There is so much talk about social bookmarking and getting traffic from social bookmarking sites these days. Is it true? Can you make a lot of money with traffic you get from social bookmarking sites? I would like to talk about a certain specific aspect of the traffic you might receive from major social bookmarking site.
First of all I would like to say that I love social bookmarking sites! I spend too much time there browsing and stumbling and digging. These sites are full of great information and savvy readers. However, in my experience I have not benefitted from the social traffic that visits my blog. I actually have many blogs but that's besides the point.
All traffic is not created equally. This is a point you must bear in mind if you ever want to convert your traffic into sales. It's not just about the traffic. In fact it is not about the traffic at all! It is all about sales and money. No sales, no money. Traffic does not equal sales as I'm sure many of you already know.
What is the best kind of traffic you might ask. The best kind of traffic is search engine traffic with a need. Someone searching the internet looking for a solution to some problem is the best kind of traffic. For instance, if someone is searching for "How to get rid of zits" then this person probably has a lot of zits that they desperately want to get rid of. This kind of search is done by someone holding their credit card in their hand! This is traffic with a need. Traffic looking to spend money now. That is obviously the best kind of traffic.
Would you rather have ten thousand unique visitors come to your site everyday and click nothing, or would you rather have one click per day? If you answered 'one click per day' then you are already thinking like someone who is giong to make money online. Money isn't made from your readers, it is made from search engine traffic clicking your ads because they address an acute problem that they seek a solution to.
This brings me to my initial point about traffic from social bookmarking sites. This is the worst kind of traffic. There are all these products on the market that teach you how to get tons of traffic from social bookmarking sites but the problem is that the traffic doesn't convert. Most of the folks who spend their time at social bookmarking sites are internet savvy people.
They have the same ads on their sites and blogs that you have on yours. They like to read and stumble and digg but they don't click! They are not arriving at your blog to click and buy anything. They arrive there simply to read the information. This kind of traffic is extremely low converting.
So I don't waste my time with trying to get this kind of traffic. Having said that I will also add that I do bookmark my pages often but only for the anchored links I get in return. Think about when you purchase something online. Do you go to a social bookmarking site to find what you are looking to buy? Or do you search for it in Google?
Traffic Secrets John Reese
Track all sources of traffic generation.
John Reese stresses the need to track where all traffic comes from and at what cost. It is crucial to know exactly how many sales, newsletter sign-ups, or other leads your particular marketing campaigns generating. This enables you to work smarter and not harder. By tracking all traffic to your site you can make twice as much while working fifty percent less.
Content is King
On the internet, people are searching for one thing....... Content! Load your website with as much content as possible. Then, continuously add content. Search engines love information and they will love your site if you've got lots of it. There's plenty of free content for the taking on the internet. You can load up your site with articles from article directories like ezinearticles.com. Or, you could be like John and use content from the public domain. Or, you can use content that is in the creative commons. This type is now easier than ever to find now that Yahoo and others have come out with a search engine designed specifically for content that is in the creative commons.
I have one site that has around 25,000 pages and receives about 2,500 visitors a day. The vast majority of this traffic comes from the search engines. Are you starting to see how powerful this can be?
An affiliate program is critical to maximum traffic and sales. Lots of internet marketers don't take advantage of this powerful traffic-generating technique. An affiliate program allows you to have your own personal salesman spread all over the web. The best part about it is that there is absolutely no risk involved but tons of traffic and sales to gain. Your website simply cannot grow to its full potential without an effective affiliate program.
Banner Ads
John Reese advocates the use of banner ads during a time when they are largely an untapped marketing source. Banner ads are one of the most overlooked sources of targeted traffic online.
Also, banner ads are now one of the cheapest sources of targeted traffic. In the late 1990's during the dot-com boom, people were selling banner ads for $40 and $50 CPM. Then the dot-com bubble hit and these rates hit the floor. You can now buy banner ads dirt cheap, at $1 to $1.50 CPM. This is $1 for 1,000 banner impressions. The key here is to find the perfect place to advertise that will send targeted, willing to buy customers to your site.
Create viral reports that can quickly spread around the internet. This method works best when you have an affiliate program. Allow others to brand your report in order to encourage its distribution.
A quality free report can be a powerful promoter when passed around the internet. This same phenomenon can occur when you submit your articles to article directories and popular newsletters.
Take advantage of your virtual real estate.
Take advantage of the different parts of your website. Don't let any of your web pages go to waste. You can do this by adding a link to another one of your web sites or pages on your thank-you or sales confirmation pages. If you have articles on your site, place links to related articles on the bottom of the page. The longer you keep a visitor at your web site, the more valuable they become.
It is very important to funnel traffic from within the multiple sites you may have.
Continually seek out other web sites to link to you. Now, we're not just talking about any kind of link here, but powerful, traffic-generating links from respected sites. Here are some quick suggestions:
Send a related web site an article that you have written and allow them to display it on their website with a resource box at the end. Offer to exchange articles and tell them about the benefits of doing so.
Allow multiple, related web sites to distribute your free e-book or report. All web masters are looking to add value to their web site, why not make it easy for them.
There are unlimited possibilities, be creative!
Online group participation can produce a no-cost stream of traffic and sales.
Get involved in email discussion lists, online groups and forums that are related to your target market. Becoming involved in discussions makes you very credible. Traffic from forums can produce a much higher sales conversion rate.
This method can produce quite a bit of sales for you just by helping others out. Not to mention, you'll learn a lot along the way.
Both Chris Lees & Alli Ross are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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