Internet Marketing

11 Ways to Get Unlimited Amount of FREE Traffic

A common question, especially for new internet marketers and bloggers is, how to get web traffic to your website or blog for FREE? I decided to write a short post on the best ways that I get FREE traffic to my sites. Even though I also get a majority of my traffic from PPC with Google Adwords, it’s not really a recommended method for beginners trying to increase their traffic, so I only listed FREE methods that I and just about every other successful blogger or internet marketer uses too.

Killer Content – Yeah, this is pretty much a no brainer, I had to add it in here somewhere. I’ve learned from my experience that “Content” is really where everything begins. Without original, valuable, engaging and high quality content, then there’s really no reason to get traffic in the first place. No one is going to read it, suggest others to read it, or link to it as a source/reference. Great content even for a 500 word landing page (lp) is crucial because you need to pre-sell your visitors by engaging, connecting with them and that’s pretty much all done through your content. Killer content, just by itself can lead to a ton of targeted traffic to your websites from visitors letting others know about it.

SEO – Search engine optimization consists of several things. It basically means optimizing your website and content so people can find it on the Search Engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. The search engines will probably eventually be your #1 source of FREE targeted traffic.

How do you get your website on the front page of the Search Engines?

1. Keywords (KW) – are very important because this is how your website will show up on the front page of the search engines or “search engine results pages” (SERP’s). When you “Google something” the words or phrase you entered would be considered “keywords” or a “keyword phrase”. Now there are “keywords” and there are “Long Tail keywords” (consist of 3 or more words and creates a “keyword phrase”). Now long tail keywords will have less competition and will be much easier for a beginner to get on the front page of the search engines. “Long tailed Keywords” will bring in targeted traffic because they are searching for something in particular, not just using a broad keyword. A competitive KW like “Money” would be very hard to get on the front page of the serp’s, but a “long tail keyword” like “make money at home for beginners” has much less competition and would be so much more easier to land your site on the front page for that search term. You need to make sure you are adding the keyword or long tailed keywords throughout your content, but making it look natural and not forcing your KW’s all over. Adding no more than a 5% keyword ratio to regular words in your content, and make sure you use them in your titles.
2. Backlinks – The more backlinks you get from other relevant and high PR websites will give your site more authority and credibility from the search engines. This will help move your site closer to the front of the serp’s. Include the keywords in your “anchor text” (words used in link) for your links pointing back to your sites, which will give your website more authority for those keywords, and help boost your site to the front page of Google for those KW’s.

Social Media – This is the Hottest method of getting traffic, currently. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Stumbleupon and etc… can bring a lot of traffic quickly and for FREE. The social media sites are so powerful and effective because people spread information virally. It takes just one person to visit your site or blog and they could start a chain reaction from telling their friends on social media sites. Make sure you get your best articles/sites bookmarked in some of the popular social media sites, and make it easy for your visitors to do the same with “bookmark buttons” and apps. Becoming a Authority figure, being helpful and interacting with as many people as you can, will greatly increase your fan base or follower count. Obviously the more loyal followers the better for your business.

Communities – Networking and engaging with other like minds is crucial for success online. This will also lead to targeted traffic from referrals and recommendations from others who know you. It will also give you connections and open opportunities that you may have never gotten before. There are so many different communities out there, just join some and get involved. Social media and networking sites are great places for you to join, blogging communities, forums etc… Some examples: squidoo, hubpages, blogcatalog, mybloglog and Linkedin.

Viral – Getting traffic virally is just smart and effective marketing. One of the best ways of doing this is by creating a Ebook or Report and giving it away for FREE. People will most likely tell others about it and it just keeps on spreading like a wild fire. Just make sure they clearly know who you are and what you’re main sites are in the ebook/report. This will also allow you to build a list quite easily with a high quality ebook.

Article Directories – Are great to get traffic and backlinks to your websites. Just write some relevant and beneficial articles with keywords in your anchor text for your links pointing back to your sites. Probably the most popular and powerful article directory is Ezine Article’s, but here’s a sweet list of dofollow article directories for ya to use.

Blog Commenting – Works like a charm, if done correctly. Make sure you are leaving helpful and beneficial comments on relevant blogs. Engage the blog owner with what you thought about the post or add relevant feedback about it. Not just “good post”. Become a regular to the blog and leave comments often and on as many blogs as you can find that are relevant. Some of the Blogs are Dofollow and you get PR juice from the backlink from them.

Forums – Not only can you learn a lot from a forum and network with others, but most of them allow you to leave a signature or a link to your websites at the bottom of every reply or thread you leave. Give helpful advice, ask good questions and people will click on your signature and checkout your sites. Here’s a sweet dofollow forums list.

Guest Blogging – This method alone could put you and your website on the map. If you get approved to guest post on the right blog, and given the right audience, then you’ll be engaging readers that probably would’ve never found your site. Not only does guest blogging give you a ton of exposure, but also gives you some nice backlinks from a relevant site. Guest blogging is very popular right now. Usually the popular blogs will have a page or link about how to guest post on their blog. If they don’t, then it doesn’t hurt to send them a quick email and ask. Use high quality, original and valuable articles for a guest post, but at the same time make sure it compliments their blog. You want to use your best articles for guest blogging, especially if you get on a authoritative blog for your niche.

Press Releases – There are several good FREE press release sites. Here’s a whole list of them FREE Press Release distribution sites. Press Releases will allow the media to learn about your websites, product or services, quickly. Write in a more professional and informational format for your press release. Not in a review or sales page style.

Pinging - A pinging service like Ping-o-matic, which is FREE, let’s multiple search engines and services know that you just updated your blog or added new content. The popular sites like Technorati, Sphere and many others, will be pinged every time you update your content and people at these sites will be able to read your latest posts. This is automatically done if you use Wordpress. It’s under writing in your WP dashboard.

Those are my top FREE methods for getting unlimited amount of targeted traffic to my websites and blogs. Please share any other methods or sources that I’ve left out that helps bring FREE targeted traffic to your sites.

Make a Profit from Direct Linking with Google AdWords

One controversial question that always seems to come up, especially for newbies who are new to Google AdWords is, should I direct link to the sales page or create a landing page? Around 9 out of 10 so called Pay Per Click experts are going to tell you to create your own landing page. I sometimes like going against the grain so I’ve done a lot of experimenting with direct linking to a sales page.

I also use landing pages, but direct link whenever I see a good opportunity to save time and make a good ROI from it. Many of my most profitable direct linking campaigns on Google Adwords comes from placing my adds on keywords with the actual name of the website in it. I’m sure you can figure out why that is.

First off, I find a good affiliate offer that has a good sales page, usually the more popular it already is, the better. But placing adds on a new product with low searches and low competition will allow you to be in a good spot on Google Adwords when it does get popular. It could be a good CPA offer, clickbank product, or a cost per lead (CPL), doesn’t really matter what kind of affiliate offer you use.

I use a keyword tool and look up keywords for the volume of searches to see what keywords I’m going to use and their competition. Obviously the more searches for the keyword the better, at least for the experienced.

Remember, Google Adwords only displays one add per domain to be shown for each keyword at a time. Most “buying words” or exact names of popular websites will have several people direct linking to the sales page with the same domain name for those keywords, but only one will be shown. Google Adwords says it uses the quality score of the campaign, CTR and the amount of your bid to decide which add to show when 2 or more people are trying to display/use the same url. There are other options of direct linking like buying a domain name, redirects and etc…. but I usually don’t use those methods.

How do you get Google Adwords to start showing your add?

You need to start out with a high bid and continually change your add to be as relevant to your keywords and landing page. Hopefully you’ll be able to create a add more relevant than your competitor and then Google Adwords will start showing your add instead of theirs. It’s not really that difficult most of the time. I like looking at the sales page and sometimes even choosing a phrase or keywords they use quite often and adding that to my campaign. Once your add is showing, remember there are people who are trying to knock you out of that spot, so you have to get a very good CTR or your add may stop showing. You have to find the perfect balance of relevant keywords for your landing page, but also you need to create a add that get’s MEGA ATTENTION for a good CTR. With certain keywords it’s best to be the #1 add spot and this usually will also lead to a excellent click through rate.

I usually try to get a insane CTR, sometimes near 40% or higher with really low CPC. The picture above shows my 3 keywords for one of my campaigns, these keywords have a good search volume daily and I started off paying more than a dollar per click, but quickly got it down to near single digits per click after changing up the adds and keyword options.

Having the #1 spot can also end up costing a lot per click (CPC), which is why you need to continue to change your add around and strive to get a perfect 10 quality score for your keywords. Like the picture to the left is for the same campaign above.

I had to write a post about making a profit by direct linking using Google Adwords since so many people frown upon it and say there’s no way of making actual profit from it, cause I’ve done it and still do it. This post isn’t really meant for a newbie trying out PPC or Google Adwords for the first time. It’s quite easy to lose a lot of money quickly without a little experience.

I wasn’t able to start making profit in general from Google Adwords or especially from direct linking until I had gotten the right knowledge and experimented on my own. What’s great, once you’re confident using Google Adwords is that you can create a profitable campaign just about whenever you want to. You’ll be able to see things differently, like spot opportunities at just a glance. It also will be much easier to bump people out of a spot and have your ads show up.

I highly recommend grabbing the FREE 5 Days to Success with Google Adwords mini course from a renowned Adwords Guru. His products are some of the first things that helped me make a profit when I first started experimenting with PPC and clickbank. Remember, Pay per click programs and Google Adwords may all have different rules. Make sure you read each individual policy and tos cause some methods or websites may not be allowed. Please feel free to leave a comment of your thoughts or suggestions.

7 Sure-Fire Ways to Increase Your Conversions

Internet and Affiliate Marketers have two main goals in common, and that is to get more Targeted Traffic and Make More Sales. At the end of the day, for many of us, it’s a numbers game. Here are 7 sure fire ways to increase your conversions that have helped me close the sale in the past.

1. The Power of Presell – Don’t oversell your product or service. One of the first mistakes newbies make online is bombarding their visitors with affiliate links and banners. The more you help your visitor and give them actual value from your website, the more trusting they will become. You need to make them feel comfortable so they will let their guard down and indirectly sell your product or service. Give them some facts, resources, personal reviews and opinions. Answer any questions that might be on their minds, show them the benefits of the product/service and  present information in a way that subdues all doubt.  Show them firsthand what it could do for them and the value of the product or service.

2. Add a Bonus or Discount – This concept works like a charm. Whether you own your own product or a affiliate marketer, adding and using a discount or coupon code always tends to turn heads. It even works on infomercials that always have a special deal if they call within so many minutes. Checkout some Hot Products on Clickbank and you’ll see they utilize this concept. Making people feel like they are getting a special discount always makes them feel better on their purchase. If you’re a affiliate marketer, getting a exclusive promo code will always put you ahead of your competition and increase your conversions.

3. Visualize the Future – Thinking and planning ahead on your next project will put you way ahead of your competition. Creating and marketing a product/service before it’s HOT, will allow you to capitalize on it. I got lucky with the gas prices a couple years ago. Remember when the gas price was unbelievably high just a year or two ago? When they were just beginning to rise, I searched for gas saving products to market and I made a killing with them because I already had websites for those keywords before most of the competition caught on. Think about the person who created the first GREEN Environmental Product or Social Media Marketing site, you know they are getting plenty of business and sales right now. While most of us are trying to get to the top of those niches pushing those type of products and websites, they are already there.

4. Sell what people are desperate for – You want to make some easy conversions, then just start marketing things that people can’t wait to have. These type of products and services, people aren’t as cautious or indecisive about. They don’t have the luxury or time to compare or inquire for the best deal and value. Usually a firsthand experience on how or what the product/service did for you will close the sale. Think about it, there are more pawn shops and cash loan services than ever, even though they charge a HEFTY % for a loan. Why are they so in demand? When the human mind is in despair,  people will do whatever to resolve the problem. Acne, money/credit saving services, and impotence products are just some of the niches that would fit in this category.

5. Create a Sense of Urgency (Call to Action) – Most people I’m sure you’ve seen firsthand like to check around, compare, and network with others before they make a purchase. The chance of you converting a visitor into a buyer the very first time they see your product on your site is very slim. People want the best value and deal, just like you and me. I know I put things off or wait to the very last moment before I take action on something. To increase your conversion rate though, create some sense of urgency and a call to action to your product or service. Use graphics and content that will make the visitor believe it’s a last minute deal or their going to lose out on something if they don’t take action now.

6. Testimonials and Firsthand Reviews - We all want to hear from others how the product/service worked for them and what value it will give to us. Naturally, we are all skeptical when we hear or read about something new. We don’t want to look like a fool or fall for a scam. We don’t just rely on a stranger telling and showing us what their product or service will do. We want to see proof and hear from others who have tried it out first. Having testimonials and having recognition from people who are established or have authority in the niche, greatly increases the conversion rate. The top selling infomercial products, internet marketers and bloggers all utilize this idea to the fullest. Just look at any of their products/services and you’ll see a ton of testimonials and gurus who endorse their product.

7. Be Aggressive with your ads – This technique is probably more for experienced marketers who already have some established sites. I don’t mean throw links in every sentence you write or throw adsense on your entire 500 word affiliate landing page either. Positioning ads where they can’t be missed will allow many of your visitors want to click on them. Web savvy people and marketers tend to naturally ignore banners and adsense on blogs/sites. We are blinded to them, so that’s when you sometimes need to put your ads right in the middle of your content, or at the very top of your posts. Blending in your ads is great, but experiment and be aggressive where you see fit. If you have loyal readers on your blog, then make sure you don’t impact them when you write new posts. Be aggressive with your adds on all of your older posts.

These are just 7 Sure-Fire Ways to Increase Conversions that I’ve learned and use. Many times if you just think like the consumer you are trying to engage, it can give you many great ideas on how to effectively market to them. If anyone can add to this list, please share.

Will Social Media Marketing Replace SEO?

Whether you’re a blogger, or internet marketer, getting more traffic is always on the back of your mind. It wasn’t to long ago when Social Media Marketing (SMM) was just beginning to blossom into the powerhouse it has turned into today, and what it will become in the near future. Many people are spreading rumors and posting articles about the death of search engine optimization (SEO), and talk about how Social Media is going to replace SEO completely. I think they are taking it a little to far, or are they just trying to start a little controversy??

I remember it was just a few years ago when I first got into Internet marketing, and everyone use to preach about search engine optimization should be my main priority, especially for getting quality traffic. No one really mentioned social media or using it as a way to get traffic to my mini niche sites.

The Power of Social Media has really swept over the world and internet, in a short amount of time. It’s always been around, but now it plays a major role for getting quality traffic to your sites, as much as SEO can. Social Media obviously is also a major factor in creating or continuing a successful business, online or offline.

Thanks to some Brilliant Minds like, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook creator) and Jack Dorsey (Twitter creator), everyone and there grandma loves social networking.

How Popular and how Fast is Social Media Growing?

Compete’s top 50 list for Dec. 2009 -Look at how many social networking sites are on the list, and their stats!!

Alexa’s Top 15 list again many of them are social media sites.

1. Google.com
2. Facebook.com
3. Youtube.com
4. Yahoo.com
5. Live.com
6. Wikipedia.org
7. Blogger.com
8. Baidu.com
9. MSN.com
10. QQ.com
11. Yahoo.co.jp
12. Twitter.com
13. Google.co.in
14. Myspace.com
15. Google.cn

According to Emarketer, a survey was done on senior marketers Top Priorities for 2010. The results are shown below on the chart.

Their number one priority is social networks and applications, so even the top experienced marketers are changing gears over to social media marketing.

Why should you start putting more effort into social media marketing?

Social Media is Awesome because it spreads virally. It takes just one person to go to your site and spread the word about your great post or product, then all of a sudden you get a BLAST of traffic from just one person who started the viral effect. It’s one of the cheapest and most effective ways to get traffic to your websites. Just make sure you work on your Social Media Optimization (SMO) by making your websites compatible for social networking sites. Such as the type of content, adding functionality with rss and social bookmarking buttons.

I found that websites that have been around for a good while and have authority, get more traffic from search engines, rather than from social media. However, newer sites can easily get traffic quicker and faster, if you utilize social networking before the seo kicks in.

Now, to utilize social media to the fullest it takes time, a lot of effort continuously networking and giving value to others first.

Why does social media work so well for conversions?

You get to meet and network with like minds which can lead to connections, opportunities and more traffic.

People can easily learn more about you, build a relationship with you, which may lead to trust, and ultimately more money in the bank.

Word of mouth advertising, testimonies, trust and recommendations are some of the top reasons people make a purchase. We’ve all seen it used on infomercials, websites and other forms of advertisements, why? It’s a proven method of convincing someone to believe in your product or service and ultimately let their guard down and make a purchase.

Isn’t that what social media is all about, interacting and hearing what others have to say about things they’re interested in. I believe it’s human nature to naturally put up a barrier before we make a purchase or decide on something. We want to find the best value, and we don’t want to look like a fool because of past scams, phonies, and b.s. that we’ve seen or gone through before.When we see a testimony from someone who already tried something out, or hear a recommendation, then we tend to let our guard down and we believe in the product or service more.

Social Media allows people to hear feedback on just about anything, almost instantly. I know some Top Internet Marketers who create something valuable, whether it be a elaborate post or product. It takes just one person who finds it and spreads the word using social networking and they get so many visitors that they max out their servers within a few hours. Word of mouth works online, and the majority of us are just figuring this out.

Are you looking for More Loyal, Repeat visitors?

Ad network Chitika, did a study in which they analyzed their traffic  for over 33 million unique visitors over the course of September 2009. Their study was to see out of their Big 6 Traffic sources who brings in the most “loyal visitors” – meaning a person who came back to the referred site 4 or more times in the same week. Even though the majority of their unique visitors come from Google, some of the social networking sites bring in more loyal users as you can see on their chart below, and Loyalty is a Great thing for us bloggers in so many ways. Facebook was #1 with over 20% of all visitors from Facebook visited the referred site 4 or more times in a week.

I believe in order to be successful at just about anything, learning to adapt is crucial. Everything changes constantly online, seo and social media will continually evolve so we have to move with the times. It’s now time to focus more on social media marketing if you haven’t already, but continue with SEO just like before.

Another interesting tidbit that many people have reported is that social media traffic tends to bring in more long term users and buyers. While search engines bring in more short term users and clickers. You should plan ahead on what kind of traffic you are going after depending on what your site is about, and what form of monetizing you are doing. I believe social media plays a major role now for getting targeted traffic and to make or continue a successful business, but search engine optimization (SEO) will be around for a good while as the front runner for website traffic.

Grab Attention and Increase Click Through Rate

Does the banner grab your attention and spark your interest? Don’t stare at it to long or you might go into a trance, just playin.

Think outside the box, be creative, and you’ll probably Increase click through rate with your banners or links.

I saw this banner the other day, and I had to click it. I haven’t ever seen anything like it for a long time as for internet marketing and online businesses.

I saw this banner on this website, Facebookblaster.com and it reminded me to always be open minded. You should check the site out if you’re looking for any social media software to help manage your accounts.

There’s always more ways, even things that have never been done, or created before, that can increase click through rate, or increase conversions.

What makes me click a banner I see on a website or blog?

I usually click banners when it’s something that I’ve been searching for, grabs my attention, out of the ordinary, discounts, or the persons site really helped me out in some way and I want to give back via affiliate link. What makes you click a banner?