but you must realize that Google's goal is to serve the best, most relevant content for the appropriate search terms. They do this by ranking your pages according to how many other sites link to your page, assuming that the reason people link to your page is because you provide good content.

So even with your end goal to rank highly in Google searches, you must pursue other sources of traffic for your websites in order to achieve this goal.

Website Traffic Sources

This list discusses in a little more detail the various methods identified in the graphic above.

Links

A majority of Google’s ranking system for your website is based on links. Google calculates your PageRank by checking to see how many good quality sites link to your site. The idea is that top quality content will naturally rise to the top because people will automatically link to that site that provides the good content. So encouraging others to link to your site is one of the key aspects of search engine optimization.

Keyword optimization

Identifying keywords that you think visitors will use to search for your site, and making sure that these keywords are included in the text on your site, is one of the key components of search engine optimization. Google provides a great tool to identify the expected usage levels of specific keywords (Google Keyword Tool). Wordtracker is another popular one.

Expert knowledge

Offering free white papers, articles, downloads, etc. on your site that demonstrate your authority on a subject will increase rankings by encouraging others to link to your website because of your beneficial content.

Email marketing campaigns

Creating a high-quality, useful email campaign will drive traffic to your site. Newsletters are the most common method, and MailChimp.com is a great provider.

Direct mail

Still one of the most useful marketing tools, direct mail when done correctly can be a very powerful tool to drive people to your website.

Google Adwords

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising on Google. Choose relevant keywords and get listed in the Sponsored Links section on Google search pages and on Adsense user pages. You only pay when visitors click on your ad. Yahoo and MSN have similar services that should be utilized as well.

News releases

Free news releases are some of the best ways to drive traffic to your website. Approach a news source with a draft article idea, and see if they bite. Provide compelling reasons for them to write an article about you (new business startup, recent accomplishment, invention, community impact, offer a viewpoint on current happenings, etc.).

Small search engines and directories

Many industry specific and location specific search engines and directories exist that should contain links to your website. Identify these directions and search engines and submit your content manually.

Many search engines pull listings from larger directories, such as the Open Directory project at dmoz.org.

Google Maps – Local Business Center

Free listing on Google maps for brick and mortar businesses can bring up a map at the top of search results if your business is listed in a local search.

Free media - YouTube video/podcast

Produce a top quality YouTube or podcast that users can subscribe to, and promote it as being sponsored by your company. If your media is lucky enough to go viral, you may get so much traffic that it crashes your web server!

Host a niche forum or social network

While it takes a lot of work to manage and has to be done carefully to avoid looking neglected, hosting a thriving forum or social network specific to your industry is one of the best ways to establish your business as an industry authority.