Greetings everyone, David Bowie here. I won’t bore you with a bunch of mumbo jumbo. I will say that I have had some success in driving traffic to my websites for some time now. Below is a list I use to drive targeted traffic to my sites every week.
1. Google Base: Google Base is new but works like Craigslist on steroids. You can list up to 1 Million products or services and it works pretty much like adwords except you incur no cost. For more info go to:
http://base.google.com/support/?hl=en&gl=us
2. Groups: Despite what many say, Groups is still a valuable resource to driving traffic to your site. The only problem is finding the right groups that pertains to the product or services you offer. There are groups out there that has anywhere from 10,000 to 90,000 members. I prefer the traditional method, so I use groups connected to Yahoo, Google, Multiply and Linkedin.
3. Forums: Forums is another great tool to use for driving targeted traffic to your websites. Word of caution: When joining a forum, please take the time to read their posting rules or you will be banned before you even start. Top of my list for forums is the V7 Network. They boast a membership of just over 84,000 members. You are able to ad your signature file of your websites (Normally, two links) which is shown every time you make a post. There are thousands of forums out there, so choose the ones that are related to your site.
4. Safelist: I use several safelists and have found several to be valuable. Most safelist are free to join but you can only send your ad to 500 members as a free member. I belong to one such safelist that has over 54,000 members and for a small fee; I can email their entire database every three days. I recently found a safelist that has a twist to it where they automatically build your downline and within three weeks I have over two thousand members!
5. Traffic Exchanges: I personally, have not had much luck with traffic exchanges but lots of members swear by them and this list is not about me, it’s about you, the reader. Apparently, traffic exchanges work best when using a squeeze page.
6. Classified Ad Sites: Classified ads are a great way you drive traffic and can be a good source income. I own a Search engine submitter that also submits to many classified ad sites on autopilot.
7. Social Bookmarking: Here is another targeted traffic source that a lot of people swear by. I have used the service twice in the past six months but only for my clients. I believe, done correctly, will drive traffic.
8. Press Releases: This probably should have been placed higher but I’m lazy and normally I outsource this type of work. This is a powerful weapon. I submitted a press release about a year ago for one of the affiliates I belong to and it is still getting about 1,100 visitors per week!
9. Articles: Submitting your articles to various article submission sites gets the word out about your site plus gives you good quality backlinks. Most article submission sites will publish your article for free to a partial list for free.
10. Banner Exchanges: By exchanging banners with other websites in your niche, you can drive targeted visitors to your site without too much hassle.
11. Sponsor Events: Sponsorship may sound very expensive, but you can find local sponsorship opportunities for cheap.
12. Branding: Create branded t-shirts, mugs, notebooks, and give them away. The more t-shirts you give away, the more people will know about your website.
13. Awards: There are a few organizations that offer awards to the most useful websites. If you have one of those sites, make sure you participate.
14. Long-tail keywords: Each long-tail keyword may not bring you too many new readers, but if you target enough of them, it all adds up.
15. Directory Submissions: Submitting your site to website directories will benefit you with getting one way links to your site which will improve its search engine rankings. If you list your site on directories such as Yahoo and Dmoz, and V7 you can get direct traffic from them, too.
16. RSS Feed: Having RSS Feed on your blog is very important. When a visitor sign ups to your feed, he (she) will get informed each time you write a new post and will return to your blog again. Also, you can turn your RSS feed into a software pack and submit to all the free software sites.
17. EBay: EBay is a powerful system for finding customers for your products and services. You can also benefit from eBay adding your URL to your pages there and getting visitors and inbound links at the same time. Note: I get more visitors from ebay because of my about me page that lets me ad a link redirecting back to my home page.
18. Audio Podcasting: This is relatively new type of marketing, but is going to extend in the near future. You can easily create audio on Audio Acrobat and submit to podcast directories. It will bring you good traffic.
19. Follow the News: Remember the 700 Billion Dollar Bailout? I wrote an article on ‘How to profit from the 700 Billion dollar bailout’, posted it on several sites and got the number 1 ranking on Google. Another unused method which I still use is called the Oprah method. You can go to her site and view upcoming shows. You can use the information to locate keywords related to your products or services and create an avalanche of traffic. This is short term traffic and will surge for about two weeks, then repeat. I know some of you are probably laughing at this method. Have you ever watched the Oprah show? Ever notice how at the end of a show she’ll mention some book? Now try and find that book the next day. Chances are you won’t because it’s sold out.
This list a just a sampling of ways to generate targeted traffic to your websites and is not done in any particular order. To make sure you are looking at quality sites to join, always check their stats by going to alexa. I try to pick sites that have an alexa ranking of 100,000 or less. The lower, the better. As always do your homework before spending any money on any programs. My motto is’ if they don’t answer my calls, they don’t want my money.
Good Luck!
Sincerely,
David Bowie
