Extra Paragraphs Take two or three of these extra paragraphs and combine them with one opening and one closing paragraph. Choose a title from the title file, make a few quick edits, and you'll have your own unique article that you can send your list, post on your blog or submit to article directories. Some of these can also be used as quick tips that you can send out a few times a month. ------------------------------------ Despite the widespread knowledge on search engine optimization, there are still those who are unaware on the value of getting high quality traffic for their respective websites. To increase web traffic, targeted or not, is a very crucial consideration one has to think over when planning to improve a website. ------------------------------------ Although high traffic is no doubt an indication of strong web visibility, targeted traffic will give you higher value since this will be comprised of web visitors that are specifically interested with what your website really offers. These are not just web surfers who may simply have been lost amidst the bulk of data on the web. Targeted traffic may involve surfers who specifically clicked on one of your ads, or links in an email, that clearly states what your site offers or what your site is all about. ------------------------------------ But that is not the end of web-based business tactics. There are other numerous factors involved when someone browses the web to possibly do business with you. Unlike with specialty stores wherein people are somewhat already forewarned as to what to find in them, websites are introduced to web surfers through search engine crawlers. ------------------------------------ Search Engine Optimization. This is one of the initial steps that can still be refined by really working on targeting your niche. Whenever you optimize your web site on search engines, you decide on what keywords you would like to get optimized for. ------------------------------------ The freedom to express your message via compelling articles gives you the chance to capture readers' attention through your writing skill coupled with some interesting images that are sure to spice up interests. When writing blog's, you have the option to directly pitch your website to your readers (seldom done) or do it in subtle, less obvious ways. ------------------------------------ When somebody types in words or phrases on search engines to look for something in particular, these crawlers search through massive web information and figure out the best websites that may suit for the words or phrases that you typed. ------------------------------------ Alt tags also replace the images whenever a website reader's computer is not able to load the website graphic. Alt tags are abused whenever they are stuffed with keywords that are not really appropriate to describe the images – but which are used just so the search engine crawlers recognize the availability of the words on your pages (which partially reflects on the relevance of your page to a search). So you might get targeted traffic because of the presence of specific keywords on your page, but then your website quality may not really deserve it. ------------------------------------ As an Internet marketer, your very first investment must be on the right keywords and key phrases. You see, they help you in getting the higher rankings in the popular search engines. It happens because the search engine spiders recognize the text or words used. As a tip, you should first research about the popular keywords that the public mostly search for. This will then give you an idea as to the niche that you must be working on. ------------------------------------ Now, when you have a pretty good ranking, people will find it easy to access the information that you provide. The downside of which is that it takes time for you to get the ranking you want. Thus, better exert time and effort to be able to achieve this. You can even hire the experts in SEO to ensure that you get in the rankings. ------------------------------------ Create a video and then post it on the free video sharing sites on the Internet. This can only take a couple of hours and when especially relevant, you can be assured that the generation of traffic can become instantaneous. But, be very sure that you include the link to your site at the beginning and the end of your posted video. ------------------------------------ Blog's. If you have a passion for writing and do not mind sharing your ideas on the web, this should not be very hard for you. Blog's are among the most effective ways to get "really" targeted traffic. ------------------------------------ But yes, the web is such an avenue for great opportunities that even free targeted traffic can possibly be obtained. But that does not come without efforts from your end. Here are some tips to building free targeted traffic. ------------------------------------ Although PPC can guarantee an instant traffic, but it can also leave you spending a lot if you don't know well how to set up your campaign. Every click can actually cost from a few cents up to some dollars. Therefore, you have to learn how to turn your PPC venture into a profitable one. ------------------------------------ Search Engine Optimization - One of the best ways to be able to target traffic for free is by means of search engine optimization. This happens as you optimize your site through using the specific keywords and key phrases so your website ranks in the search engines. ------------------------------------ You may post ads on your blog, insert links on some key phrases – all of which will lead targeted traffic to your site when clicked. There are numerous blog sites on the web that you can tap all for free. ------------------------------------ Emailing lists are also other sources of targeted traffic. Many emailing service companies offer a list of emails of individuals who are interested in a specific industry. An effective email campaign has a potential of generating endless targeted traffic to your site especially that the emails can easily be forwarded to other email addresses which were not originally part of your list. The email may contain the ad, a link, or direct messages that encourage its readers to visit your website. ------------------------------------ Link Exchange. You are also free to browse the web for link exchange and invite web sites with similar or related industries as yours. Make sure to provide clear link details (an interesting title, clear description, and accurate URL) to draw targeted traffic from websites which visitors may also be highly interested on your web site content. Anyone who visits a web site and cares to navigate through its pages, so that he reaches its resources or links page and clicks on your displayed link – is a very promising portion of your targeted web site traffic. ------------------------------------ A constant traffic rate is very essential in any form of online business. You don't simply build a website and just sit all day waiting for a miracle to happen. Your job doesn't end there. It takes your time and effort to generate the website traffic that is of ultimate importance to your business and its popularity. ------------------------------------ Selecting the right keywords will determine how targeted your traffic can be. General keywords pose great competition and may attract web surfers that are not really after a purchase. Specific keywords (such as "hire HTML programmer" instead of "HTML programmer") delivers a clearer message and will likely get you visits that are more targeted – and hence more likely to do business with you. ------------------------------------ So, you must make it your concern to generate traffic to your website. It is by becoming visible that you can actually tell the world you have a business that exists. However, you must not think that targeting traffic for your website is a daunting task. In reality, it is fairly easy and simple. You just need to know what to do. ------------------------------------ Write articles and submit them to the free traffic directories. Yes, you got that right. The submission of articles doesn't necessarily need to be crucial and expensive, so to speak. If you start writing now and submitting your articles right after, you can expect to get traffic in the next few days. Of course, they first have to be approved by the directories administrators. Just be very sure that you are nonetheless writing something that is very valuable and informative. And by the way, don't submit your articles to only one directory. There are actually a lot of them! ------------------------------------ Meta tags are not visible to web viewers. However, its use is highly important in giving directions to search engines whenever a search is performed (i.e. they classify your website as relevant to a search if, partially, your site's meta tags contain the search words). Abuse of meta tags happen when they are being stuffed with keywords all for the sake of SEO, instead of featuring quality content that realistically describes what the web page is about. So be careful not to overstuff your meta tags with keywords. Quality should always be first. ------------------------------------ Pay Per Click - Also known as PPC, this method charges the advertiser a typical amount whenever the ad has been clicked on. The results are nonetheless quick most especially when the sales are good. ------------------------------------ Due to the financial crisis that many individuals are facing nowadays, e-commerce is an ultimate resource of many. Nearly everyone is looking for ways on how to earn extra cash apart from the meager salary that they are getting from their regular jobs. In fact, the competition online is really tough so it just makes sense that you make it a point to maximize your methods of promoting your own business. ------------------------------------ Articles Submission - This is somehow being overlooked by some but is a very effective means to get more traffic. Unique, intelligent, and informative articles are necessary. Submit them to different article directories. You should play well with the essential keywords and key phrases that are related to your niche so that people can easily find them. Be sure to include a resource box that directs to your own website. ------------------------------------ Alt Image Tag Stuffing. This is similar to meta tag stuffing, only that the practice is being done to the alt image tags. All images on a web page can have alt tag counterparts. If your computer can view the images, you will likely not see them except if you hover over the images or try to copy the entire website content and paste them, say, on a Word or Notepad document (and of course if you view the page source). ------------------------------------ Join in the Free Directories - When you promote your website, that means it will be getting more traffic. But if you don't have the budget for that you can always go for the free website directories. When word has been spread about it, then, chances are always people will get to know about your business and eventually patronize it. ------------------------------------ So, what are the ways on how you can achieve targeted traffic? How will you let the world know that they should check out your site? How will you convince them that you have what they need? How will it be possible that they will consider your site truly worth visiting? ------------------------------------ Search Engine Optimization - Better known as SEO, this process is undertaken to make a website rank high in the commonly used search engines. Particular keywords and key phrases are integrated into the high quality content articles. Say for example, you are into the car accessories business in California so you can use the keywords such as "California car accessories" or "car accessories in California". ------------------------------------ RSS Feeds - Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication or better known as RSS feeds is known to generate more traffic. So, make a brief and concise summary of your website for people to know. ------------------------------------ For SEO purposes, the website is created to be search engine friendly. Unless you get high rankings in these search engine spiders, you can't really say that your efforts are meaningful. For the advantage, it is usually for free but as for its drawback, you have to wait for a while to be able to see the guaranteed results. ------------------------------------ But there may be some amateurs out there whose knowledge of search engine optimization is still unripe and may unknowingly commit these mistakes. So here are some of the techniques that can get you banned when you are only doing your best to rise on top of search engines. ------------------------------------ Traffic that goes to the expired domain names are redirected to your website by traffic banks (which now own the domains). Of course, to make sure that the traffic is really targeted, your website is always associated to a domain name that clearly reflects your industry. ------------------------------------ Then there is affiliation. Targeted traffic providers often have multiple vendors or publishers who work independently to bring traffic, leads, and sales to websites that will be assigned to them. The independent publishers may use different modes (including the methods previously stated) such as blog's, text and image ads, etc. You normally would have to pay for a specific commission rate for every number of traffic or leads that a publisher is able to direct to your website. ------------------------------------ Advertising. This will get you the most targeted traffic because of a clear message that you provide on the web. When doing ads, there can be no mistake in trying to communicate to a web surfer what your web site is all about (unless you are not transparent enough in conveying your message). When your ad clearly states that you are selling software (let's not include the adjectives), anybody who clicks on the ad is likely to be someone really interested in buying software – as opposed to when your ad only states software which can project various messages. ------------------------------------ Some traffic banks also buy expired domain names. Add to this the possible misspellings of a particular domain which can generate substantial traffic due to the marketing efforts of the original website owner. This is why wise website owners often purchase variations of his original domain name (ex. aside from traffic.com, he may also opt to buy trafic.com, traffic.net, traffic.org, etc.) – to make sure that all traffic that intends to go to the site really lands on the site. ------------------------------------ Now, as you have already determined the keywords and phrases to use, your second step is to come up with the keyword-rich content to be posted in your website. Be sure that whatever articles you compose are reader-friendly. Remember not to stuff your articles with too much keyword or else the entire text may look like a spam and therefore not attractive anymore. Worse, your content articles may even get banned from the search engines. ------------------------------------ Social Media Networks - Facebook, Twitter, blog's, and so on are the common forms of social media there are these days. No wonder, they are growing fast. Moreover, they are the best and least expensive ways of targeting traffic. When you blog, be sure to make it informative. Come up with the latest details and events about your business. With Twitter and Facebook accounts, maximize your opportunities to advertise for free. ------------------------------------ Meta Tag Stuffing. Meta tags play a great role in making your website search engine optimized. When your meta tag contains keywords or key phrases that are specifically targeted by certain website surfers, then you have an advantage (of course this is not all that there is for being website visible). ------------------------------------ Forum Participation. This is also another way of getting targeted traffic at no cost. Simply visit forums that discuss topics related to the nature of your website. Participate either by posting your own questions or by answering existing forum inquiries. There may be instances when you can directly refer your website as part of your answers, or you may need to employ tactics to insert it as part of your main answers. ------------------------------------ Email Marketing. If the people are simply not reaching out, then make the first move by spreading the word on your web site via emails. Draft a compelling content that explains what your web site is all about, how a visit to it can be truly worthwhile, and, overall, what the benefits that await each of your visitors are. Let them subscribe to your emails so you can always update them on current developments and so you can guarantee a continued stream of interested visits to your site. ------------------------------------ Traffic banks have access to a massive number of websites where banners, text ads, widgets, etc. can easily be posted. Clicks to these forms of advertisements can be programmed to get redirected to your own website or web pages. Websites by traffic banks may pertain to different industries and, normally, have already established search engine authority which makes them easily accessible on the web. Traffic banks will naturally associate your own website to their websites with a nature similar to yours. Hence, the traffic you get is surely targeted. ------------------------------------ Social Networking - Among the popularly known social networking websites these days include Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the likes. Undoubtedly, they are able to gather millions of visitors on a daily basis. If you join one of them and start with your promotional campaign, you will surely be able to attract more potential customers. ------------------------------------ They say that there is no such thing as free lunch. But come to think of it, some people may be wrong in saying that! In fact, as you read on, you will come to realize that there are a couple of tips that you can follow so that you can enjoy a significant amount of traffic to your website without any much fuss especially in terms of the finances. Do you want to find out now? Well, read on below! ------------------------------------ Article Marketing - This is one of the simplest methods to follow in order to drive traffic to the website. Firstly, you have to identify the topics that you will write about. Make sure that they are what people are looking for. As you have come up with the informative pieces of articles, you can now submit them to the article directories. As people come across your writings, they will surely be interested to click on the link you have provided. ------------------------------------ Pay-Per-Click Campaign. This combines the features of both SEO and web ads. In PPC campaigns, you create a text ad that is displayed by search engines only when the searched word or phrase includes or is exactly the same as the keywords or key phrases you bid for. ------------------------------------ This is particularly advantageous if you are greatly optimized in search engines since you will not need to bid highly for the keywords. As a result, you get to be displayed frequently for most related keywords; but you get only really quality traffic since clicks will only be made on your ad if the web site surfer is really interested on what your ad says (not because a link to your site was fed to him during one of his searches but that he was actually clueless as to whether your web site can really help him). ------------------------------------ The whole idea that is playing here is that you get to attract people to visit your website. The feedback they will provide will become an opportunity for you to gain more visitors. Hence, that means more traffic for your online portal. ------------------------------------ When a store gets no frequent visitors, it is an indication that something is wrong with the business. In the same manner, a website without an ideal traffic should be a cause for worry to an e-commerce business owner. Traffic refers to the number of visits to your websites by web surfers who may or may not be interested to whatever it is that you offer – products, services, information, entertainment, etc. ------------------------------------- Traffic partially determines the probability of profit just as the no. of people that enters a mall. When you do not have enough traffic, you do not have that much chance to showcase your business on the web – and hence you do not have that much chance to attract, to pitch, and finally to sell. Increasing web traffic is fundamental to the success of a business, especially to that of an e-commerce business. ------------------------------------ First of all, your main concern is to be able to provide your readers quality content on your pages. And with the lots of administrative and marketing duties on your hands, you can't take on another task, but, because you need to put your mind on achieving traffic and leads, you can outsource another person's services to further promote your marketing campaign. You can always hire ghostwriters for your website. ------------------------------------ Title Tag Stuffing. This is also similar to the first two unethical techniques mentioned above. The title of your website should reflect only what your website is really about. The title serves as your website identity. If you fake it through keywords that have nothing to do with your website content, if you make the keywords repetitive that the message makes almost no real sense, then it certainly is considered as black hat technique. ------------------------------------ As a result, they may display your website for certain search words or phrases even though the person who typed the said words or phrases was actually looking for something that is not really related to your website. When the person clicks on your website, you certainly get traffic. But will he stay and find your website really important for his search? This is where targeted traffic comes into place. ------------------------------------ There are different ways on how you will be able to target traffic to your website. Among them is article marketing, ensuring the proper set up of the HTML tags on your page, and then commenting on the blog's of others. For further explanation, read on below. ------------------------------------ Commenting on other's Blog's - Another technique to get more traffic is by means of commenting on other people's blog's. However, many people fail to realize its efficiency. By checking out the popular blog sites and leaving intellectual comments on any of the topics that you are familiar with, those who get to read your post will likely become interested to follow your link and learn more about you and what you know about a certain topic that concerns them. ------------------------------------ Article marketing is so far one of the tried and tested methods of earning targeted visitors toward your website. Most likely, people will key in some words that will address their problems and provide answers to their queries. Now, if your site is seen from among the rankings in the Google page, they will click on it and read. The more informative your page is, the more visitors you will get. Therefore, you must know which keywords are often searched by the public and be sure to write articles about them. ------------------------------------ The HTML Guideline - HTML or hyper text markup language may be a bit technical for others. But you see it matters that you input the proper title tags so that the search engines will automatically display the information that sums up what your website is all about. Also include the necessary keywords and phrases in the Meta keywords tags and Meta description. ------------------------------------ The complexity lies on the fact that these search engine crawlers are not humans. They will feed you with several information that are best for the words or phrases that you typed ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN STANDARD not yours. ------------------------------------ Alright, so you want to entice your visitors with the graphics and series of animations in the website. However, it doesn't guarantee a following. Not only will it take time to load but the crawlers will also find it difficult to navigate through the site. When the crawler gets trapped, chances are it can't anymore proceed to the other web pages. Not even when you have optimized the content in the site by using the right keywords but a hard-to-navigate website becomes a problem.