How to Get Targeted Traffic to Your Website

It doesn't matter if you get a gazillion visitors to your website, if they aren't buying, or getting them to do what you want them to do, what's the point? So what should you be doing? Try to get targeted web traffic. This means, in short, that you are focusing on getting the visitors who are really interested in what your website is all about to visit your site. Therefore, you'll be getting longer visits, more frequent visits, more referrals to your sites, more backlinks, and more sales.

...but it's well worth the effort and will translate to clicks and interest in your site!

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?

All the traffic in the world could leave you broke! Are your visitors just dropping by and leaving, or are they opening their wallets, if that is your goal? This is called buyer conversion. If you have a web store or goal in mind...

Target that niche that visitor, get better conversions, and more clicks

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?

Using external efforts to promote yourself

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

Here are some of the most ineffective marketing strategies:

• 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.

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With the dawn of YouTube, Blogs, Podcasts, MySpace and Social Bookmarking, it's extremely important to learn how to utilize these trends using your own words and persuasion.

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.

Article marketing is a great way to show your stuff. If you are a great writer and know a lot about what you are selling or doing, write an article about it. Readers view article authors as experts in what they are writing about, so do it well and you'll earn some trust and some traffic.

How Exactly does Article Marketing Make you Money?

It's one of the most targeted forms of traffic on the web. Here's an example: You're searching for new laptops online, and you're researching what the best laptop might be for travel. In your search, you come across an article about what features make for an excellent laptop for frequent travelers. The article is very informative, and you decide to click on the link at the bottom of the article, which directs you to an online store some of the laptops mentioned in the article. You find a deal on the laptop you want, and you buy it! That's targeted web traffic, and the author of the article provided you with some excellent information that helped you make an informed decision about your purchase.

Unless you were born with the knowledge of how to properly market yourself online and rise in the ranks on Google, you'll never know how to rise up in the search engine ranks unless you read the proper articles or books. Here are some highly recommended books that will help boost your rankings.

According to Wikipedia: "Social bookmarking is a method for Internet users to store, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web pages on the Internet with the help of metadata.

In a social bookmarking system, users save links to web pages that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, and can be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, shared only inside certain networks, or another combination of public and private domains. The allowed people can usually view these bookmarks chronologically, by category or tags, or via a search engine."

Social bookmarking and social networking websites work best when you make connections. Dropping a link then running out the door is going to do you no good. Try to limit your social bookmarking to just a few websites that you're very active in. Also, be sure to provide an accurate, detailed description if the site allows it to further increase your chances of search engines picking up on your submission (not to mention to entice readers).

Here are some of the most popular Social Bookmarking sites...

Had a good experience getting targeted traffic to your site? What has helped you? Share it with everyone and exchange tips here!