The other day I was reading a blog post from someone and they were talking about the basics of building a website. They were talking about how no one pays attention to the basics because they think they KNOW the basics. However, most people who say they KNOW the basics of website building aren’t even USING the basics and don’t even have a website.
So, when I tell you I’m about to cover the basics of website traffic and you immediately think, “Well, Liz, I already know the basics.” ask yourself if you’re getting all the website traffic that you need. If that answer to that is NO!, then you need to come with me and let me teach you the basics.
Are you ready to begin or are you already getting all the traffic you need?
Okay so first things first… I’m assuming that you actually have something to send traffic to. Maybe it’s a squeeze page that you’re using to build your list (this is the optimal thing you should have and be driving traffic to) or maybe it’s to your store or your sales page or your affiliate link or… cheezus… I could go on and on here, but you get the idea.
Some of you will scratch your head and be like, “Liz, why do you have to even say that?”. Well, you’d be shocked at the amount of people who come to me and want to know how to drive traffic and when I ask them what they want to drive traffic to they have no clue. My face when this happens…
Now that we have that out of the way…
Website Traffic Basic #1: Is IT Ready?
Is what you are wanting to drive traffic to actually READY for traffic?
Does it look good? Is it easy to navigate? Does it have a strong call to action? There is a huge laundry list of things you need to ensure are in order for whatever it is that you’re sending traffic to (be it a squeeze page, a sales page, a blog post, etc.). It needs to have ONE job and that job needs to be clear to the traffic coming to that destination.
Example time: If you’re sending traffic to a squeeze page. You need to make sure you’ve got a good offer there that people will actually WANT and copy that makes them want to get it right NOW, and an easy way for them to get it.Why would you want to go through the effort of driving a bunch of traffic if what you’re driving traffic to isn’t going to get you the results you need!
Website Traffic Basic #2: How Are You Going To Get Traffic?
Now the next step is deciding what route you want to go with getting the traffic.
This is where most people melt down and try EVERYTHING.
DO NOT do that!
I repeat… DO NOT DO THAT!
Is what you need to do is understand there are basically three ways to get traffic.
1. You can buy it.
You can pay for ads on social networks, you can buy advertising space on sites that offer it in your niche, and the list goes on and on.
If you KNOW that what you have gets results (meaning people buy from you, or optin to your list, or whatever result you want) then this is a great option because you will be able to recoup your investment and then some.
However, if you don’t KNOW that what you have gets results then you’re going to spend A LOT of money getting it all figured out.
My rule of thumb with paid advertising is that I won’t use it unless I KNOW I have something that will get results. Meaning someone subscribes or buys or signs up, etc.
2. You can borrow it.
When I say borrow, I mean use the traffic that others can send you. This is where you’ll get affiliates to send you traffic and you pay them a percentage of your profits or pay them for actions their people take. There’s a lot of ways to do this, but you need a product and an affiliate program.
Note: I cover all of this in my Affiliate Program Kickstart Workshop at https://learningim.com/affiliate-program-kickstart-workshop
3. You can mine it.
This is where most other traffic tactics live. This is where you are doing things to get the traffic. You’re “mining” it. You’re digging for it. Tactics like blogging, social marketing, guest blogging, SEO, YouTube marketing, and the list goes on and on and on and on.
And mining it is where 85% of you will be at.
If you don’t have money to invest in paid advertising and you don’t want to have an affiliate program (or can’t) then this is your only other option. That doesn’t mean you’ll have to do this forever, but this is where you will start.
Note: I cover all aspects of social media marketing on the biggest social media sites out there in various workshops I have. I also cover other “traffic mining” tactics in various workshops I have. You can get them ALL (and future ones too) for one price at https://www.LearningIM.com
So, that’s a “blanket” explanation of ways to get traffic. Each of the three I listed above have a several strategies within each. There’s literally thousands of ways to get traffic, but at least you know your main options and where you need to start.
Are you buying, borrowing, or mining traffic?
This post is getting a little long, so let me tell you about the last basic thing you need to know when it comes to website traffic.
Listen closely to me because this is KEY!
No matter HOW you decide you’re going to get it you need to make sure that you’re doing SOMETHING to get traffic every single day.
Every…
Single…
Day…
If you’re using paid advertising you need to make sure that your ads are working (stat checking), you need to be testing other ads against your ads to get them working better, you need to be looking for more places to advertise, etc.
If you’re running an affiliate program you want to be working on reaching out to affiliates, creating new promotional tools, etc.
If you’re mining it well that’s hard to say because there’s about a million different ways to mine it, but you need to be “mining” each and every day!
But you get the idea here… You need to be doing something each and every day no matter how you’re driving traffic.
Okay so let’s wrap up our talk on website traffic…
When it comes to the basics of website traffic you need to…
1. Make sure you have something that is ready for it.
2. Know how you’re going to get it
3. Never stop getting it. When you stop driving traffic you stop getting results. PLAIN AND SIMPLE!
Okay so now that I’ve covered the basics, what do you need to know now? What questions do you have?
If you’d like for me to continue on with talking and teaching about website traffic, then I’m going to need you to tell me what you MORE you need. If I don’t hear anything I’ll assume you’re good to go and we will change topics, so if you want to learn MORE about website traffic then leave your comments below or come over to the help desk and let me know what your questions are when it comes to website traffic…
Talk soon!
Liz
