Three Ways on How Content Can Attract Free, Long Term, Targeted Traffic to Your Website

Many people out there said that “content is king” when it comes to web traffic generation. Even though, IMHO, content is not the only king, I tend to agree with them. If done properly, content can attract free, long term, targeted traffic to your website.

Here’re three ways on how content can attract free, long term, targeted traffic to your website:

1. Content attracts free search engine traffic

It has been well-known that the search engines love content. The more content you have in your website, the more keywords you can rank for, and thus the more traffic you can get from the search engines.

However, not every content can do well in the search engines. The search engines have sets of rules (also known as algorithms) to rank websites in their indexes and some of these rules go beyond content (off-page factors). You need to “optimize your site” to meet these rules if you want to rank well in the search engines.

The problem, though, is that there are differing opinions about these rules and it seems that no one can give exact answers about them. Also, these rules often change, which makes them quite difficult to be followed.

That’s why I usually only do little optimization, sometimes as little as putting one keyword in the title tag and getting links. I stopped paying attention to the details because they wasted my time more then they gave me results.

2. Content attracts links from other websites

There are two benefits of having incoming links pointing to your site. First, you can get direct traffic from people who click through the links. And second, incoming links can increase your search engine ranking. In general, the search engines count incoming links as votes to your website.

Now how can content attract links to your website? Well, there are various scenarios on how content can attract links to your websites. But since I only have limited space and time here, let me just tell you the two popular scenarios.

First, you can write articles with link in your resource box and submit them to article directories and relevant websites that accept article submission. Many web publishers out there have a “content deficit” problem, and they’re hungry for your content. You can get your links spread out fast around the Internet by using this method.

Second, if your website contains “linkworthy” content, then other webmasters might voluntarily link to your content or website. However, this is a passive method, and you may not want to rely on this method and wait for someone to link to you.

3. Content attracts viral traffic

Viral marketing works by encouraging other people to transmit your marketing message to the others. If done properly, it can spread your marketing message around the Internet just like a contagious virus spreads around a society.

There are various motivations that can encourage other people to spread your marketing message. One of them is the “desire to obtain material possession.” You’ve probably seen the tactic of giving people incentive to spread a marketing message.

However, not all people are moved by the “desire to obtain material possession.” Many people are moved by mere excitement or other non-selfish motivations.

This is where content can attract viral traffic. If your content (that is part of your website or contains link to your website), is extremely useful, informative, or just downright funny as hell that people will say “Wow!” when they see it, then people might spread or tell others about your content.

You can also try to increase the viral effect of your content by making it easy for people to spread or tell others about your content, for example by using a tell-a-friend script.

Mohamad Zaki Hussein is the webmaster of http://www.webtrafficideas.com. To learn how to build a perpetual traffic engine by combining Viral Marketing with RSS and Blog, get the FREE “Instant Traffic Formula” report at http://www.webtrafficideas.com/getviral.

Build Traffic with Your Home Page

In this article I’m assuming that your home page is your main landing page; that is, this is the page that most people usually “land” on the first time they visit. The following is directed toward service professionals who are using their site to help build relationships with their visitors.

The most important part of this page is to immediately generate attention and interest. At minimum, that means an eye-catching headline, and a compelling 2-3 sentence statement of how you help your clientsnot just what you do.

If they’re looking at graphics or animation, that’s included in the ten secondsso if you plan on putting those elements in, make sure they don’t distract from your key message. I generally recommend to my clients that they omit the bells and whistles and needless distractions of graphics and fancy logos.

Your headline can be problem-oriented: “Retail Managers-Do you struggle with employee retention?”

Or your headline can be promise-focused: “Florists: How to make Valentine’s Day pay off for the rest of the year!”

In each of these I’ve specified a target market. Although not necessary for your headline, if you have a clear population you market to, this technique can provide greater clarity.

After your headline, develop your 2-3 sentence opening statement. This can be in question form or a simple statement of how you help your clients. By focusing on their specific challenges, you can help visitors see your profession in a new light.

“If your dog seems to be feeling under the weather, we can provide a wellness consultation to assess underlying problems. Dogs can’t speak, but they communicate in many ways. We’ll help you figure out what’s going on.”

“Your marketing materials form the basis of your communication with prospects. And your business card is key to opening up and maintaining lines of communication. How often have you forgotten the face associated with the card, but still been intrigued by the service? We’ll help you design attractive and compelling written materials that keep your service at the forefront.”

CAPTURE

I’m a big proponent of giving away useful information that helps you establish credibility with your visitor. A common way of doing this is to offer a free report to anyone who signs up for your list. The free report is nothing new, but if done well, I think it remains one of the best ways to attract clients to your business.

I’ll discuss how to structure a free report in an upcoming article, but for your home page you want to capture the name and email of your visitor, using an attractive box above-the-fold.

If you’ve enticed them, your visitor will sign up.
One of the strategies I teach my clients is to test their home pages and sign up rates, by comparing the number of unique visitors with subscription rates. Your sign up box should be seen immediately upon landing, and your copy should clearly state what you offer and how it will help your reader. Nothing more.

If your wording is good, you’ll get a significant sign-up rate for your free information. What’s significant? I would say anywhere from 5-10%. But this is tricky. If you’re getting much lower rates, analyze where your traffic is coming from; you could be attracting the wrong target market.

NEXT ACTION

1) Figure out what kind of freebie you could give. Also called a “One-Banana” or “Pink Spoon” from the Multiple Streams model, your free report should be truly valuable, easy to access, and not so extensive you never get it done.

2) Write the copy for your sign-up box. Test different versions with your target market and your colleagues to see what resonates with people.

3) Now write your intriguing and clear opening statement.

4) Lastly, write out your headline. Again, test this with your colleagues, and test different versions if you’re not getting the results you’d like.

Stacey Morris, Focus Coach

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