Get More Traffic

How To Get More Targeted Website Traffic That Converts Into Qualified Leads And New Customers

Nothing happens online until a visitor arrives at your website. But with established traffic sources becoming more competitive, and new traffic generation methods appearing all the time, it's easy to become confused about what to focus on and what you can safely ignore.

This page explains the top 7 traffic generation methods for driving qualified traffic that converts into leads and sales.

Traffic Strategy #1: Pay Per Click Advertising (Google AdWords)

With Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising, you bid on keywords and only pay when a user clicks on your ad. You can also place your ads on third party websites in a variety of formats and again, you pay only when a user clicks.

In the early days, PPC advertising grew rapidly in popularity because it was laser-targeted and very profitable. But in recent years, most advertisers have come across some common challenges:

1. Increasing competition has led to rising click prices. A click that might have cost 50c a few years now costs $5.
2. PPC advertising platforms, rules and regulations have become more complex. There is much more to achieving success than just setting your bids higher than your competitors (and in fact, this is a good way to go broke).
3. Competitors are more sophisticated than ever. Ongoing focus and proactive management is required to survive and thrive in most markets.

Despite these challenges, Pay Per Click advertising is still one of the best sources of targeted website visitors that convert into qualified leads and clients. A strong foothold in Pay Per Click is an excellent beach-head for further traffic generation when it comes to lead generation campaigns.

Marketing Results has managed more than $9.09 million worth of Google AdWords clicks,
generating in excess of 365,132 leads in the process.

Traffic Strategy #2: Organic SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

Traffic from the 'free' side of Google is also known as 'Organic SEO Traffic' or 'Free SEO Traffic'. But it's not really free.While it's true you don't have to pay for each click, an investment of either time or money is usually required to rank strongly in Google for competitive keywords.

And because your competitors also want to rank well for the same keywords as you, an 'arms race' for the top positions can ensue. While SEO can deliver both a high quality and quantity of traffic, the playing field can shift rapidly. Search engines such as Google can (and do) change their ranking algorithms from time to time, often relegating top performing websites to the bottom of the heap.

An SEO strategy that takes into account potential risks and downsides as well as the potential upsides is critical for achieving long term success. Many a business owner has been stuck with a non-performing SEO strategy and becomes more and more frustrated and angry every time their SEO company says, "just give us another 3 months to achieve results". At Marketing Results, we see SEO as one piece of the puzzle, not the whole puzzle.

#1 Ranking for
"Business Coaches"

#1 Ranking for
"Essay Proofreading"

Multiple top rankings
for "Sydney Catering"

#1 Ranking for
"Photocopiers"

#1 Ranking for
"Property Investing Brisbane"

#1 Ranking for
"Food Intolerance Testing"

Image Results for
"Lead Generation"

#1 Ranking for
"Japanese Language School"

#1 Ranking for
"Marketing Blog"

#1 Ranking for
"Sales Lead Generation"

#1 Ranking for
"Sydney Termite Control"

#1 Ranking for
"Sydney Bookkeeper"

Traffic Strategy #3: Email Marketing

Despite the rise and popularity of social media in recent years, email is still the number one communication tool when it comes to driving leads, sales and new business. Email can be used for traffic generation in two key ways:

• External email lists: placing ads or sponsored content in external email lists can be an excellent method of reaching new prospects. However, you need to take care when sourcing lists to ensure they have been legitimately obtained and comply with all anti-spam laws. Many do not.
• Internal email lists: building and keeping in touch with your own 'house list' is one of the best ways to drive repeat website visits and sales. There is a myth that visitors will keep returning to your website if you keep it "fresh" with regularly updated content. In general, most visitors won't return — unless you collect their email address and communicate with them regularly.

Traffic Strategy #4: Social Media

Social media has been the darling of the online marketing world for several years. But as a business owner or marketer, it's extremely important to separate 'hanging out with friends' from the very serious business of 'making money'.

So far, the mantra of most social media gurus has been, "just make friends with everyone and the money will flow". That has proven not to be the case for the vast majority of business owners, who are now re-assessing their social media strategies and running a very skeptical eye over the ROI part of the equation.

The good news is, for most businesses (not all), social media can become a useful and profitable source of traffic. However, it's important to build your social media strategy from the ground up with the intent of driving more new business. Business development activity will not occur as a happy by-product. You need to make it happen intentionally.

Social media websites can be a prolific source of traffic,
but be careful to ensure your monetisation strategy is sound.

Traffic Strategy #5: Offline-To-Online Traffic

Driving traffic from 'offline' traffic sources to your website can be extremely profitable — especially when you know where your target market congregates offline. We have delivered excellent results for many clients using magazine ads or direct mail pieces that drive prospects online, normally to request extra information.

Once on your website, it's always essential to capture each visitor's email address so you can follow up with sequential email campaigns, webinars or other education-based marketing campaigns. Offline traffic can be expensive (although online traffic is fast catching up!), so as always, it's vital that you have a conversion and monetisation process in place that can recoup your marketing investment as quickly as possible.

Offline publications can be a rich source of new customers,
providing you're able to capture and monetise the traffic effectively.

Traffic Strategy #6: Joint Ventures

Joint venture traffic can be one of the fastest ways to flood your business with new leads and clients, although it usually involves some setup. One simple approach is to get your JV partner to send an email to their list, endorsing your products or services and either making a special offer from you, or pushing them to your website to collect something of value (for example, a downloadable Special Report or White Paper). If the fit between your partner's target market and your target market is just right, joint ventures are capable of creating quick traffic and sales spikes.

Just one promotion with the right partner can drive highly targeted buyers right to your door.

Traffic Strategy #7: Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate traffic is similar to Joint Venture traffic, except that JV traffic normally involves a 1-to-1 relationship (you work with the JV partner personally), whereas affiliate traffic involves a 1-to-many relationship (you have many affiliates, all promoting your offer). Between you and your affiliates, usually sits some software or a "clearing house" such as Clickbank.com, which manages the flow of traffic and ensures affiliates are paid for their referrals.

Affiliates are sometimes capable of driving a lot of traffic, but there are also overheads to consider. Firstly, affiliates usually require support and management. Sometimes this management burden far exceeds the economic value created by the affiliates. In practice, affiliate marketing is best left until you have a proven offer with broad appeal, and a viable affiliate tracking and management solution in place.

A good affiliate tracking and management system
is essential for making the most of affiliate marketing.