Announcing PRWeb Webinar: Use PR to Grow Your Business - Increase Website Traffic

To learn how to use press releases successfully, I recommend you read the press release case studies on PRWeb's website.

Summary: PRWeb is hosting a free webinar teaching you how to use Online PR to grow your business. You can find out more and register by clicking here. The name of the Webinar is Small Business Marketing: Use PR to Grow Your Business.

PRWeb is one of the world's leading Press Release organizations. They serve press releases for Fortune 500 corporations as well as small companies. If you are trying to find additional methods you can use to increase site traffic, increase website awareness, grow web exposure, or grow sales their upcoming webinar, Small Business Marketing: Use PR to Grow Your Business, will be beneficial to you.

I have used Press Releases successfully in the past to grow traffic and grow website awareness.

PRWeb has a case study that discusses a real world example of using press releases to move up Google rankings. It is worth the time to read this case study to understand how a press release can greatly help your search rankings.

The webinar starts October 22nd. I hope you enjoy it!

Guest Interview: Use Links to Increase Your Search Engine Traffic

Debra Mastaler and a great article from her blog "The Link Spiel".

Summary: Debra Mastaler helps companies increase their search engine traffic by showing them how to build their inbound links. She's so good at what she does that she's been referred to as the "Queen of Links". The name of her company is Alliance-Link. Today Debra was kind enough to answer a series of questions I sent to her in an email interview format. This interview will help you to understand how inbound links increase your search engine rank, and how to start building links for your website.

Ayo: Why is link building important?

Debra: Since all search engines use a form of link popularity in their ranking algorithms and links are traffic paths between web pages, having a number of quality links pointing to your site is important.

People click links to travel from one page and one website to the next so having links on websites frequented by your demographic makes a lot of sense. If you own condos in ski resort areas, it would make sense to have your link on sites that rent ski’s or snowmobiles. Likewise, it makes sense to have ski schools listed on yours. Placing your link on sites your visitors would find useful helps drive qualified traffic.

Search engines work on the same logic when they determine the relevance of a link and its anchor text for their algorithms. Links act as votes to a search engine, the more votes your site gets from quality, on topic web pages the more important the page becomes to a search engine. In order to rank well, build brand and drive qualified traffic you need a number of quality links pointing to your website.

Ayo: In summary, what are the key benefits of link building?

Debra: There are numerous benefits behind link building, you drive traffic, work to increase your influence with the search engines, build brand and increase your online exposure. Each plays an equal part in helping to market your business and increase you placement within the search engines.

Ayo: So, what you do as a link consultant?

Debra: I have three primary services I offer as a link building consultant, first, I develop online marketing campaigns designed to attract or pursue inbound links to a specific website. Second, I offer link building training to individuals and firms looking to learn how to secure inbound links and third, I offer long or short term consulting to business owners who want to keep a link builder on retainer for special projects or to train new employees.

Ayo: Are there some resources readers can use to start building links for their website?

Debra: There are many many places and resources, but here’s a handful to get your started:

Resource Name	Resource URL
Blogs	These blogs primarily discuss link building.
The Link Spiel	http://thelinkspiel.blogspot.com
SEO Book Link Building Training (Highly Recommended)	http://training.seobook.com/
Justilien Gaspard	http://www.justilien.com
Eric Ward	http://www.ericward.com/articles/
Jim Boykin	http://www.jimboykin.com
Wiep Knol	http://wiep.net/
Roger Montti	http://www.martinibuster.net/
Tools
Link Hounds	http://www.linkhounds.com
Articles
11 Experts On Link Development	http://www.sugarrae.com/11-experts-on-link-development-speak/
101 Link Building Tips	http://www.seobook.com/archives/001792.shtml
Link Building Articles	http://www.semmys.org/category/link-building/

When Fishing for Customers Use Educational Information as Your Lure

Just like the fisherman, a successful website must have a lure to attract customers.

Summary: No fisherman lowers an empty hook into the water; if he does, the fish take no interest in the hook and he catches nothing. But the fisherman puts a lure on the line and it attracts fish to the hook. Likewise you, to attract customers to your website can’t rely on product pricing and offer alone. You must first attract customers to your website using unbiased, informative information as your lure.

The #1 Internet Shopping Activity is Research

74% of men and women research on the internet before buying a product or service (BIGResearch, 2007). By offering useful, un-biased information on your website, you can help these 3 out of 4 of men and women accomplish their objective using your website.

Think about what type of research your potential customers might be doing. Remember, customers are interested in more than just researching product prices. Some customers aren’t even sure what to buy. They need to know what to buy, before they can even start looking at prices. Can you help the customer decide what to buy? (See Item #4 in this list)

Educational Information is Your Lure

Consider this example. A certain tourist wants to buy a digital camera for his vacation. However, seeing so many options he is not sure what to buy. So he goes to Google and does a search for ‘good vacation cameras’. He finds a website that tells him which cameras are good for vacations because of a long battery life and support for different countries’ power outlets. Happy with their prices, he buys a camera from this website.

Do you see the point? The website that told the tourist which digital camera is better for a vacation lured the customer in, and then hooked him with a good price. All the camera websites that merely list their digital cameras, with no information about using these cameras on vacation, were not even considered. If you want to increase site traffic, you need to provide information, such as articles, to answer the variety of research questions they might have. (See #10 in this list)

Conclusion: Educational Information is Your Lure, Price and Offer is Your Hook

To attract customers provide educational information that goes beyond merely listing the products you sell. Unbiased, informative articles and advice will attract website traffic. However, to get the sale you must have a compelling price and offer. Having a great price and offer but no educational information is like having a hook with no lure. Having educational information without a great price and offer is like having a lure with no hook. To increase site traffic you must give the customer information beyond just a product list with prices.


References

BigResearch.com. 2005. "More Consumers Researching Online Before Buying in the Store"

[Video] Site Review: Increase Site Traffic and Sales By Using a Loss Leader on a Discount Website

Summary: How can a discount website increase web site traffic and generate buzz rapidly? Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, perfected the art of using unheard of discounts (a loss leader) to generate foot traffic and buzz. In this video review, we discuss how a discount website can leverage this strategy to increase sales.

Increase Site Traffic By Giving Customers a Reason to Visit Your Site Frequently

Midtownlunch.com generates $1,000 per month merely from regularly posting experiences at eateries in Midtown Manhattan.

Summary: To increase site traffic, post entertaining or educational content (whichever is appropriate for your business) to your website at least once per week.

If a customer visits your site once, do they have a reason to ever come back again? Take a good look at your website and ask yourself that question.

Most salesmen will tell you that you almost never win a customer on the first phone call. A good sales person builds a relationship with his customer. Your website must do the same.

Building relationships takes time. At first, a visitor to your website is going to eye you with skepticism, especially if they've never heard of you and just chanced upon your website through a Google search. Chances are, most customers will look at two pages on your site and then leave.

However, if you can give the user a reason to come back to your website then perhaps on their 2nd, 3rd, or 49th visit they will buy from you. This long term engagement is critical to increasing your site conversion rate.

How do you keep customers coming back? The best way is through entertaining or educational content. Try some of the following:

1. Put a blog on your website and teach a lesson in each post.
2. Post training videos on how to use your products or services.
3. Conduct your own audio talk show, and place the MP3 files on your website.

Any of these ideas will get users to regularly return to your website, and eventually these users will become paying customers.

The key though is regularity. You need to post new content at least weekly, but at best daily. The truth is you can never post too much, but of course time is limited. So put something new on your website at least every week and stick with it for at least six months. If you do so, you will see an increase in site traffic.