How do I get more traffic to my website?

It certainly ranks in the top 3 questions that I regularly get asked by small business owners (along with How do I get a page 1 Google listing and How do I get a better conversion rate) and is in my opinion the most important one of all…after all without traffic to your website (for newbies, that’s people visiting your website) nothing else will happen…no prospects, no clients, no sales

“More Traffic, More Traffic, More Traffic”

Because of this I find myself spending a disproportionate amount of time helping and advising both small business owners and people in general wherever I go on the topic of more traffic…whether that be on a blog, in person, in a forum or on a webinar…and the funny thing is, it’s almost always followed up by this comment…

I’m so confused!

Which is pretty understandable really, as there is so much information available on the web for this particular topic that you could quite easily spend your entire life reading it all…and you’d be no further forward with little or no more traffic and yes, almost certainly dead

So how do we go about changing this life long quest for more traffic?

Well for 6 months now I’ve been meaning to start a simple training series on “How to get more traffic to your company’s website” here on my blog…a place where I could point people to on a day to day basis and yep, I’m pleased to announce that today I’ve finally gotten round to starting it!

I’m going to show you one tip at a time how to get more traffic that is highly targeted traffic to your website, and I’ll be doing it with a twist…

“I’ll show you how I actually get more traffic to my network of sites”

That’s right I won’t be regurgitating the same old crap that you find almost everywhere else on the web…you know, the kind of information that is punted around by people who profess to be experts, but wouldn’t know a backlink if it came up and bit them in the ass.

Everything I show you will be part and parcel of my traffic getting routine…that’s things that I have spent hundreds, even thousands of hours testing, tracking and tweaking…so you’ll be getting the very best information on building traffic for your website…but without the headaches, the time, the resources and of course the money

So how long will this free traffic training be?…

To be honest I don’t actually know…You see, I just spent around an hour listing the contents for “more traffic” tips series and I’m already at 107 tips…and that’s without anything new. I plan on doing a minimum of one post per week on my getting more traffic tips, so it’s going to be an epic production that may never end!..Unless of course I feel like wrapping it up early

So with that said, the first instalment will be posted in the next couple of days. Now there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t get more traffic to you small business website!

Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog so that you don’t miss out on an episode…oh and if you haven’t already you can catch my top 10 profit tips to complement your quest for more traffic.

Well you could send them all an email, or perhaps a letter, or how about you call them?

The fact is that most of the time none of the above will work…and even worse they can make you look, well a wee bit silly…

“Hi Bob, I’ve just started using Facebook for my business and thought you might like to follow me”

…The chances are that a conversation like this, no matter the media can come across as a bit lame. The fact is that your customers (like you) are incredibly busy with all the other day to day pressures and a chat about your latest social media exploits aren’t going to cut the mustard.

So how do you get them onboard your new social media networks?

Well it’s obvious really, you need to invite them from within the social media platform itself…after all, what goes on in social media, really needs to stay in social media…but finding all their usernames could prove to be a nightmare!

Well, today I’m going to show you how to find your existing customers within the two biggies – Facebook & Twitter – so that you can invite them or follow them directly within your social media account.

Sound good? Excellent, lets get started…

Both Facebook and Twitter (and many other social networks) have a tool that allows you to see if your customers are using their services and then contact them inviting them to connect with you.

Now this tool was originally intended for personal use but there is absolutely no reason why you can’t use it for your own business as well…just remember to use it for good and not evil

IMPORTANT: Don’t set up your Facebook or Twitter Account until you’ve done the steps below. This is because you need to import your customers details at the set-up process.

STEP 1:

Collect a list of your existing customers email addresses. The chances are that you’ll have some sort of CMS or accounting platform where you’ll have them all located simply export them and create a .csv file of them (with one email address on each line). If you’re not sure how to do this, take a look through your software manual or google it online…the simple fact is you need a .csv file before you go any further.

STEP 2:

Go to Google and set-up a new Gmail account (make sure you don’t use an existing account – create one specifically for this task).

STEP 3:

Once you’re in Gmail, select Contacts from the top right menu. Now select More Actions and from the dropdown menu select Import. Now upload the csv file into your new Gmail account.

TWITTER:

Ok now head on over to Twitter and create a new account using the details of your new Gmail account. On the second step of the setting up process (find your friends) select Gmail and Twitter will automatically read all of the email addresses of the contacts within your Gmail account.

Twitter quickly goes to work and looks through the email addresses finding active Twitter users. Now simply follow them and the chances are your customers will almost certainly follow you back the next time they’re online.

FACEBOOK:

Facebook is very similar to Twitter, simply create a new Facebook account, again using your new Gmail account. At step one of the set-up process (find friends) select your Gmail account and follow the on screen instructions and just like Twitter all your existing customers who are actively using Facebook will be available to view.

All you have to do now is request to be their friend.

So there you go, a pain free way to connect with your existing customers using social media…Now you can go about your social media business building by building relationships, communicating regularly and generally keeping them informed of new products, services, deals etc.

Don’t forget to share and leave comments!

Find out more about Matt Fiore.

But believe it or not this new iphone App is a little off topic for me…Why?

Because it’s the new eBay App…and as many of my clients know, I don’t profess to be any kind of expert when it comes to eBay. In fact my teenage boys are more ‘up’ on eBay than I am.

My reason for this self imposed ignorance? It’s simple really…

“eBay is a buyers dream and a private sellers convenient online garage sale, but…

…it’s a ‘bricks and mortar’ businesses nightmare”

It’s the online shopping version of a reverse dutch auction – where the price is dictated by the customer – and that’s a strategy that no business should ever follow!

But heck it’s a global monster, that keeps the buyer happy and has certainly helped our household shift some unwanted clutter (next up I do believe we have a 100 litre tropical fish tank (boy was that a nightmare to clean!) just waiting for the next free listing Sunday ), so I thought I’d share with you this very clever new App that is quite simply awesome.

The Love -

Although 95% of my time is now spent utilising online and new media marketing tactics, I do still spend a considerable amount of both time and money using offline marketing channels to help build my lead generation systems. Why?…because much of it works, BUT only if tied into a direct response campaign that drives visitors to your website.

The Hate -

I spent nearly the first 20 years of my working life in the offline marketing and advertising sector and boy oh boy, did I get fed up with it . Everything about the offline industry, left a very nasty taste in my mouth. From my point of view as a business owner, it was ultra expensive to operate in, needed bundles of cash to maintain, an army of employees to manage and then there was the competition, which was both insane in it’s sheer size but more importantly insane in it’s price cutting endeavours – “cutting your nose off to spite your face” – comes to mind.

And then from the advertisers (or customers) point of view, much of the time, it is incredibly expensive to use, involves large and long term commitments, is almost impossible to test and measure and of course worst of all, the chances were it never really worked.

Bring on Google Goggles to change all that!…

Google Goggles is something that Google has been playing around with for quite some time now, but it seems that now it’s slipping into second gear with some testing with 5 big names, including Disney and Delta.

So what is Goggles? Essentially, it’s a way to tie offline advertising with online advertising by using a mobile phone to take a photograph of a poster, flyer or some other form of printed media and then using Google Goggles to connect the user with an interactive online experience.

It’s very cool and I’m pretty certain that it will be the next big step for marketers and users alike.

Take a peek to see why I’m so excited…

What do you think?

A couple of days later this strange phenomenon had gone and I kind of forgot about it…until yesterday when I noticed the exact same thing in the Firefox browser.

So what was this phenomenon?

Well it looks like Google is toying with departing from the maps box and listings and instead showing the natural listing results in a re-positioned map box instead.

Only time will tell whether this will ever go live, but one things for sure if it does…SEO will become even more important than ever as the optimized sites on the first page of Google will also have an image, a placement tag and yes…even be shown on the local maps box as well!

This development could be huge!

To find out more, take a peak of my video…

Why?

The internet of course.

I don't know about you but our recent yellow pages directory turned up last week smaller than ever, under the remit that it was in it's new handy size?!

Ummm, do I believe that? Not for one minute.

You would have had to be living under a stone to not know that the Yellow Pages (like so many other traditional marketing methods) is dying at the speed of light.

A recent stat I read said that 54% of all internet users have abandoned the yellow book completely – I'm certainly in that crowd.

My prediction – They'll be following the likes of Readers Digest in less than 2 years from now…

Bankrupt.

Yes they've managed to diversify with the web and yell.com but ultimately they've got it all wrong, after all who wants to use a directory when you've got google? Perhaps the funniest part of there diversification methods is there attempt to offer pay per click marketing services where your ad is shown in rotation with scores of other businesses…maybe it should be call per per lottery marketing?

Anyway, to support my case (and give you a smile) heres a great video from an SEO firm in Auz, who did a great job of interviewing people on the high street (wouldn't mind betting we'd get the same results in the UK)

I mean, what would you do without the internet?

Let’s think about it…

No email (ok that might be a blessing in disguise
No web enabled phones.
No Facebook.
No Skype.
No News.

Oh and in my case – No Livelihood.

It’s hard to believe that just 10 short years ago, virtually no one used the internet…but with the birth of broadband and wireless networks it has exploded into the number one communication and productivity tool, which has made the world a whole lot smaller.

From a business point of view the web is fast becoming the single largest and most effective marketing tool the world has ever seen, it allows small businesses to compete with the big boys, it can bring an endless stream of sales, whilst costing a fraction of virtually any other marketing channel.

With all that said, why not take 3 minutes out of your day and check out the South Park episode the boys and I were watching – God forbid it happens, cause if it does this kind of hysteria would almost certainly hit me…how about you?

Enjoy.

Today I found a really nifty info-graphic that shows you the way Google serves it’s search results in about half a nano second or something

Click the image for the full size version.

Enjoy…

well done to the boys over at ppc blog

Over the years I have tried many different ways to build lists – some have failed spectacularly, whilst others have blossomed. So rather than put you through the time, testing and yes, sometimes, agony – I’m going to give you my top 12 ways to build a highly responsive list for your business.

My top 12 tips –

1. Include an opt in form on every page of your web site.
2. Free stuff – include a free guide or information pack to potential clients, however get them sign up via an opt in form before they can download.
3. Ask your existing clients for referrals (don’t forget to incentivise, for instance Offer discount codes etc)
4. Run through you customer database and for any you don’t have email addresses for, send them a letter or give them a call and ask for it.
5. Offer special offers or discounts for email only orders or enquiries
6. Use Facebook to its full advantage…… add opt in forms to your page, Post links to your guides or newsletters.
7. Include a simple one liner on the back of your business cards (and other printed marketing material) inviting people to sign up for your free guide etc.
8. Add links to opt in forms for your various info packs etc on the bottom of your emails.
9. Have an “open house” where you can invite local businesses to come visit and view your wares but insist they book via email.
10. At all exhibitions and events ensure the email address is taken from potential clients – offer to email over some info to them, for example maybe a discount voucher or something similar.
11. Include a forward to your friend link on you web site
12. Join your local business group or local Chamber of Commerce collect email addresses in return for maybe your newsletter.

Remember that the easiest way to get people on to your list is to offer them something of value in return, try to avoid giving discount codes or vouchers, instead offer something of additional value to them, such as a free guide, report, video, sample or maybe a consultation.

By building a list in this way you will over time build possibly the most valuable asset for your business as well – that being a huge list of qualified, targeted prospects that have held their hand up and said “yes, I’m interested in what you have to offer”…

For the last time this week (ok maybe not , let me remind you again – The Money is in the List

In the internet marketing circle there is a saying that you’ll hear on an all too regular basis…

the money is in the list

Now whilst this phrase has become synonymous within the online marketing community most traditional “bricks and mortar” businesses who have an online presence with a traditional corporate website – seem to almost completely ignore this most valuable of online strategies.

I have found that around 90% of businesses do not capture leads on their website, instead they spend most of their time trying to “flog” to the visitor – this is a huge mistake that is costing most businesses tens  (even hundreds!) of thousands of pound in lost revenue each and every year.

Why?

Because according to just about every survey or report you read; between 90%-98% of online visitors are looking for information, they are not looking to buy. Did you just hear that? I’ll say it again “90%-98% of online visitors are looking for information, they are not looking to buy”.

Ok, you might be thinking “oh please, not another statistic”?

Well, I’ve got some news for you – for once the statistics are right! I know it’s a rarity but it’s a proven fact. I have built hundreds of websites and coached and trained hundreds of business owners , and on every single occasion I can categorically say that most people aren’t ready to buy right now.

So let me now give you my golden tip for online success for today…

Stop focusing on the on the 2%-10% of visitors that are ready to buy today and start focusing on the 90%-98% of visitors that are somewhere further down the decision making chain.

This one tip will bring your business huge success in the short, medium and long term.

Think about it. You can let all your competition beat each other up, fighting over the buyers for today, whilst you’re busy helping the buyers of tomorrow, next week and next month instead. Not only that, you’ll be building a relationship, educating and gaining trust with them – so if and when they eventually are ready to buy, you’ll be their natural choice. Simple isn’t it?

It is incredibly simple, but all too often I hear resistance from business owners with objections like…

• how on earth can I do that?
• it’s too complicated?
• I’ll lose sales!

Building a lead capture system into the online and offline marketing efforts of your business is a straight forward process and is something that I cover in my free online profit tips series.

Typically I would close the post off about now but not today. You see, this strategy is so very important for your small business. I’m going to drum it into you again…

Most business websites make 2 fundamentally huge mistakes -

1. Their websites are built to sell to visitors – when instead they should be helping them.
2. Their websites talk mostly about themselves – when instead they should be talking about the needs and wants of their customers.

DO NOT MAKE THIS MISTAKE!

Remember that by changing the emphasis of your site to helping the visitor, rather than selling to them you’ll end up being able to capture the email addresses of targeted, interested leads and build relationships with them automatically, using a tool called an auto-responder.

In my next post I’ll be covering some of the best ways to get these valuable leads and prospects into your list, but for now let me sign off and remind you that – The Money is in the List!