5 Easy Traffic Building Tips
Building traffic to a site or blog is an ongoing process that takes time. And over the past 10 years, I’ve learned it’s about the sum of the little tasks you do often.
For example, you may not think much of that 3-paragraph blog post you wrote this morning, but two years from now that very post could bring you a few hits per day from Google.
Don’t laugh. I know a few hits doesn’t sound like a lot, but what if 150 of your archived blog posts brought in an average of 5 hits per day? You do the math. That’s 750 hits. And of course I was just using an arbitrary number. You could very well do better than that.
And remember, this is just from old blog posts floating about the search engines. I’m not counting the traffic from your website, recent blog posts, current articles etc.
It’s about the cumulative effect of small tasks completed over time, and as a Webmaster you should always be thinking of ways to build and diversify your traffic.
When I review my website stats, I always notice I’ve received traffic from articles I wrote 5, 6 or even 7 years ago. Work I did way back then is still paying off today. You can do the same. So here are 5 tips you can use often to add to the cumulative effect of building traffic.
1. Yahoo! Answers
I have gotten a decent amount of traffic from this, especially when you consider the small amount of time I’ve put into it.
Yahoo! Answers is exactly what the title suggests. You simply post answers to questions posed by other users. As a Webmaster, the best way to get the most from it is to find questions related to your niche.
For example, if you have a site on fishing, you could do a search for questions related to this pastime and answer as many questions as you can find.
Now the key is not to just rush through this. Craft thoughtful, useful answers that provide value to the person who posed the question. If you impress the viewers, your profile may get a few clicks. And guess what you can put in your profile? You guessed it…
Your website address!
I know a lady who sold a Site Build It! subscription through Yahoo Answers. She responded to a question about working at home and she casually mentioned she used Site Build It!.
She did not spam Yahoo! Answers by putting a link to SBI! in her reply, but someone clicked her avatar along side her answer, viewed her profile and emailed her specific questions about SBI!. After a few email exchanges the curious surfer bought the software and she was $75 richer.
Will you get hundreds of visitors per day from posting at Yahoo! Answers? Probably not, but remember it’s the little things that add up.
Plus, Yahoo! Answers are always appearing in the search results. Imagine all the people who may stumble upon your well-thought out replies to various questions.
2. Forum Posting
A few years ago, forum posting was often a top bullet on the “How to build traffic” list because it was a great way to build backlinks to your site. Using a sig file with your posts created a ton of inbound to your site and Google often rewarded Webmasters with a higher PageRank, more traffic, etc.
While forum posting may hold some backlink benefits, it’s effect has been downgraded tremendously. And I certainly wouldn’t waste your time flooding forums trying to build this number up.
The best way to use forums for traffic is to develop a good reputation with other forum members and subtly promote your site by way of your signature (sig) file. Much like Yahoo! Answers, the more useful your posts are, the more likely others are to respect your advice and visit your site.
Use Search It! to find forums in your niche or simply go to your favorite engine and type in “your_niche + forums”. This will likely bring up a nice selection of forums related to your subject matter.
You can start by posting in my forum, WebsiteBabble.com. ;) Not only is it loved and indexed often by Google, but the members are friendly, fun and smart!
3. Blog Comments
I think this method is highly underrated and forgotten by a lot of Webmasters. Posting useful comments regularly on high-trafficked blogs can really bring in good traffic over time.
And with all the cool plug-ins available, many blogs entice people to make comments by allowing them to add pictures, their website address and more.
4. Broadcast on YouTube
I just started doing this 5 months ago and my videos have received over 100,000 views (combined). And just like regular SEO for your content, you can optimize your videos to be found in the YouTube search results.
My main goals for the videos were to add personality and create credibility to my site. I never dreamed this method would generate the kind of traffic it has in the last 5 months.
Think of content you can put in video form for your audience. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. A 3-minute video can be highly effective if presented well. Just organize your key points, speak clearly and publish!
And of course YouTube makes it super easy to add the video to your site. Just copy and paste a few lines of code and you’re done!
Some people learn better by hearing than reading. Your audience will find this method of delivery quite refreshing, especially if you have a tutorial-based site.
In a Web with so many faceless, cold sites developed by Webmasters who prefer to remain anonymous, adding videos to your site and YouTube could work well in your favor. Credibility is key with making money online and what a great way to build trust with your audience.
And to generate traffic from people who find my videos in YouTube, I use Windows Movie Maker to display my website address during the video.
Read my article on how to broadcast yourself and your site on YouTube.
5. Check Your Web Stats
Ever check your traffic stats and find certain pages have been found in the search engines for keywords that were not the main focus on the page?
For example, say you have an article titled “How to Create a Blog” that contains a few paragraphs where you review Blogger.com. You check your traffic stats and find that page shows up #12 in Google for “Blogger review.”
Instead of settling for the trickles of traffic that keyword phrase brings, why not build a page that focuses on “Blogger review” that can obtain a much higher rank for that keyword. And to help that page’s positioning, you can link it from the original article since the content is related.
Not only are you building another content-rich page with potential search engine traffic, but you’re providing your audience with more useful information they can use.
Dig deep into those traffic stats. You may find some untapped keywords that are a potential gold mind.
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So there you have it - 5 easy tips you can implement to build long-term traffic. And as a Webmaster, this should be a goal that remains at the top of your list.
While there are hundreds of other ways to build traffic to your site or blog, I wanted to focus on something other than SEO fundamentals, blogging, link exchanges, PPC, etc (yawn). Plus, you can start executing these strategies now.
Building traffic takes time. And as the old saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Just know that the little things you do today can evolve into long-term rewards of a lifetime.
Happy traffic building! :)
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- Need Traffic? YouTube It!
- Accidental Blog Success
Comments
Ah, great tips. I was just about to put together an article about increasing traffic.
Btw, I used to post on your forum a lot. I’m proud to announce that I’m finally making money with my websites — enough to go on trips across the nation with friends and buy a new laptop. Right now my websites make more money than my part time job (I’m still in high-school).
This would have been absolutely impossible if I hadn’t read a bunch of 2createawebsite and been inspired by you being personal on your website. Hehe. You’ve literally changed my life. :P
Shaun, that is so great to hear and congrats on your success. Wow, to still be in high school making more $$ than your part-time is something most teens can only dream about.
Stop by WebsiteBabble.com to say hi sometime. Take care!
Lisa
Thank you for sharing. I am trying to build traffic to my site. Everbody eles wants so much money for basic tips. It does no good for those who are just starting out. You are a blessing. Thank you.
Nice tips. I never thought of doing a YouTube presentation to enhance my website traffic. But old articles do in fact increase traffic, I also have done articles over 6 years ago, and last year, my traffic for those pages were at an all time high. If you have a lot of those pages, it totals up to a lot of traffic even if only a few a page are visiting…
Excellent suggestions. Might I add that a short burst of paid traffic can create residual traffic well into the future. I recently purchased a URL that had absolutely no past traffic. I dropped $20USD for paid traffic over a couple of days. Right after that my daily traffic jumped from 0 before the $20USD to, on an average 40 hits per day and growing.
chasemortgagegroup.com
Hi
thanks for your good suggestion. Ya it is true that, if we follow these suggestion we will improve our traffic, but i thinks it is not restricted in only few points there are many ways to get traffic. But nice post.
Just what I was looking for, I’ll be checking out all of your web pages. Thanks for the information.
I really needed this post. I sometimes get a little discouraged because I want a lot of traffic now. Yahoo closed my Answers account because I got too traffic happy by posting my urls to often. I have come a long way in the year and a half that I have building websites for fun. To look behind and see how much traffic has increased is encouraging. Thinking ahead as lisa has suggested, now that’s what I really need to focus on.
Jordy
Most of the time when I read suggestions on how to increase traffic it seems to be a rehashing of what’s already out there. But, you’ve included one I never really considered - suggestion #5, finding phrases that show up in your stats and building pages around them.
Thank you.
I remember seeing your stomach exercise site a couple of years ago and was really impressed. I even sent you an email saying I was impressed and you responded. It was in the beginning of my starting my own Adsense sites (I have 13 websites now and a few blogs) and thought if I could do a site half as good as yours I would be doing well. You are certainly someone to emulate. I’m glad I stumbled upon your blog (and will certainly stumble it as well). I’m sure I will be a frequent visitor from now on.
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Very useful information…especially for a newbie like myself! Thanks :)