Whatever you do, customers are the most essential part of business. From mom-and-pop Web sites to multi-national corporations, there would be no businesses if it wasn't for customers. So, how can you get more customers?
Traffic Generation Techniques
Commonly known traffic generating techniques are:
- search engine optimization (SEO) and get traffic from search engines,
- place online ads all over the net,
- use offline advertisements, and
- use word of mouth.
The most frequently asked question is "Which method is the best way to get traffic?" The most frequent answer is "SEO gives you the best ROI because search engines send you ready-to-buy customers." When online marketers say that, people tend to put 100% of their efforts into SEO. That's not the best way to get traffic.
Variety
In order to get the most traffic, you need to use many different methods. Almost every commercial Web site uses SEO. What this means is that it will be an arms race when you optimize your site; therefore, there won't be significant differences in the results. Instead of focusing on one only method, try out many different techniques. Even though you may make only a little improvement using one marketing method, the combined improvements from all of your marketing methods will be significant.
Widen the View
Most people simply mimic what their competitors do. If you want to beat your competitors, you need to do something others do not. This doesn't mean you have to re-invent the wheel; you just need to look into totally irrelevant industries, say the movie theater industry, and find a technique they use that is not being used by your competitors. This might seem odd, but you never know how well a looks-totally-irrelevant technique might perform on your Web site until you try it. In fact, the fewer competitors who use the same technique, the bigger your chance of getting ahead. So, when you find a different technique, try it first. Then, based on the conversion rate, decide what to do from there.
© October, 2009