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Five Free Yet Unconventional Search Traffic Sources

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 03:40:00 GMT

As an online marketer, it is essential to be able to think on your feet to avoid falling behind. In this incredibly competitive industry, uncreative solutions quickly end up growing saturated, and saturated markets become havens for spam, inflated pricing, and low quality traffic.

There is a reason for the ever-frequent failure of PPC campaigns and SEO efforts – they are too popular and competitive for most online marketers.

However, there are still some traffic assets out there that are both inexpensive – sometimes even free – and unsaturated. These five search-based traffic sources appear in all major search engines – Google, Yahoo, and Bing – and can be used as a traffic canvas for anything from affiliate sales to direct service-based businesses. If you are tired of competing on the same saturated fields as every other online marketer, invest in one of these traffic platforms and enjoy near untouched traffic and marketing success.

1) Google Image Search

Google's standard search results are one of the toughest fields on the internet in terms of competition, with hundreds of companies throwing millions of dollars into their SEO efforts every year. Competing for a top-ten search position can be tough, but Google's other search platforms can be used as an effective and less competitive field for traffic generation.

Google Image Search is one of those less competitive fields. With the right combination of page authority, image tagging, and on-page content, your image results can end up becoming major traffic resources.

2) Well-Ranked Youtube Videos

Google occasionally embeds videos within the search results, and following their buyout of Youtube in 2008, Youtube videos tend to rank more quickly and effectively than other video platforms. If you need an ultra-quick and completely free ranking strategy, consider using Google's very own Youtube to move into their search results.

3) Popular Tweets and Tumblr Updates

Tweets are now indexed by Google, and though other search engines do not index them, can be a valuable traffic asset. As with other search-based traffic generation methods, success with indexed tweets and Tumblr updates depends on context and keywords. Look for valuable keywords and trending topics, and put out tweets that have the potential to rank.

4) Yahoo Answers and Google Newsgroups

Yahoo Answers was once a popular traffic resource, but it quickly fell victim to spam and shady advertising methods. Now valuable again, Yahoo Answers, Google Newsgroups, and Yahoo's own group feature can be great sources of contextual traffic. Post valuable discussion and you could find your signature or profile links receiving some welcome extra clicks.

5) Forum Topics and Popular Discussions

Almost all of the internet's most popular forums have open registration, allowing almost anyone to create a thread on an ultra-popular and authoritative website. With some quality discussion under your belt, it may even be possible to market your commercial business on one. Thanks to the search authority of most major discussion boards, a well crafted topic title can end up quickly appearing as a first-page result for Google search terms and related keywords. However, make sure you don't blatantly self promote. This is almost always looked upon poorly.

Adobe Business Catalyst

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:45:00 GMT

Adobe Business Catalyst is the sofware I use to run all my websites. It is really capable and has all the inbuilt features that you need to take your website from a static brochure site to a professional online business site. It is aimed at the small to medium business market and is priced accordingly with fully featured plans from just $47 per month.

Full Disclosure: I am a registered Partner and Authorised Reseller of the Business Catalyst Platform and receive a 20% commission for all hosting sign ups made through my site. This software is not available retail. It must be purchased through a wholesaler. I signed up for a wholesaler account so I could have access for my projects. Easy Ink, Mittagundi, Farm Cafe and this site all use this software.

You can see all the information and access a free trial here.

Using templates to get a new look for your website.

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 02:24:00 GMT

Engaging designers to create a new look for a website can be a daunting experience. You can only base your decision to hire one designer over the other based on their previous work. There is no guarantee that your site will look as good.

One solution is to find a website template that you like and adapt it to suit your needs.

The benefits are

You see what you are going to get
Implementation is usually super fast - no briefings, meetings, quotes, etc.
Templates are usually cheap!

Template Websites

Some good places to browse for a template for your website

Of course, you could also type 'website templates' into google...

Template Builder

Another option is to build your website using an online website software like Adobe Business Catalyst. You can use their automatic system and create your own website.

Click here for a trial of Adobe Business Catalyst

5 Reasons Why Your Small Business Must Have a Blog

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:33:00 GMT

What if someone told you that you could have a marketing platform that could reach every one of your customers at any hour of the day, anywhere in the world, and cost you absolutely nothing? You'd be a fool not to take advantage of it, wouldn't you? Well, you're not a fool. And that's exactly why your small business needs to start blogging right now.

Why do you need to blog? Because there is no other tool that so easily lets you interact with your customers. Anyone who goes online can look at your blog, read your posts, and get an immediate sense of what your business is.

Not convinced? Well, then read on.

Reason 1. It's free.

You don't even need a website to start blogging. You can start a blog and let it serve as your website. All you have to do is sign up for one of the free blogging platforms like WordPress or Blogger, and you're good to go. If you already have a website, even better. You can add blogging software to your site with ease.

Reason 2. It's easy.

You can make your blog look like a million bucks simply by getting a decent template and making regular posts. Your posts don't have to be that elaborate. Maybe a brief snippet of what's been going on in your business, a peek into your daily life, or even a photo of you and your employees at the office party. Anything that's updated regularly and looks like it is half-way interesting is worth it.

Reason 3. It's forever.

Your blog serves as a never ending billboard. As long as there is an internet, your blog will be there. Each post you add, each photo you upload, each link you include will only make it bigger. Think about it, it's like a permanent advertisement that only gets bigger over time and never goes away. All you have to do is pop by for a half hour or so a few times a week and you have a simple, effective, permanent advertisement.

Reason 4: It's good for your image.

A blog conveys credibility. It says “We're not a joke. There actually is someone behind the curtain. Come see for yourself.” It's open, it's friendly, and most of all, it's fun. Your blog can foster a sense of community like no other marketing outlet. For a small business, your blog can be one of the best ways to attract an keep a loyal customer base.

Reason 5: It's good for your website.

Blogs that get updated frequently are ideal for increasing your search rankings. The more content you have on your blog, the more you update it, the more you add unique stuff, the better your search results will be. That means your blog will get more visitors, which will mean more customers, which will mean more sales.

Honestly, in the time it's taken you to read this article, you could have started a blog for your small business. What are you waiting for?

Links to great website software for blogging:

Wordpress (free, open source)
Typepad (free, open source)
Blogger (free, open source)
Adobe Business Catalyst (from $47 pcm, this is the software I use - links to my reseller site)

Learn more about blogging from these blogs:

Top 10 Blog Writing Tips: Write a Blog You’d Want to Read
Ten Tips for writing a blog post (Pro Blogger - a great site)

6 Simple Ideas to get your Web Project Started

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:34:00 GMT

Before approaching a website designer with your new web project it is good to have thought about what you want. With the usual noise and distractions of running a small business it can be difficult. So... I thought it might be useful to share some points I think about when starting a new web project.

1. Decide on One Primary Goal

What is the one main aim for your website. The goal is often different for everyone although some common themes are:

generating leads and new business
streamlining information collection
distributing information
selling products or services

Pick one and make sure everyone involved in the project knows about it.

2. Find Inspiration

Spend some time searching the web looking for some inspiration. Below are some links to get you started or simply type in 'great website design' into google and browse the results.

Keep it Simple, Stupid - Smashing Magazine
45 Fresh, Clean and Impressive Designs - Smashing Magazine
www.thebestdesigns.com
Best of CSS Design 2007 - Web Designer Wall

Keep notes of the ones you like and what you like about them. This information will help your designer come up with something you like.

Another trick is to look closely at your competitors sites and down the bottom you will often see the name of the design company who built the website. Follow the link and have a look at their portfolio.

3. Think about your three most time consuming processes

Websites can now be much more than just digital brochures. Do a quick brainstorm of the annoying tasks that take time in your business. Make sure you take this to your web designer and get them to explain ways of dealing with these issues.

4. Examine the Competition

What do they do well? Can you tell what the Primary Goal of their site is? If your competitions site is well maintained and up to date you can be sure that they are generating some good business from it.

5. Minimise the Risk & Start Today

The great things about websites are that they are easy to change. In fact, you never need to consider your website 'finished'. Find a great value provider, get a few pages up quickly and then develop from there. You will gain confidence and knowledge as you go along. It is easy to get started with a template design on your website for free.

6. Beware the Knowledge Gap

Do you feel like you know nothing about websites? Well... this poses a problem. Many web designers will charge large fees for things that are actually really simple. You need to arm yourself with knowledge about what reasonable costs are so as to avoid spending thousands on a solution that does not meet your needs or is obsolete in a year.

Things to avoid

Custom coding
Paying for a CMS (Content Managment System)
Complexity
Open Source Software (more on this later)

Things to ask for

Continuous support and upgrades
Examples of previous work
Easy to update yourself
Transferability - if you relationship with this designer falls apart will another designer be able to use the system?

See the Resources section of this site for more information about the tools and people that I work with.