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5 Proven Internet Marketing Methods That Generate Targeted Website Traffic
Anyone who’s running any kind of online business should learn the basics of Internet marketing. A good product or service is important, but your success relies on targeted website traffic. Unless you bring enough visitors to your landing pages, there won’t be any sales for you to profit on. This article describes 5 proven methods for generating targeted traffic for your website or blog.
Search Engine Optimization
To ensure success for your business, you don’t want random people visiting your pages. You are looking for potential buyers and customers who are interested in your particular niche, because they are more likely to convert into revenue.
Website traffic that originates on search engines meets these conditions perfectly. Internet users who input search queries into Google, Bing or Yahoo are already looking your products or services and the goal of successful Internet marketing is to make sure that they end up on your website.
Search engine optimization helps you rank higher for the specific keywords that are connected to your business. It consists of on-page and off-page SEO methods. The former involves making sure your site content mentions strategic keywords, and the latter is focused on creating backlinks from other websites.
It’s useful to know that SEO is constantly evolving, trying to adapt for the changing algorithms implemented by search engines. As a result, there is no magic secret that will help rank your website at the top until the end of time. The only way to keep that organic traffic flowing is to be ahead of your competition and not rely on one method too much.
Content Marketing
Before Google’s algorithm change known as the Panda update, article marketing used to be one of the most effective off-page SEO techniques. Nowadays, the idea of publishing huge amounts of low quality content and linking them to your pages in hopes of improving your search engine rankings is considered futile.
Content marketing, on the other hand, is being rediscovered as a way to generate targeted website traffic. By placing quality content on sites that are popular in your niche, you can attract potential customers directly from the page where you published your content.
The true challenge is to find the right place for it. A common method of content marketing involves guest posting on popular blogs. It works even better if you can get your business mentioned in a news publication.
You can also try pitching your website on forums that are related to your niche. Most of them don’t allow promoting directly in posts, but you can often include links in your signature. Whichever method you choose, avoid publishing your content to article directories and content mills, as they are no longer viable for Internet marketing.
PPC Ads
Pay per click advertising only charges you for the times when Internet users actually click on your website link. PPC ads are expensive and may be difficult to manage effectively for beginners, but the payoff is huge if you can get people to purchase your products or services through this method. They have advanced demographics features that will allow you to target your potential customers. Unfortunately, many Internet marketers fail to use the full potential of this opportunity.
PPC ads require that you spend a lot of time on preparing your campaign, and it shouldn’t be limited to managing the advertisements themselves. For this method to succeed, your website has to have a high conversion rate. Your sales will have to make up for the money spent on every click.
Google AdWords is the most popular platform for launching your PPC ads. It has the widest pool of potential buyers and various customization features. As you create your first AdWords campaign, you have to spend a lot of time on changing the keywords, budget and geotargeting data to only buy the best website traffic.
Social Media
Another great way to connect with your existing and potential buyers is social media. Returning visitors are probably the most important component of website traffic, and there’s no better way to build customer loyalty than social media marketing.
Don’t follow in the footsteps of clueless businesses who use Facebook and Twitter to post one-sided announcements. Instead, you should actively engage with your visitors, readers and fans. Ask questions, give answers, get the conversation going and use the information you receive to adjust your business strategy.
According to most Internet marketing gurus, you also shouldn’t get too caught up in every remotely popular social network out there. It’s best to maintain an active presence on one site than spread out inactive profiles between dozens of them.
Depending on the particular niche your business is involved in, you will have different kinds of people expecting to connect with you on different kinds of websites. If your type of business transfers well into the format of a site like Pinterest and your products are often shared there by site users, you should try to maintain an active online presence there. Otherwise, feel free to stick to whatever social media netoworks you prefer yourself.
Email Marketing
Internet marketing has evolved a lot in the recent years, but not in every respect. Email messages have been an effective marketing platform for decades and remain that way to this day.
Email marketing has many advantages. A large list of email addresses can help you notify all your customers about a new product launch as soon as they will turn on their computer. Besides, sending out weekly newsletters provide the opportunity to earn from income sources other than your main business.
Building a mailing list should be one of your top priorities if you want to see your business grow. The various Internet marketing methods mentioned in this article may be able to bring you website traffic overnight, but long-term success can only be achieved by building a relationship with your customers. Email marketing works perfectly for that purpose.