How to Increase Website Traffic

2008-05-27 22:59:54 - With Google being the dominate player in the Internet marketing game, and expert offers some advice on how businesses can make more money through their websites.

Ah, the Internet Marketing game. Businesses and companies have spent fortunes on trying to drive traffic to their websites. It's a worthy goal. For those that are successful at it, big money and big profits await those few sites that have products and services to sell and have high volumes. But for most, marketing and advertising on the Internet pose unique problems that few have mastered.

Of course, nowadays, when people think of Internet marketing and advertising, they think of Google. That's an appropriate thought because Google is the most dominate player in the Internet marketing game. Although it is not ill-intended, Google makes and breaks companies every day. Wind up at the top of a Google search, and it can literally mean millions and millions to certain companies in certain business sectors. Problem is, how exactly does a company get to the top of those rankings?

'Nobody really knows for sure,' says Thomas Faulkner, VP of Business Development for MarketShare Services.com (www.markeetshareservices.com). 'And although some of the formula that Google uses is now out there, unless you're working with a company like ours, it can be tough sledding up the Google Rankings for most companies and businesses.'

In the 'old' days, it used to be fairly easy to manipulate Google and other search engines. Sometimes all it took was a technical manipulation of the website. A few keywords here, some meta tags there, and voila-you could be at the top of your industry. But that alone rarely works anymore.

'Websites used to climb the Google Rankings simply by making some technical optimizations and adjustments to their site,' explains Faulkner. 'That could work because a lot of websites were not technically optimized. Once everyone started doing it, it didn't work anymore. Now, most of the higher ranked websites are search engine optimized. Now, in order to find a way to climb the Google Rankings, you have to find ways to promote and advertise in addition to technical optimization.'

MarketShare Services.com has created a special 'How To Ger Found' on the Internet program specifically designed to give websites more web=presence and to also increase the websites Google Rankings.

'We've developed a package that is designed to increase website traffic from different angles,' says Faulkner. 'Our primary focus is to gain the website increased visibility and drive the site up the Google search engine rankings. But, we also recommend other highly effective methods such as direct mail and postcards to drive in traffic as well. This may surprise some people, but research has shown that postcards are among the most highly effective forms of advertising ever created. I was surprised myself until I checked into it.'

What is even more surprising is the fact that high tech giants such as Symantec and Yahoo use postcards to promote their companies. Faulkner recommends postcards because they have great 'permanence' and many people go so far as to even collect them. Put a great, memorable graphic on a postcard, with a great message, with the website address prominently displayed and then send it out to a highly targeted audience, and he says that is a sure-fire way of getting more business.

'Getting that website address out there and branding it in the minds of the public is what you really want to do in any way that you can,' he says. 'Of course, having the right url-one that can be easily remembered and is relevant is a whole other subject-one which we do lots of consultation on. But, the core of what we do is drawing attention to the website through the use of Google itself.'

As a first step, MarketShare Services.com does a thorough analysis of the types of search terms and keywords that are relevant to the website and the industry. Then they analyze how often that search term is used by the public. This is important because the choice of search term is key to succeeding in climbing the Google Rankings. If the search term is too small or too big, the website isn't likely to see an increase in traffic.

'I once had a client who used to claim that they were number one under a particular search term. They were very proud of this and even used to use it in their advertising and promotion,' he says with a chuckle. 'The only problem was that when we did our analysis, it was found that no one ever looked up that particular term. Once we got them onto the right search term, their traffic increased enormously. So, the choice of the right keyword is very, very important.'

The next step is to analyze the websites performance under various search terms. A term is selected, and then Faulkner sees where the website ranks under that term. A consulting firm might be #466 under the search term 'attorneys in Los Angeles' for example, or a business broker #198 under 'California business brokers'. Sometimes a website can be so far down the Google Rankings that it can't be found at all.

'We then take all of this information and help the client decide where to start,' says Faulkner. 'But the important thing is that in almost every case, we can get the website some immediate attention with a high placement on Google. We're extremely successful at that. It often leads to an immediate jump in sales and inquires. Sometimes we are even able to attract the attention of the media. More importantly, sticking with our program, the website is gong to go up the Google Rankings-sometimes very quickly.'

The bottom line is that there are effective ways to drive traffic to websites and increase sales and profits-if you know who to turn to.

For more information on how to increase your website traffic and rise in the Google Rankings, contact Thomas Faulkner at info@marketshareservices.com or call him at 800-771-0460.