Generating Website Traffic – Consistent, Quality Content

Getting traffic to your new website is one of the main obstacles beginners face. Although there is an abundance of information available to us on SEO, Google ranking, keywords and more, we still find it hard to sort through all the information to find the right answer.  The point we seem to miss is that the right answer is not just one quick fix but more a series of steps that need to be taken on a regular basis to build a steady stream of visitors to our new site.

In this series, ‘Generating Website Traffic’, we will explore the many ways you can get more visitors to your new website and keep them coming back.  I will not be writing about third party programs, quick traffic generators or fancy website content tools in this series since much of that software is just hype and will do little more than part you and your hard earned money. Instead, I will write on the proven methods that are both free and easy.

In this segment we will discuss what I believe to be the number one traffic generator and audience magnet; Content!  Yes, it has been said over and over again that Content is King.  But, not just any content will do.  Gone are the days of keyword stuffing and hidden text.  Both readers and robots are more knowledgeable these days and expect consistent and quality content when they visit a website.  The depth and variety of the content is what will get the visitors there, make them want to stay awhile and, if you are really lucky, talk about it when they leave.

So let’s talk about some of the ways you can add and improve your website content and attract more visitors.

Articles

This is a great way to relay valuable information to your visitors on the products or services you provide. You can be as brief or as detailed as you want depending on the subject matter and can utilize the text to gently guide your visitor to other areas of your website. I suggest adding at least 3 articles for your website weekly on a variety of subjects related to your site. That’s well over 1000 articles in a year! How’s that for content? If writing 3 articles a week seems overwhelming, you can try writing 1 or 2 to start and fill in with ‘borrowed’ content. You can find an abundance of well-written articles on hundreds of subjects at EZineArticles.com. This is just one of many articles submission/sharing sites that allow you to utilize their content on your website. For example, if you have a website that sells baby monitors, you can go to EZine Articles and search for articles related to baby monitors. I guarantee you will find at least 10 (usually many more) well written articles on the subject. Then, by following their Terms Of Service you simply cut and paste the article into your site and you have some great content in a fraction of the time. I do not suggest utilizing ‘borrowed’ content as the rule. Use it sparingly throughout your sites as an add-on to your own content. The more unique your content is, the more likely your visitor is to stay once they find it.

Video

This is one of the hottest content items you can have on your site. Visitors love video! It provides instant gratification and interaction. All they have to do is push that play button and watch. What could be simpler? You can add your own videos (perhaps tutorials) or find third-party videos for your site in numerous places on the web. A short list for newbies would be YouTube, Vimeo, Google Video and eHow. Each of these video sharing sites offer video content that you can embed within your site. The subjects are endless and you are sure to find something that suits your website.

Tutorials

Another great way to offer your visitors quality content is through Tutorials. No matter who you are, at some point everyone is going to search the web for a How-To item r tutorial of some type. If you offer this content on your site regularly you will give your visitors a reason to stop back often. There are as many ways to offer tutorials. You can write step-by-step text instructions for using your product, a video tutorial on a software installation, or quick overview on how to use an online service. Any tutorial that you feel would both engage and assist your visitor is always an added value item and will keep them on your site longer.

Product Reviews

This is another great way to keep your visitors coming back. Especially if you offer physical products on your site. Product Reviews can help your visitors understand your product line better and assist in the sales process. If your site is more informational, like this one, you can offer reviews on products or services you believe may prove useful to your key audience or on items they frequently ask questions about. I do suggest that if you are going to add reviews to your site that you offer them only on products or services you have actually purchased and used personally. It is much easier to write on a subject when you have first hand knowledge and you don’t want to have to deal with the backlash if you gave a product a rave review without first trying it and then found out later from your audience that they all had a horrible experience with it. You will surely loose all credibility with your visitors in that scenario.

Links

People love to find links to useful information…so feed their need to click. If you are writing an article or preparing a product review, be sure to include links to the products or services you are writing about. It gives the reader easy access to the items and saves them the time of having to search for it themselves. Another great way to add links to your site is with a TOOLBOX or favorite links page. Here you can centralize all of your most valued links and give your visitors a resource area that they can revisit regularly. Be sure to keeps your links fresh and check regularly for broken links on your site. I offer a free link checker tool in the TOOLBOX on this site. It is easy to you and will save your visitors the dreaded dead link frustration.

Newsletters

Newsletters are a great way to get your content out after the visitor has left your site. Offering a weekly or monthly newsletter gives you the opportunity to reach your visitors more often and also to remind them of the products or services you offer. If you don’t offer a newsletter at this time then you may want to give it some thought. It is a great way offer coupons and ‘unadvertised specials’, notify customers of updates, share tips and insider tricks, and just continuously engage your visitors. Your newsletters do not need to be lengthy. You could offer a simple quick tip or a brief synopsis of a review you have on your site with a link back to your site that states, “Read More Here”. If you are going to offer a newsletter to your visitors keep it consistent but not overwhelming. You want to remind them you exist without annoying them with endless items in their inbox.

So here you have just a few ideas for adding consistent and quality website content that will attract and engage your visitors and bring more traffic to your website.

In the next segment in this series, The Power of Inbound Links, we address the value of Inbound Links and the part they play in generating traffic to your new website.  Make sure to also read Viral Marketing Techniques to learn even more ways to bring valuable traffic to your site!

To Your Success!

ps. If you have some great content ideas, please leave a comment and tell us about it.
pps. If you enjoyed this article, please tweet it by clicking the TWEET button below.