Website Traffic - Get Your Site Seen

admin · Joined: 01 Jan 2003 Location: Southern California

Website Traffic - Get Your Site Seen
by Mike Leinweber

Driving website traffic is considered the holy grail to thousands of Internet entrepreneurs. By counting the number of traffic hits to a website one can tell how healthy - and successful - the site really is. Below are a few suggestions on how the pros do it.

When a group of people visit your site on a regular basis, there are two positive effects: you get more subscribers and your ads get more clicks. As your site becomes more popular, the attention will draw more visitors. This leads to more subscribers and more ad clicks, which in turn increases the buzz about your blog. Soon, your nascent website has become a business!

So exactly how does one increase web traffic? If it was as simple as jazzing up the site with flashy graphics, or blasting out the URL in emails, just about anyone could rake it in. But eye candy and spam are the signature methods of unscrupulous web operators. Here are three questions every site operator should ask him/herself about driving website traffic.

What is it that attracts a person to check out a particular site in the time he or she spends online in a day? After all, one cannot visit all the websites in a day. Utility. This is where personal blogs and retail sites take a backseat because they are not of much relevance to most web surfers.

Entertainment. Consider how intriguing your site really is. This factor is even more important than usability. People are so stressed they will go out of their way to run by your site for a good laugh or an amusing anecdote during their hectic day. Particularly at work, people will welcome the entertaining diversion of a really good website for a few moments in the middle of working. Getting your website address passed around the office is a surefire way to get website traffic.

Be competent, if you don't know what you are doing people will notice. Most people don't really plan out their lives that well, and amateur site operators work similarly with their websites. If you want the twenty-something crowd on your site then it needs to have content and links relevant to that age group, as they expect this much from a professional Web 2.0 site. Get rid of flashy graphics and corny backgrounds.

Teenagers are more concerned with outward appearances rather than loyalty. In order win over this audience, focus on entertainment value. Teens are very much into pop culture, social networking, and other trends; so be sure to update your site often.

Last, for those that prefer the Web 1.0 era sites, mature crowds who use your site and find it plain, simple, and easy to navigate will keep coming back. Older users tend to complain to site operators about broken links, while younger users look elsewhere for their information. Having a professional-looking site, which includes relevant content and frequent updates, will drive new website traffic to you and help retain your customer base.

Driving website traffic is of utmost importance to Internet entrepreneurs. A count of the traffic hits on a website is a good indicator of the appeal of the site. Answering the following questions will help you increase web traffic. What will make this site become a 'favorite' part of users' daily surfing rounds? Is it interesting? People will stop whatever they're doing for a good laugh or something interesting. Are you expert in the subject? Does it appeal to the target audience? To win over teens, focus on trends such as pop culture and social networking. For the older crowd, keeping things simple will keep them loyal.