Part 6: Traffic and Promotion
About this part
This part will guide you through the most important aspect of any online business, marketing. Most of your efforts will go into it, so get ready for some heavy-duty online marketing, if you want to get noticed online. With an increased levels of competition, having a good marketing campaign is a must, so focus most of your work into the best possible online marketing. Good luck, you'll need it.
Chapter 1.
How to drive traffic to your site
When online business owners want to promote their sites, they usually think of banners, billboards and other useless ways of promotion. People are being bombarded with all kinds of obtrusive advertisements every day, everywhere they look. Paid ads aren't really effective as they used to be. While they can be a simple way to promote (used by non-marketing savvy people), there are other methods out there as well.
These methods require a little bit of knowledge and a lot of work, but they deliver far better results than the paid options. Besides, if the end users see a paid ad, they would think like this: "If this offer is so great, why did they have to pay for ad in the first place?" So, in order to get better results, you need to use better promotional tactics.
While there are hundreds of tips and tricks, let's explore just a few of them:
Reviews
When people are in the shopping mood, they trust opinions from previous customers, who purchased this product. In fact, studies have shown that over 80% buy a product based on the word of mouth. That's why getting your site, service or product reviewed is extremely important.
There are two ways to get reviews; real ones and fake ones, written by you or your employees. While the second one is beneficial to you as the site owner, providing positive reviews, you might have to consider one thing; the fact that most people aren't that stupid to blindly trust several 5-star reviews.
So, instead of writing those positive reviews yourself, let users and experts do them by themselves. Especially experts, as their voice has a lot of weight in your niche. That way, your brand will get something that's far more important than anything else - trust.
Bookmarksc
Social bookmarking on sites like Reddit, Stumbleupon or Digg is a great way to get your site in front of potentiall customers, or visitors in your niche. If they like what they see, they'll share it further. So, they will give you a free advertising, which is always nice.
What you need to do is create an interesting piece of promo that gets the much needed attention, which could go viral. Although you have to consider the human factor, which is unpredictable by default, you never know. So, just create it and test the waters. You'll see what works and what gets shared, and what doesn't.
Article marketing
Distribution of your articles is a nice way to get in front of the mainstream or niche media. By posting your articles to relevant PR sites, article directories, Squidoo, Wikis and blogs (as guest blogger), your site can get visible in no time.
By using automated tools like Mass Article Control, it goes even faster. However, you need to consider the quality of articles.You see, people read articles because they seek quality information. And because of information overload, only high quality articles get noticed. So, your articles shouldn't be written by a newbie. Don't get cheap when hiring a freelancer on iWriter, or lazy when you decide to do it yourself.
Quality over quantity is always a good choice. Remember, if your content isn't good enough, no one would read it. No matter how many articles you might have.
Social media
Social media marketing is becoming extremely important for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Today, there isn't a single business out there, which could survive without being active on (at least) the largest social sites.
However, most businesses don't understand what social media is all about. It shouldn't be approached as marketing campaign. Instead, it has to be done as relationship building campaign.
People don't go to the social sites to view ad-alike posts on their walls, or friends' walls. They don't click on such links, who just scream nonsense like "Buy this and that, 20% cheaper!", but they do read and click on relevant, engaging and interesting posts, looking like their friends wrote them.
So, when you want to do some viral marketing on Facebook or Twitter, don't think of it as marketing. Think of it as a time to hangout with your friends, while providing them with a couple of useful and funny things that might interest them.Don't be too pushy, don't try to get passive readers. Instead, let them engage with your story and with one another, as that's what the social networking is all about.
Classifieds
While posting your offer on classified sites can be a great way to get some exposure, you have to know that most offers on those sites are spam, pure and simple. Classified sites live from ads, and more visits they get, more ads they can serve. So, there is almost no censorship on any of those sites.
If you want to build a reputable brand and a sustainable business, I wouldn't advise you to go overboard with posting on these sites. Sure, you want to get your product or service out there, telling the whole world about it.
However, if you want to sell something that holds value, something that has a sign of quality, something that can be sold for a higher price than the average product in that niche, then you might consider not to post on these sites.
The choice is yours, of course. But if you do post on these sites, keep in mind that people read the same boring ads like "Buy cheap viagra!" each and every day, so you must create an appealing ad that would stand out of the crowd. Put a lot of effort into it, make it appealling and exciting, if possible.
But whatever you do, don't publish a boring ad that looks the same as all other ads out there.So, these are the most common marketing methods that are free, effective and provide the much needed attention. When setting up and running your online marketing strategy, always consider the human factor, try to discover what makes people in your niche tick, track what they respond to and always try to improve your approach.
Remember, you're dealing with real people who buy your product or services, so treat them as your friends, not your customers. Good luck!
Chapter 2.
How to get tons of quality backlinks
Getting a site to the first page on Google is a dream of most internet marketers, or any other online business owners for that matter. Making Google to love you isn't an easy task. In fact, SEO strategies are time consuming process, filled with trials and errors. But they can do wonders for your PR, if done right. More importantly, if they are done on a consistent basis.
So, how to get your site ranked well in Google and other SEs? There is a plethora of options to get ranked above the others in your niche, but let's explore just a few of them, shall we?
Page Optimization
Ever heard of page titles, meta tags, descriptions, etc.? Of course you have. By placing the most relevant keywords into your page, it can rank higher in Google and other search engines, when they look for them. So, you should use a good tool for keyword research like Long Tail Pro and determine the best possible keywords for your site.
Also, place a tag cloud on your site (on a separate page and sidebar), and well structured sitemap. Then, test how your site ranks in Google, based on your input now and then, and adapt your content to the results.
Get Blogger Reviews
Do you have a software product, or maybe an eBook? Instead of selling, offer it to the bloggers in your niche for free and let them review it, providing you with tons of good quality back links.
Filter out major news sites and focus on bloggers in your niche, who show up in the first couple of pages in Google. When you contact them, be polite and first give them a compliment on a piece of their content. Then, connect that content to your review request.
Be very careful about the language you use, because you might violate Google's Webmaster Guidelines. Instead of asking them for a review directly, just send a product along with compliment and let them decide, if it's worthy to mention it in their blog.
Post Testimonials
Companies of all shapes and sizes absolutely love to publish their customer's testimonials. So, if you used their product or service, write a nice testimonial and send it to them, asking them to publish it along with a link to your site. Don't worry, they will almost certainly add your link, because with it, your testimonial gets a much needed credibility.
Directory Submission
Many people would claim that directories are dead. Google deindexed hundreds of them, but for a reason. Why did Google do that, if they weren't effective? The answer is: It wouldn't.
So, directory submission is a great way to get tons of good backlinks to your site. However, you need to submit your link to the relevant ones, not all of them. Explore the niche or authority mainstream directories and submit your link to them.
You can do it manually, or use a good directory submission service.
Article posting
Getting your article published on any of the authority blogs in your niche is one of the best ways to get noticed. Distribution of your article to article directories is another nice way to get back links to your site. But these two ways are very different.
When sending your article to authority bloggers, make sure you send the best ones you can possibly write. Be very careful with formatting and always proofread the article before you send it to them for review.
But when distributing your article to so-called "link farms", e.g article directories, you shouldn't worry about the quality that much. However, that doesn't mean that you should send anything. Remember, your article will get copied from those directories only, if it's good enough.
For this, you can also use an automated article poster, such as Mass Article Control. .
Edu backlinks
Getting backlinks from .edu sites is one of the best ways to rank higher, because of their status. By having your link posted at them, it can do wonders for SERPs. But how to get there in the first place?
First, you need to find the niche .edu sites and send a nice email to them, showing your helpful resource. Keep in mind that only about 5 or 6% of them would actually post your link, but even that's more than enough for your ranking. Needless to say that you have to have a quality site, not just one of the many.
Submit to Blog Aggregators
There are a few authority blog aggregators out there, scouring the sites on a daily basis for fresh content. By submitting your blog to them, you can get tons of high quality dofollow links. Submission is really easy. All you need to do is submit your site, paste the provided code to confirm the ownership and wait for them to insert your site into their index. Simple as that.
Some of the best ones are Technorati, Alltop and Blogarama.
Scoop It
Scoop it is a great, magazine-alike site, where users from around the world post, share and aggregate their favorite content. All you need to do is use its built in suggestion feature and voila, you can get suggested by sending a message to the owner of (even a PR3) page on the site.
So, these are the most common (and maybe not so common) methods of link building. If done smart and on consistent basis, your site can get ranked higher, resulting in tons of quality do follow links that provide you with much needed traffic. Good luck!
Chapter 3.
Landing pages that convert
Landing pages are a great way to quickly attract your visitors and make them perform a certain action, such as subscribe to your newsletter, buy a product, or anything in between. They are focused on conversion of your visitors, as fast as possible.
However, building landing pages isn't that easy as you might think. There isn't a magic formula to create a high converting landing page, but if you know your target population well, you're able to craft a landing page that converts.
So, how to start? Well, there's a whole science behind a simple landing page. You have to do your homework first by researching your niche, preferences of your target demographics and what makes it tick. When a human factor is involved, no one can be certain of the result. What works for one focus group, it might not work for the other.
Have you ever seen those ads, telling you that their software can help you duplicate landing pages, thus create a network of them? Wrong claim, because each and every landing page works for one focus group only.
So, instead of copy-pasting your landers, focus on quality of each and every one of them. It's better to have one lander that converts really well instead of dozens that don't.
Ok, let's play around with the anatomy of a high convertible landing page. Every lander has to have the three key ingredients:
Title
Main title on the top of your lander has to entice users to read the description. By my humble opinion, that's the most important part of the landing page. You need to put a lot of thought into it, as you have around 3 - 5 seconds to get or lose your potential customers. And that's not a lot of time.
Your title should be informative, funny (if possible), and it has to make an impact. Get personal all the way, when writing the title.
Description
Description is the other key ingredient, designed to inform your potential leads just enough to make them perform a required action. It can be displayed in a form of plain text, or 2 - 3 bullet points, pointing out the main benefits, e.g reasons for joining, buying, etc..
Again, be personal and polite, don't make users feel like they're being forced into something. Instead, try to persuade them with arguments, why is it so good to subscribe or buy, what they'll receive in return, and so on.
CTA
Call To Action is usually displayed in a form of a button, where users become your subscribers, members, or buyers. It's the third and last stage, where you win or lose. So, it has to be well thought off. You see, most "marketers" make a common mistake with this key ingredient by placing a standard "Buy now" button on their lander, and then they're surprised why so very few people buy their product.
First, not many people buy anything on the frontpage. In fact, most people run away like hell, when they see a price tag. So, why place it in the first place, if it doesn't do the magic? The answer is; you don't. Instead of forcing them to buy on the first sight, you can choose one of two better options:
Either you make them subscribe (and receive something for free) first, then do the upsell, or - Change the text on your button from "Buy now" to "Check it out", or something like that.
So, these are the main ingredients of any landing page. If done right, without forcing users to perform any (potentially unwanted) action, you'll be just fine. Ok, let's move on.
While promoting your landing page, you'll also have to consider performing a lot of A/B testing and (link) click tracking to make sure that your lander converts as it should. Again, each focus group has its own advantages, requirements and flaws, so first you need to do some promotion and tracking, before you can adapt your campaign.
Still not sure, how to build a great landing page that converts well? If so, you have at least three good options: a) Either you hire a designer to do it from scratch and figure out everything by yourself, b) Purchase a Wordpress plugin that does the trick, c) Buy a pre-made pack of niche themes, or d) Head over to one of the best platforms for this job called Leadpages and enjoy their powerful features that do all the magic you'll ever need.
So, that's all for now about the landing pages. As you can see, building them isn't that difficult. With a lot of work, dedication and paying attention to details, you'll be able to get many subscribers or customers, converted on your beautiful new landing page in no time.
Just remember, your users are real people like you and me. Before you convert them, make sure that you treat them with all the respect they deserve, make them feel as good as possible while they reside on your landing page and try not to be so greedy by giving away a free report, maybe a book, or anything in between that would entice them to subscribe, or buy at a later stage. Good luck!
Chapter 4.
Build a large email list
Have you ever heard of the phrase "The money is in the list"? Most probably you did. That's a very true statement, because you really don't want one-time visitors, who get your hard work for free, but leave nothing back in return. All that marketing work, for nothing. That's why you absolutely have to focus on building a large list of subscribers. The larger, the better. But how to do it?
Well, there are several ways to build and manage your mailing list, so let's explore a few of them shall we?
Offer quality
Because of the fierce competition in online world, you need to stand out any way you can. While most online spots offer little or no value at all, this is your way to shine. Instead of publishing rewritten, or even worse, plr articles, you should offer a high quality content. This is one way to attract subscribers, as they're used to get non-valuable content everywhere else.
So, publish a couple of hi-end articles and entice them to subscribe by giving them even better ones in your newsletter.
Offer freebies
Most newbies try to make a quick buck, which is always wrong. In order to build a large audience and especially subscriber base, you need to bribe them with something like free report, eBook, or even a webinar.
Be careful here. Don't offer stuff people can get anywhere else for free. That way, you can forget to get their trust, as you've lost it even before you sent your first newsletter.
Another thing; Don't try to scam them. A while ago, I landed on a site, where one dude was offering tons and tons of quality themes and plugins for Wordpress (while claiming that he paid a fortune for them), just for subscribing to his newsletter. So I did and what I got? Copy-pasted links from the original Wp site, where all those things were available for free as well. Needless to say, I unsubscribed the next second.
Get testimonials
When trying to sell something, testimonials from real customers are crucial. Get them any way you can and post them in your newsletter, just to prove that your product or service actually works.
Again, don't scam your potential customers. Most webmasters make the mistake of posting fake testimonials and then they're surprised, why no one would buy their stuff. Why is that? Well, because people are used to see fake testimonials, that's why.
So, when you want to gather testimonials, make sure that you get links to customers' sites or Facebook profiles, and add those links along their testimonials. Remember, people aren't stupid. If you try to prove something to them, do it the right way.
Include sharing buttons
Encourage your readers to share your messages via social networks by placing the common sharing buttons at the top of your newsletter. That way, you'll get more new readers as well as subscribers, because of the social proof element.
Remember, if someone likes your message, it will get shared, creating a viral buzz. And that's a great (and free) way to do marketing.
Swap emails
There are several sites that enable you to swap your email lists with other webmaster, helping you double your list. While it sounds nice, you have to be very careful when doing email swaps. Check those who seem to be good enough to do swaps with, because you really don't want to swap your list with some low level spammers or even scammers, would you?
Another way of doing swaps is to contact some reputable bloggers from your niche manually and try to convince them to swap their lists with you. Many of them will probably say No, but those who will agree, are the ones who have high quality lists.
Focus on quality, not quantity
There are many so-called "marketers", who simply copy-paste plr articles or sales letters into their newsletters, trying to sell some crap. They try to sell without trying.
But what happens next? Most of their subscribers run away and forget their newsletter in a split second. So, when you want to send your newsletter, always put quality over quantity. Write high quality articles and inform your subscribers the right way, without making them go away when they see a worthless piece of useless content.
Don't oversell
Again, many so-called "marketers" try to sell on every step of the way. I got several newsletters, which were nothing more then mere sales pitches, usually trying to sell some crap. Needless to say, I've unsubscribed the next moment.
Remember, people subscribe to your newsletter because they want value in a form of information. If you fail to deliver that information, only trying to sell something, they will run away for good.
Now I'm not saying that you shouldn't sell anything. Of course you can, but do it smart. Include one or two affiliate links at the bottom (or better yet, into the sidebar) of your newsletter, gently reminding them about a great offer, informing them instead of screaming things like "Buy the greatest xyz..." and you'll sell more without even trying too hard to sell.
Don't buy or rent the list
Many newbie marketers make this horrible mistake. They want to build a list quickly and without any effort, so they go and buy or rent it from spammers. That's a huge No-No. Why? Well, because these users aren't yours, they didn't subscribe to your newsletter.
That's why these leads aren't leads at all. They are people, who got spammed by you, like so many others before you. These lists are being sold to thousands of spammers on a daily basis and most of them (or better yet, all of them) are completely worthless.
Besides, you risk to be labeled as spammer and you really don't want to get such infamous label, trust me. So, don't buy or rent email lists. Instead, do some work and build your own.
Use the right provider
You went to great lenghts to build your newsletter, wrote dozens of quality articles and even managed to get tons of quality subscribers. But what happens, when you actually setup and launch your campaign? If you go with some free emailing provider, or ready-made (self hosted) script, you have little chances to deliver your message properly.
That's why it is imperative to use the right provider to do your mailings. Deliverability of your messages has to be near perfect, otherwise you'll lose many of those hard earned subscribers. Besides, you also need to design newsletters, track the views and clicks, manage focus groups and more.
So, you need a very reliable mailing provider, capable of delivering and managing thousands of subscribers on the fly. There are just a few of them, but my personal choice would be aWeber, which is the one I use for all my mailings and it works like a charm. But the choice is yours, of course.
The conclusion
Ok, so what have you learned so far? Subscribers are the life blood of your sales-oriented project, they are the main sales channel for your products or services, they are one of the main reasons why you're getting those fat paychecks every month. But they're also real people like you and me, and they need to be treated with the utmost respect.
Never make the mistake of treating them like customers, think of them as your best friends. Connect with them on a daily basis, communicate with them, help them achieve their goals with your information and you'll win their trust. Good luck!
Chapter 5.
Social media marketing
Social media marketing is one of the best ways to get noticed. By creating a viral buzz through all those likes, shares and tweets, your site is able to mutliply its visitors overnight, resulting in increased popularity, growing each day.
But how to get people to share your article, photo, video, or anything in between in the first place? When it comes to human factor, nothing is guaranteed. While some well-thought off campaigns make it, others don't. There is no magical formula to success, no matter what "gurus" are saying. However, there are a couple of things that can help you when creating your social media campaign.
Niche group
When doing campaigns online, you want to target your niche ppopulation. By knowing its desires, you're able to adapt your offerings to them, resulting in more views, clicks, shares and tweets. For example: You run a pet related site, focusing on pet lovers.
So, you'll want to include some photos of cute puppies into your campaign, right? Right, because you know that your focus group likes to see such photos. This approach wouldn't work so well with some other groups, such as gothic lovers for example.
Engagement
Gone are the days, when online users were mere observers, passively reading the provided content. Now, they want to contribute to it, help create it and edit it, if they choose so. Enable them this and you'll get more likes along the way.
Communication
That's the basis of all social activities. People come to social sites to communicate with each other, to exchange ideas and thoughts, to share emotions. That's why you need to actively communicate with your users, make them feel important to you and they'll love you back.
Timeliness
When is your focus group online the most? It's a rule of thumb that most users come to social sites during weekends, in the afternoons, to be exact. So, posting a wall updates on Monday morning isn't a really great idea.
Treatment
Many online business owners make this horrible mistake, when they treat their users as customers. Think of them as your best friends (which isn't that far from the truth, as they're the ones who make or break your business) and treat them as such. If they have a complaint, respond and resolve as fast as possible. Never, ever blame them for anything, even if they're wrong. Remember, your users are always right. Period.
Consistency
As with all other marketing and business activities you do, social media marketing has to be done on a daily basis. Don't just post an update and return the next week to see the response. Visit social sites each and every day, communicate as much as possible and be proactive in your social group.
Tools
It always helps to work smarter and faster, not harder to achieve the same (or even better) results, right? Right.While most social marketing efforts have to be done manually, there are also a couple of ways to automate certain processes, helping you to reach more users, resulting in larger fan base.
With this in mind, you might want to consider useful tools like Marketers Domination, or Social Poster plugin for Wordpress.
The conclusion
So, these are a couple of things to follow, when doing social media marketing. If you treat your users on social sites as your friends, allowing them to communicate with you on a daily basis, share your thoughts instead of just posting updates and make them feel wanted, your site will most probably get noticed. Always remember to keep your cool, to engage with your fans and followers as much as possible and success will come eventually. Good luck!