Day 13: Build Free Traffic
“Build it and they will come.” -- Field of Dreams (1989)
You are building a solid Theme-Based Content Site. So how will you let your target group know about it?
The next three topics are all about Traffic-Building. The most time-and cost efficient way to draw targeted traffic to your site is through the implementation of the Big 3 strategies…
1) Free Traffic
2) Paid Traffic
3) Traffic Through Relationship-Building
Goal-of-the-DAY... Get familiar with the four-step process of…
1) Submitting
2) Spider-tracking
3) List-watching
4) Keyword-ranking
Then, if you are using SBI! (so important for easy tracking) become comfortable with the Search Engine HQ and its reports…
1) Submit-Spider-List Report
2) Keyword Ranking Report
3) Keyword Searches Report
Talk about a “field of dreams!” If you just simply build it, your content site might as well be a cornfield in Iowa, visited only by ghosts!
Yes, it’s true. This course has shown you how to develop a strong Theme-Based Content Site, completely loaded with HIGH-PROFITABILITY Keyword-Focused Content Pages. These pages OVERdeliver to your human readers, and at the same time, satisfy the Search Engines.
So you’re way ahead of 99% of e-business people on the Net. You have created a diamond, shining brilliantly with terrific content. Does that guarantee you success?
Sorry to say... nope! Why not? Because it’s just sitting there, buried in the middle of that huge cornfield, that field of dreams. What’s missing in order to turn your dreams into reality and build income through content? Free, targeted traffic.
If you can't attract free, targeted visitors via the Search Engines, you’re immediately at a huge disadvantage. That’s because you’re going to have to pay to drive traffic to your Web site. While paying for supplemental traffic can make sense for many online businesses, you definitely do not want this to be your primary source of traffic. There are a number of reasons why not…
1) Depending on your niche or topic, advertising can be very expensive. It also prevents you from ever really owning your own business. When you stop paying for advertising, your business disappears.
2) If you do not know what your ROI (Return On Investment) is or exactly what each and every visitor is worth to you, advertising can be a bit of a gamble. This is especially true for brand new sites that are still feeling their way around.
3) Visitors who arrive from advertising campaigns recognize that the relationship is purely commercial, and they expect to be pitched. Obviously, they will have their guard up and will be more difficult to convert into customers.
On the other hand, when you “get it right” at the Search Engines, the engines will deliver more and more targeted traffic on daily basis.
Take-home lesson?
Concentrate on ways that will consistently deliver the largest amounts of lowcost, sustainable traffic -- the BIG 3 above. Don’t try to “do it all” right off the bat.
OK. Let’s begin with the engines…
7.1. Work With The Free Major Search Engines
The Search Engines will provide you with lots of traffic as long as you work with them rather than against them. The process is not complicated. And as you will soon see, it keeps you moving forward -- building out your site so that you create even more ways for visitors to find you…
1) Build Keyword-Focused Content Pages according to the structure and on page criteria guidelines outlined in Day 10-12.
2) Submit those pages to the Search Engines. (Continue to build more Content pages.)
3) Check for each spider’s visit. (Continue to build more Content pages.)
4) Check for the presence of your pages in each Search Engine’s index (i.e., database). (Continue to build more Content pages.)
5) Evaluate performance of each page of your Theme-Based Content Site. (Continue to build more Content pages.)
6) Track your performance on a regular basis. (Continue to build more Content pages.)
7) Repeat the process for each page you create. (Keep your focus on building more Content pages.)
Now that we have the big picture of where we are going, let’s get down to business…
7.1.1. Submit Your URLs
Submitting your site to the engines is a necessary task. If you wait for the SEs’ spiders to find and index your entire site, you could wait forever. Submission hastens the entire listing process along, and guarantees your site doesn’t get lost “between the cracks.” Result? You gain maximum and controlled exposure.
~~ Tips: ~~
SBI!’s World Submitter automatically submits your pages to each SE exactly the way it likes to receive submissions. Better yet, it monitors submitted pages for a spider visit. If a spider does not arrive within an acceptable length of time, the page is queued for resubmission. (All pages are “queued” for submission. This ensures you never run afoul of an SE’s submission policies and keeps you from being banned.)
But World Submitter doesn’t stop there. Once a page is listed, World Submitter monitors that page to ensure it remains in an SE’s index. Should your page be dropped, that page is queued for resubmission. Talk about putting your SE traffic-building strategy on autopilot!
http://build.sitesell.com/
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Four of the major free Search Engines will account, either directly through their own search services or indirectly through partner sites, for about 95% of your traffic. That’s right, just four!
What about the service I saw the other day offering to submit my site to 1,000 Search Engines for $29.95?
Avoid these services like the plague. There are only four main SEs, as I said above. “Submit to all 1,000 Engines” services submit mainly to free-for-all links pages. They are totally useless, and will do nothing for you but fill your inbox with an endless barrage of spam.
OK, let’s begin the submission process. I’ve included each SE’s current protocols here, but please double-check each one to ensure nothing has changed in the meantime.
Ready? We’re off to the top of the list…
Google
http://www.google.com/addurl.html
Their submission policy (from the same URL)...
“Only the top-level page from a host is necessary; you do not need to submit each individual page. Our crawler, Googlebot, will be able to find the rest. Google updates its index on a regular basis, so updated or outdated link submissions are not necessary. Dead links will 'fade out' of our index on our next crawl when we update our entire index.”
~~ Tips ~~:
Google has implemented a graphic challenge on their submission page to
distinguish between manual and automated submissions. Although it is not
currently a requirement, I recommend that you fill in the graphic challenge with
your submission. It’s possible that Google will give precedence to manually
submitted URLs.
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Yahoo! Search
http://submit.search.yahoo.com/free/request
Their submission policy (from the same URL)...
“Enter the full URL, including the http:// prefix (for example, http://www.yahoo.com/) of the site you would like to submit. Enter only the top-level page in your site, our crawler will explore the rest of your site from there. We will automatically detect and remove dead links on an ongoing basis.”
MSN Search
http://search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx?FORM=WSDD2
MSN’s submission policy isn’t clear. They say...
“Type the URL of your homepage. MSNBot follows links from your homepage to find other pages on your site.”
Although they do not say not to submit others, it would certainly appear that it is not necessary.
Jeeves/Teoma
No, you cannot submit your site to Ask Jeeves, or the Teoma crawler that powers it. The only way to make it into this SE’s database is to ensure the Teoma crawler can find your site on its own by following an in-pointing link. This further emphasizes the importance of obtaining a few good links for your site. (A link popularity discussion is coming up shortly.)
OK, now what about all the other valid search services like AOL, Netscape, AltaVista, and so on?
There is really no need to submit to or track certain engines because they are either “aggregators” or have become insignificant in importance (although you may still recognize the name).
For example...
AOL and Netscape Search -- these “aggregators” draw from one or more of the above proprietary SEs.
AltaVista and FAST/AllTheWeb -- now owned and powered by Yahoo!. HotBot -- now a minor player, it merely offers a choice of proprietary engines.
So submit to the big 4, and forget the rest!
7.1.2. Track The Engines’ Spiders
Even after you do submit, some of the engines take weeks, even months, to send their spiders over to your site to “bring back the goodies.”
No problem. A real business takes time, unlike those get-rich-quick schemes floating around on the Net. So while you’re waiting, build more content pages and obtain some quality in-pointing links. These efforts will hasten the listing process along.
How can you tell when a spider visits your site?
The answer is simple. Each SE’s spider has a name, which shows up in your log files when it visits your site. For example, Google’s spider is called “Googlebot”. Yahoo!’s is called “Slurp”. MSN’s spider is called “MSNBot.”
So keep your eyes peeled for a visit from one of these friendly little creatures in your log files. Although a spider visit does not mean your page has been added to an SE index, it does mean that the SE has not forgotten about you! Your site is probably queued for addition.
If you don’t see an engine’s spider within a certain amount of time after submitting (varies for each engine), you can resubmit according to each engine’s acceptable limits. Generally though, if you haven’t been indexed and listed with 6-8 weeks, do the following…
1) Resubmit according to each SE’s protocols.
2) Build your link popularity. Quality in-pointing have a credentializing effect.
Without a few to validate your site, some SEs may be hesitant to list you in their indices. If you have no links, and you can’t seem to get listed, this is very likely the issue.
Even if you aren’t listed immediately, don’t lose heart. Every new Web business has to go through the hassle of establishing itself with the SEs.
That’s true whether you have $100 to invest in your business, or $10,000. Keep your focus on the “C” of…
C -> T -> P -> M
… and making your site THE authority on your theme.
7.1.3. Check And Monitor Presence
First, the good news… you’ve been spidered! That means you’re in, right? Not necessarily. However, it does mean that the Search Engines know about you.
Yes, you are on their radar, but you may not yet be included in the databases from which they draw their results. So that leads you to your next mission…
Monitor each engine to ensure it lists your pages. Once your pages start showing up in each SE’s database, they are ready to be delivered to an eager search audience.
Hooray! Targeted traffic!
The best way to check your listings is to use Search It!…
Search It! > Indexed Pages (STEP 1) > Pages in Google (STEP 2)…
This query will show you every page of your domain that is listed in Google.
Repeat this search to check your presence at each of the other engines.
7.1.4. Evaluate The Performance Of Your Pages
At this point, your pages are spidered and indexed. But there is one small catch.
In order for people to visit your site, they must find it first. Being indexed is not enough. Ideally, you need to have a Top 10 listing on a SE’s search results page to get any exposure at all. Most surfers will not check out more than ten listings in their search for information.
Luckily, you are way ahead of the curve, and miles ahead of your competitors due to this course. By building a comprehensive list of niche-focused, profitable and “in-demand” keywords, your ranking potential gets off to a roaring start and can only go upwards!
Now let’s see how you can evaluate the performance of your pages…
1) Manually -- Surf to each SE, and search for each of your KFCP’s Specific Keyword (just as a prospective visitor would). For example, let’s use this keyword, “dangers of high cholesterol,” to illustrate. Check to see where it shows up and in what position. Keep track of your results in a simple database.
2) Automatically -- Use specialized software like Web Position Gold to automate the evaluation process. Be forewarned, though. Web Position Gold is fairly complicated to use.
Webmasters and consultants, however, use it heavily. As a result, some engines ban or block its page-query function. Imagine thousands of Webmasters doing hundreds, even thousands, of automated position checks daily, and you can understand why. It clogs up an SE’s bandwidth tremendously!
Site Build It!’s SE HQ provides ranking reports for all your KFCPs. And for any poorly performing page, SBI!’s Analyze It! tool shows you how to optimize it better.
http://buildit.sitesell.com/resources2success.html
3) Through the use of log files -- Use log file analyzer software (server or client side) to identify the keywords that people used to find you. Check with your Web host to see what kind of online traffic statistics they can provide. More than likely, though, they will not give the keyword stats that you need.
Tracking your rankings can be a long and tedious affair. If you’re not careful, it can eat into a lot of time. Instead focus your attention on those efforts that will bring your affiliate business the best results, the fastest.
While it is OK to get a feel for how your pages are fairing in the SEs, it is important not lose sight of the big picture…
C -> T -> P -> M
Do not allocate more than a half-hour or so per week to monitor page performance. The creation of quality relevant content always serves your business best. It is the engine that drives traffic!
7.1.5. To Tweak or Not to Tweak? How to Avoid the SEO Quagmire
Many Webmasters, experienced and otherwise, fall into the trap of excessively adjusting or tweaking their Web pages in order to improve SE rankings. (I use the term “tweaking” to refer to the constant experimentation with keyword density and keyword placement in the various page elements.) It is absolutely essential that you avoid the quagmire of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and focus instead on building your business.
Never, except in extreme circumstances, tweak your low-performing Web pages.
If a page isn’t ranking for its Specific Keyword, don’t worry about it.
Follow the guidance outlined so far in this course and get your on-page criteria correct (Analyze It!’s job). As you build pages, you might try experimenting by increasing or decreasing keyword presence. But once you have optimized your page as best you can, it's time to move on. Focus on creating new pages.
In the “good old days” (circa 1996-2001), the SEs were relatively simple to reverse-engineer. Tweaking efforts were generally rewarded with higher rankings, and an accompanying surge of visitors. Today, however, it’s a different story altogether.
Due to the SEs’ increasingly complex ranking algorithms, and a heightened focus on off-page criteria (which collectively form an important indicator of human approval of a Web page), the practice of “tweaking” has become a low-yield affair. The key to top rankings lies off-page (ex., credible in-pointing links from recognized authorities in your field) and not on-page with the manipulation of keyword densities.
Bottom line?
Tweaking diverts you from more fruitful efforts -- the creation of more optimized content, the acquisition of some credible in-pointing links, the establishment of joint venture partnerships, building some word-of-mouth buzz, and so on. Keep in mind that each new optimized Keyword-Focused Content
Page that you create represents another opportunity to rank well at the SEs.
I'm going to repeat that last sentence because it’s such an important concept...
Each new optimized Keyword-Focused Content Page that you create represents another opportunity to rank well at the SEs.
What do you think an engine ultimately is going to prefer? 200 “Analyzed” pages
that humans love or 50 pages that you've tweaked like mad?
Important Tip… We are finding evidence that the sheer size of your site counts as an “off-page” criterion. The total body of your work counts. It’s a waste of time to tweak your pages when the key to a top ranking may lay off-page, not onpage.
Trust the process. Build a content-rich site, and deliver great information about the theme related topics (keywords) that your brainstorming has found. Create Content, Content, and more Content. If you do that, your pages will deliver all the off-page criteria you need!
It always boils down to the same four letters, and “C” starts it all...
C -> T -> P -> M
Leave the tweaking to your competitors. Let them “fiddle while Rome burns.”
Your main priority is to build a vibrant, profitable business!
But let’s suppose that not a single one of your pages is ranking at the SEs for any of your keywords. Is there a time when tweaking your pages is appropriate?
Sure but please do run through this short checklist first before you tweak…
1) Review your keywords. Have you targeted generic, highly competitive terms (ex., health, travel, or worst of all, “Web marketing”)? If you've done your research and brainstorming well, you should have a nice blend of keywords -- from the more general, “bigger-topic” keywords (ex. “Anguilla”) which are generally best used for a home page to a range of keywords appropriately planned for TIER 2 and 3 pages (ex. “best Anguilla restaurants”).
Do not expect to rank highly for the most competitive keywords at first. They will be the last to rank well. Generally, the most focused, specific keywords will start ranking first. And that first trickle of traffic, combined with securing a few inbound links, is what starts momentum building.
OK, you have a good mix of keywords and over 20 pages, yet not a single keyword is ranking yet. What to do?
2) Double-check that you heeded all the recommendations outlined in this course. Assuming that you have and all is OK...
3) Build your site's link popularity by securing some quality in-pointing links from related credible sites. (Full discussion on this in the next chapter.)
Still not ranking? Not even for your easiest keywords? Now's the time for tweaking... but do not tweak existing pages. It’s still not worth it.
Instead, experiment as you build new KFCPs for easy keywords. Add an extra keyword to your Title. Increase the keyword density of your page copy. Vary the keyword prominence somewhat. Don’t be afraid to push the envelope a bit -- add here, subtract there.
Every site concept sits in its own “microenvironment.” You are not competing against every Web page in the world, just those in your particular niche. So it may take a bit more or less to “find your sweet spot.”
Before long, you will begin to rank well. Stick to the easier keywords and experiment until you do. It’s critical that you do not veer away from...
C -> T -> P -> M
Do not let SEO dominate your thoughts. The CTPM process simply works.
http://proof.sitesell.com/resources2success.html
Some businesses start the traffic trickle within a month’s time. Others may take six months. Certain businesses take longer to mature in the SEs. What does it matter? You are building a long-term business.
Simply keep doing what you are doing. Patience rules. Every business has a hump stage... a period where you seem to be stagnating. But it will pass.
To sum up everything… Content drives the C -> T -> P -> M train.
Content builds authority with the SEs, garners in-pointing links from Webmasters, and builds your credibility with your visitors. Every newly optimized page offers another opportunity for top rankings.
Tweaking diverts you from creating new content. It is a low-yield, time consuming process that derails your business, is frustrating, and puts your focus on all the wrong things.
Your business is not SEO... it’s generating revenue from something you know and love!
Stay tune for more…
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