How to Get Targeted Traffic to Your Website

If you're thinking it's a lot of work to get targeted web traffic, you're right! You've probably heard a lot of places scream out that content is what will really get traffic...it's true. If you aren't up for some web work, you may want to find something else to do for a living, or hire someone to do it for you. Are you up for it?

If you're up for the task, there are some definite ways to increase your targeted web traffic. First off, try to think of your target audience. If you know what your site is about, you should know your target audience. Ask yourself these questions:

• Who are my visitors? There's nothing wrong with "lumping" your visitors into a certain group. You just have to provide them with something valuable!


• What sites will your readers be visiting frequently? These sites should be your target for having your link added.


• What are all of these people looking for?


• How do you fit into what these people are looking for?


• What else are these type of people buying?


• Is there a certain geographic location these buyers are located?


• Is the subject/product "hot" or newsworthy?


• Is the subject/product popular or in demand?

What do you mean external efforts? Well, anything outside of your website that promotes your website. Here are some of the most effective marketing tactics:

• banners on similar sites to your own or about your topic


• Directory submissions


• Article Marketing


• Adwords Marketing


• Niche Marketing

• Spamming MySpace


• Spamming forums


• Ineffective Adwords placements


• Email Spam


• Link Farms


• Irrelevant Reciprocal Links


• Bad Web Content


• Links to and from x-rated sites


• Aimless, random marketing


• Overuse or misleading advertising and Adwords


• Pop-up ads

If you think spamming is going to help you in some way, even a little, think of it like this: what major company that you know of started out spamming? Sure, you might get an unwanted email every now and then from Bed, Bath and Beyond, but these are usually targeted in some way. If you'd like to be where they are, don't spam!

To get the right audience to your website, you need to get very specific. There's a reason it's called niche marketing! For instance, there are thousands of companies that claim to increase your web traffic. The phrase "web traffic" is one of the most competitve search terms out there. However, if you dug a little deeper and became more specific in what your site was about, like "Overstock auctions web traffic," you're getting a little more specific. There's not much chance that you'll get much traffic with a line on your site or a text ad like "web traffic," but the second phrase might be a winner.

The deeper you dig for more specific terms, and the more you stick to one relevant subject or topic, the better your chances are becoming relevant to the search engines. Here are some comparisons of some good search terms vs. bad...

BAD: wooden tables
GOOD: solid cherry dropleaf dining room tables

BAD: digital cameras
GOOD: refurbished Nikon Coolpix digital cameras

Incoming links are a major contributor in not only traffic, but your page rank as well. The more relevant sites that are linked to your site, the more weight your site has. A link like a forum signature does not hold as much weight as a link on MSN's home page. While forum signature traffic can be good and important, it's not as highly regarded in SEO.

Do you have good ethics?

In your efforts to get more backlinks to your site, you really have to be ethical and listen to your gut. Look for sites that really are relevant to your site and have great content that is useful. Be sure to scan the whole site to be sure they are not linking to sites that aren't reputable. If you're tempted to bite on a site that has a high page ranking but doesn't look all that appealing, remember this: search engines change every day. What's on the front page today could be on page 4,688 tomorrow. If you remain ethical, your site will gain exposure and page rank naturally.

What do other people use for getting targeted traffic? You can use social bookmarking, Adwords Listings, Blogs, and RSS Feeds. If you are going to set up a blog, make sure it sticks to one topic, and don't stray off, no matter how tempted you might be to write about your kid's report card.