| The Science Of
Alternative Traffic Generation |
If you don't
maintain a presence on the Internet, whether
your business is online or off, competition will
devour you. Because the marketplace has become
so hyper competitive and more sophisticated,
access to information as vast and as fast as the
web is all the more reason to market your
products and services in cyberspace.
Unlike phone
numbers (or directories that list them in
alphabetical order), web site URLs are found
mainly through keywords (search engines), links,
offline marketing, and referrals. Therefore,
searching for your site will be much more
efficient if your company or product is
positioned well -- in the mind and not just on
search engines.
Since the
Internet is fast becoming a medium of equal
stature to the TV and radio, a company not
present on the web can no longer be considered
as just plain old-fashioned. It will become easy
prey to its competition and, more significant,
to the negative perception of the marketplace
that the product or service is also not up to
par.
It's Not The
Size That Counts
One of the
biggest advantages of being on the web is the
fact that the small or medium-sized company can
look just as good (and be as effective if not
profitable) as the larger ones. An Internet
business is more versatile and can often
personalize its offers. Every indicator of how
the future will be points to a much greater
demand for personalized services.
The Internet
offers the ability to closely tailor products
and services to exactly what one wants and
needs. Consequently, it is safe to conclude that
the future of the Internet lies in personalized
services supplied by small companies and
individuals.
While they lack
advertising budgets similar to those from the
big guns, smaller-sized entrepreneurs can still
obtain huge amounts of traffic through more
economical means of promotion. These are not
restricted to banners and search engines either.
They comprise many processes that should be
included in one's portfolio of online marketing
efforts.
There are emails
(or, more specifically, signature files),
specialized directories, topic-specific indices,
Intranets, strategic marketing alliances, links
on non-competing web sites, buttons, discussion
groups, classified ad sites (both free and
paid), "opt-in" mailing lists,
reciprocal links, newsgroups, online
conferences, Internet chats, community-based
sites, and specialized online discussion forums
-- all of which can help market a company
effectively online.
Think Link
Look at it this
way: The greatest rule in marketing success
often taught in the academic world is
"location, location, location." In
cyberspace, that rule applies even more. In
other words, your site must be located in as
many places as possible and it must be as easily
accessible.
Thus, get others
to link to you. How do you do that? Well, to
cover such techniques within the scope of this
article would be impossible (that's what our
private web site is for!) ... but let me share
one of them with you that has been tremendously
successful for me.
If your site
offers freebies (especially free information,
such as articles, reports, e-zines, books,
software, and so on) or a special incentive of
some kind on a product or service you sell, use
the "tradeoff" technique and ask for a
link to your site in return. If you offer
something of value, not only will people feel
the need to reciprocate but also merely asking
helps to elevate that value in the mind of the
prospect.
In addition to
freebies and special offers, you can also
provide tools as a great way to get linked. Also
known as "interactive" traffic
generators, some examples of tools include
games, quizzes, surveys, polls, form mailers,
referral functions, videos, search functions,
mini-directories, contests, article archives,
and greeting cards. There are also reminder
services (such as http://www.constantcontact.com),
message boards (such as http://www.insidetheweb.com),
and chat rooms (such as http://www.talkcity.com
and http://www.beseen.com).
Other
interactive traffic generators are often
referred to as "plug-ins," since they
help visitors to experience your site rather
than just view it. But server side traffic
plug-ins in particular are better since there is
no need for a program to enable that experience.
In other words, these plug-ins actually work on
the site itself and not on the visitor's
computer that may not have the necessary
software in the first place -- which is why I
have a penchant for CGI or ASP instead of Java.
If you want to
add more interactivity to your site, there are
many scripts available that you can use -- and
many of them are free. Some great traffic
"plug-in" script sites are:
For you
Javascript lovers out there, there's also:
Overlooked
Traffic Generation Tools
But one of the
simplest interactive traffic generators that is
often overlooked is the process of delivering
pages of consistently updated information -- in
short, fresh content. It can be as simple as
changing the content of your site to reflect
current events and issues, continually adding
new articles and special reports, or posting
past newsletter issues in a special archive.
The element of
scarcity is also a great way to generate an
abundant quantity of visitors, such as by
offering time-sensitive or password-protected
information. In the case of the latter, people
who wish to view the "secret"
information will have to apply for it. For
example, if you offer a free report, don't make
it accessible directly to visitors. Have a form
on your site that visitors need to fill out in
order to gain access.
Beyond content,
offline traffic generation is just as important.
And the first rule in doing so effectively is to
specialize. The most common mistake newcomers to
any field of business make is to think that by
expanding their portfolio they will
"secure" more business, and nothing
can be further from the truth. Specializing and
narrowing one's focus as much as possible will
paradoxically increase the likelihood of getting
more hits let alone business.
Specialization
is in itself a fundamental marketing process.
It's amazingly effective in creating top-of-mind
awareness among a target market. For instance,
an accountant specializing in car dealerships
will get more traffic than a general accountant
will. An online clothing store specializing in
babies and mothers-to-be will get more business
than a typical clothing store will. A
photographer specializing in weddings will get
more hits than a regular photographer will.
Specialization
is often referred to as "niche"
marketing. As more and more businesses get
started (as well as more and more web sites
populate cyberspace), the less time, energy, and
money people will have to spend in making
choices for those with whom they will choose to
do business. Therefore, have your site focused
on a niche, a specific theme, or a particular
concept. Think of a laser, which is basically a
beam of highly concentrated light. You want to
focus like a laser and thus burn your site into
visitors' minds.
Nevertheless,
here's the bottom-line: While you can (and
should) use them, never rely solely on search
engines and banners for generating traffic. If
you do, your competition will always be a step
ahead.
Originally
published in IMC's Internet Marketing
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