Internet Traffic, Marketing

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Internet Traffic, How to Get It - Lesson 2


The more traffic your website generates, the more money making potential your e-business has. You need to develop your e-business and market it in such a way that it will generate traffic. If you position your products and services in an industry where there is a good flow of traffic and money, there is a high likelihood that your e-business will benefit from it.

New and old visitors can generate traffic on your website. You can encourage viewers to come back to your website by encouraging them to set your website as their browser's default home page, book marking your website or setting it up in their favourites and using their history. There are other types of software-based online marketing techniques. Providing software that resides on the user's machine or screen, independent of a web browser, is one such technique.

The Role of Consumer Choice


When users get beyond built-in features in software that try and grab their attention, it becomes more a matter of choice. Internet users can type in a URL and go to web pages that they have found out about through word of mouth or some other media. Users may follow links from other websites or similar pages to get to your website. If users want to find specific information of interest they may use search engines to find out about your website. As a result, search engines have been by far the most popular websites on the Internet.

In order to understand the consumer, you need to put yourself in the shoes of the persons you are trying to get to your website. You need to think from their perspective rather than your own. People searching the Internet for content are seeking information applicable directly to themselves. In order to market your e-business website successfully, you need to take time to think about what kind of content your audience would be looking for. When developing your e-business website it is vital to put the customer's requirements and wants before your own.

Value and Flow


The number of times a user will visit your website depends on the value that they receive from visiting your website. People who surf the Internet are constantly making decisions about whether they are going to continue to visit the website they are on, or whether they are going to exit. The value of the page that they are currently on, the promise of value in visiting other pages and the promise of value in returning to your website will all generate traffic. Users will continue to navigate through your website even if the current page has a low perceived value, if there is an indication that they will find value in other pages. Users however will leave your website very quickly and generally never come back if they find no value in your website.

The term "flow" has been used to describe what occurs when a user becomes so absorbed in surfing the Internet that they loose track of time and task temporarily. Whatever the user started out to do online is temporarily forgotten while they enjoy your website. When flow occurs users are inclined to loose direction, inhibitions, and caution and give way to impulse. The user is then much more likely to join or buy something promoted on your website. Therefore it is vital for you website to be both captivating and easy to navigate in order to generate flow.

Flow is also a concept that applies to movement from one website to another. All the advertisements and links that you have placed on other websites should create a smooth transition to your website for flow not to be broken and to ensure that interest is not lost.

Building Traffic


When you have developed a website that has value and creates flow you, need to direct traffic to your website. Here are a few ways you can build traffic:

  1. Obtain the right domain name.
    Get a domain name that is catchy, easy to remember, describes the nature of your e-business, represents the name of your e-business and is easy to spell. This will increase your website's marketability.

  2. Obtain good publicity.
    Generate as much good publicity using as many different mediums as possible. A highly publicized launch will help you build traffic. Where possible, use the media to publicize your e-business website.

  3. Advertise on the Internet.
    Use and maintain flow through the placement of your Internet advertisements. Advertisements can be free, exchanged, or paid for. Advertisements can be banners, links, write-ups etc.

  4. Obtain reciprocal links.
    Search the same keywords that you have for your website and surf all the websites that the search engines come up with. Get names and email links from these websites so you can exchange links with them. There are software products available that will conduct this search on the web for you automatically.

  5. Link Directories.

    Believe it or not...link directories are huge. They're instant links that most bigtime Internet gurus use all the time to get greater page rank and first page listing. There are so many to choose from, so I will list 20 top directories to engage when building links. Some are pay and most are free, how fast do you need it. Well, I will share with you why it is better to gradually gain links rather than flood a 1000 links pointing back to your Website. More to come on this topic.