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Jennifer_Johnson
| Jennifer Johnson
In Part One, we covered five free traffic generators. Here are
five more ways to acquire no cost clicks:
SITE DESIGN
You might not even be aware of it, but the design of your site
itself - code and content - can bring more traffic your way.
Search engines "reward" pages that meet certain criteria (varies
from engine to engine) by moving those pages higher in the
search results.
If you're interested in tweaking your pages in hopes of climbing
up the SERPs (search engine results pages), you'd do well to
visit the three sites we spoke of in part one, in regard to
search engines:
Search Engine Watch (http://www.searchenginewatch.com)
WebmasterWorld (http://www.webmasterworld.com) SearchEngines.com
(http://www.searchengines.com)
Another two worth a peek:
SEO Today (http://www.seotoday.com) ClickZ Today
(http://www.clickz.com)
BARTERING FOR AD SPACE
If you're open to the idea, you can gain some free publicity by
trading your services or products in exchange for ad space.
Oftentimes, other webmasters are willing to trade out banner
ads, newsletter ads, or sponsorships in return for work they
might need.
"Barter clubs" exist, but you can also simply approach another
site owner if you have a barter proposal you feel would be of
interest to him or her.
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SATISFIED CUSTOMERS
One of THE BEST sources of referrals is word-of-mouth
advertising via your previous customers.
This accounts for a large share of my business and it's a real
lifesaver in slow times (which inevitably occur). When your cash
flow starts to more closely resemble a trickle, it's hard to
plunk down more money on advertising. It's always great to have
customers who are willing to do that advertising for you!
You'll be surprised at just how much business your previous
clients can send your way. If they're happy, they have no
problem saying good things about you and your business.
Plus, a recommendation from a friend is normally a much better
advertisement than a paid one.
Be careful, though; word-of-mouth can backfire. If your
customers are UNhappy, they still might be more than eager to
"spread the word" about your business - and that's the type of
"publicity" you DON'T want.
WRITE AND SUBMIT ARTICLES
Have a lot of information related to your business that would
benefit others? Share it!
Writing articles for online newsletters and websites is a super
way to increase traffic to your site and it won't cost you
anything but a little time.
For example, say you sell your arts & crafts online. You could
write an article with tips on how to boost sales using eBay
auctions and then submit that article to newsletters and
websites catering to crafters.
Make sure you require the site or newsletter owner to publish
your "resource box" in addition to the article. A resource box
is a four to eight line "bio" that runs at the end of an
article. Include your URL and info on your products or services
too.
There aren't a lot of restrictions for what to include or not to
include in your resource box, so be creative.
If you work at it consistently, the benefits this promotional
tool can yield are myriad.
Not only do you have the link to your site from your resource
box, but many places archive their old newsletter issues
indefinitely online, so you get residual traffic, PLUS you build
the number of quality links to your site.
PARTNERING
Partnering, as I'm using it here, is somewhat similar to
bartering for ad space, except instead of offering your service
in exchange for ad space, you and the other party(ies) exchange
advertising.
There are lots of ways you can offer advertising, even if you
don't sell ad space, per se, on your site.
You could include a review or write-up of your partners' service
or product, or simply list them on your "links" or "resources"
page.
Another idea: you probably send out follow-up emails, thank you
emails, free reports, etc., right? If so, consider adding your
partners' ads in one of those places.
There are countless possibilities when it comes to partnering.
The first step is to get in touch with someone who runs a site
on something of interest to your target market. Look for those
in a complementary field (a site that sells templates might
partner with a site that offers search engine submission; a site
that sells sporting goods might partner with a company offering
adventure vacations, etc.).
Once you've established a partner program with one or more
sites, regularly analyze your sales data to make sure the
relationship is profitable for you. Work to strengthen good
relationships and be on the lookout for new potential partners.
I hope you found these ten ways to promote your site for free
useful. We explore these topics (and many more) in-depth in
GetonMessage!, our free site design and promotion newsletter. To
sign-up, send a blank email to
GetonMessage-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com.
About the author:
Jennifer Johnson is the owner of onMessage Graphic Design
. She specializes in affordable
logo, business card, and letterhead design for small business
owners. For more tips on building and growing your site,
subscribe to Jennifer's free newsletter:
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