Web Site Traffic Generation

Regardless of whether your web site has just gone live or has been online for a significant period of time proactively generating traffic to your web site is imperative. Build it and they will come is not an option, the Internet is much to populated with competing web sites, online games and Social Networks to site back and wait for your web site visitors to arrive.

A multi-faceted approach

Going back to my philosophy of a holistic approach to web site promotion, in today's highly competitive environment it has become absolutely necessary that you use all the tools available to your business to drive traffic to your web site. And this does includes off-line methods as well.

Organic Search Optimization

I strongly believe Organic SEO cannot be overlooked, hire someone to help you or work through the processes yourself but the thing not to do, is ignore Organic Optimization.

The advantages are many and not isolated to generating Organic Search traffic. Many of the processes of Search Engine Optimization are usable in other aspects of your traffic generation tactics, primarily keyword research. While completing the keyword research processes you will be able to identify keywords which can not only be used in Organic Optimization but also provide the foundation for any Pay per Click advertising your wish to implement and also provides an indication of the most popular terms used to find your product and services which can be used as attention grabbers in Social Media discussions, Tweets and Forums.

A thing to remember is, Search is still the predominant method used to find information on the Internet, approximately 80% of Internet users will click on an Organic result prior to selecting a paid search result. This of course does not mean that paid search should be ignored, the remaining 20% can still drive significant amounts of traffic to your web site.

Social Media

Social Media has the potential to drive significant volumes of traffic to your web site. The options to drive traffic to your web site using Social Media are primarily Social Networking, Social Recommendations / Bookmarking and Micro Blogging using the services of Twitter, and these are just the beginning there are numerous other Social Media Tools which are capable of assisting you to bring significant volumes of visitors to your web site who have a pre-recognition of who you are and what you offer, which is a contributing factor to increasing the actual conversion rate of your web site.

The key to using Social Media to generate traffic to your web site is the participation in the Social Environment and the development of relationships and trust. Once this process has began to take root, Social recommendation has the potential to inform others via the most powerful recommendation anyone can achieve, a recommendation from a friend.

Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing most certainly has its' place in the traffic generation mix. Sure only a small number of Internet users click on Paid Results but take into account monthly search volumes of some high popularity keywords and this can account for a significant number of targeted visitors to your web site.

I have been noted in the past, for not being a great fan of PPC advertising. However, there are times when this tool should be used within your web site promotion program. These include:

• A new site which needs to generate traffic while Organic Search becomes affective
• When targeting a highly popular keyword which your web site does not possess the authority to compete head to head
• Advertising special product and promotional offers.

Off Line Promotion

Let us not forget how businesses were promoted prior the the advent of the Internet. These methods in many cases are still effective and with the huge popularity of mobile devices can be leveraged in locations not previously considered as an outlet for promoting your web site.

Consider a moment your daily commute, especially if you use public transport.

Advertising your business on the bus, subway station and other common on the way to work locations has the ability to add to the traffic to your web site. The individual commuting to work daily needs something to break the monotony of their commute and noticing an interesting ad on the bill board may just be what they are looking for to add some interest to their journey, and visits your web site using their mobile device.

All though not entirely necessary, the development of a few web pages specifically for mobile devices will also greatly enhance your search positions within the mobile realm providing additional web site traffic.

The Last Word

This is just a primer to get you thinking in broad holistic terms on how to drive traffic to your web site. Start thinking outside the box, avoid tunnel vision and you will be surprised at the innovative methods available to your business to entice visitors to your web site.