So you recognize the need for content in order to satisfy both the customer AND the search engines. But how does content actually bring your web site traffic?

Since it’s been established that the main methods of driving traffic are from search engines and hyperlinks from other sites, most of these suggestions will contribute to one method or the other and occasionally both. Some suggestions include offline activities that can attract another audience altogether. By diversifying your tactics you are creating a well-rounded game plan to drive traffic to your site.

Search engines are the main source for internet users to find the information they are looking for. Being listed high in the search engines means more people will find you when looking for the product, service or information you provide. Search engines use different methods for determining your position in the listings.  Understanding how they work and what they’re looking for can help you get the best listings.

Hyperlinks are links that direct a visitor or search engine to another website or page. When websites provide a link to your site it tells the search engines that you are valuable and thus affects your position in the listings. In the right place it can direct human traffic to your site as well.

Here are a few suggestions and examples you can use to improve your search engine position and create hyperlinks to your website. Which methods will work for you depend on your website, writing abilities and determination.

Keywords

Keywords have always been important to search engines. People use search engines to find information on a topic by typing a word or phrase and receiving a list of the most relevant sites (as determined by the search engine).

Not using keywords properly is where many have gone wrong. Filling a page with keywords will NOT get you a good rating with the search engines. However, writing content that uses popular search words WILL.

By researching the popular keywords for your topic or product, you can create information that places these words into the context of an article for your website. 

By creating an article and optimizing each page for a separate keyword you can easily get the search engines to include you in the results when users search for that word or phrase. Depending on the competition you may find yourself surprisingly close to the top position after the search engine finds you.

Information

Information is the basis of the internet. By providing search engines and visitors with plenty of information on your topic you will provide plenty of opportunities for the search engines to list you in the search results.

By creating information you will also become a resource for other websites that may link to you, providing your site with valuable hyperlinks. Information is a great way to show your visitors that you have something worthwhile to impart and they’ll be more likely to recommend you to others.

Information can be news related to your topic, updates, commentary or tips and hints. Everyone loves a ‘how-to…’ format, so consider creating one for your site for the most attention.

Web Pages

Websites NEED pages. The more, the better.

Having a website filled with keyword-filled, template style pages will not impress the search engines or your visitors. However, websites with pages of real content and relevant links to other sites will become a feeding ground for the search engines.

Slowly but steadily adding pages of real content will help your site attract the search engine spiders on a regular basis. This is the ‘tortoise wins the race’ philosophy to making friends with the search engines!

Creating content for these pages is crucial. Your visitors may land on a page of your site that is not the main page. Having information on every page that focuses attention on your main product or service will generate more interest and sales.

Newsletters

Have you heard that ‘the money is in the list’? What list are they talking about?

Your SUBSCRIBER list. Yes, with close to 80% of sales taking place after the first contact it is imperative that every website have a newsletter when possible. The percentage of sales goes up with each contact – the highest percentage being made after 5 to 7 contacts.

But to have a newsletter you must have content! So start putting some ideas together and write those newsletters. Set up your website to attract subscribers and wait for the follow up of traffic as they open their email and come back to your site.

By giving your subscribers relevant and valuable content, you can build trust and can offer suggestions to promote your products, services and affiliate links. Your visitors will judge you based on the value of the content you send. If you only advertise without giving beneficial information for free, your subscribers may soon start deleting your emails without reading them.

Develop a series of brief but informative articles. Perhaps the bulk of the information can be created on an optimized webpage and an introduction be presented in the newsletter while directing them to your site for further information.

Getting your subscribers back to your site should be the primary objective.

Free Reports

Free reports are a great way to attract subscribers to your newsletter. These reports can also be given away by other people (on related websites) with a link to YOUR website inside. You provide them something to give to their customers for free and you get the traffic that follows!

By including a free report on a topic that is relevant and of interest to your visitors as a subscription bonus you can entice hesitant visitors to sign up for your newsletter. Make certain the report has value for the subscriber or they may feel it was simply a bribe to capture their email address.

Identify a problem or question that might attract your visitors. Write a two or three page report that gives a partial solution. Indicate your product or service as part of the solution, but do not necessarily make it sound like an advertisement.

To create your report you can provide more details to your service than is listed on your webpage (ie: ‘Find out how YOU can save money on home repairs with this special report…). You might also try one that warns of a danger (Are you putting YOUR family at risk? Find out with this special report…).

Send the report via an autoresponder or manually send it to your subscribers as soon as possible so they remember to open their email.

Submission to Article Directories

If you are writing content for your own website then you don’t want to overlook the benefits of sharing your efforts with others.

By writing short articles on the topic related to your website, you can offer these articles for other website owners or newsletter publishers to use by submitting them to an article directory.

 These directories get spidered by the search engines on a regular basis because of the high value of the content they provide. If you have not yet been picked up by the search engines this is the easiest way to get them to find you. You also get exposure to those who look for articles in the directories for use on their sites.

When they make use of your articles on their websites or in their newsletters, you will get the credit as the author along with a link to your website. Not only will you gain visitors, but you will benefit from the hyperlinks that are created.

Submission to Relevant Websites

Another beneficial use for articles is to offer them directly to sites you would like to share an audience with.

This is not only a great way to gain credibility for your topic, but will provide useful hyperlinks all over the internet. Sometimes you can even get links from sites that would not agree to a formal link exchange request. If the site which uses your article is a high traffic site you will also gain invaluable exposure to the visitors reading your article.

Forums

Forums – groups of internet users that discuss common interests online – are a fantastic way to share information.

Search for a forum that discusses something related to your website. Be sure to spend time ‘lurking’. That means reading the posts and becoming familiar with the style of discussion and written (and unwritten) rules. Most forums forbid spamming. What is considered spam by one forum is perfectly acceptable by another, but blatant advertising rarely is appreciated.

In most cases you can either post a link to your website in your signature or share information that arouses questions about your website from other posters. Some forums permit you to post your articles (if the forum is business related). If you are unsure about the policies, be careful. Offering free advice can sometimes be enough to establish credibility and if you have a blog or other non-marketing site you may be able to send traffic to that first and encourage visitors to visit your website from the blog.

Linking Pages

Are you creating linking pages to impress the search engines? How much more value would they have if you offered quality, optimized content for each of your categories?

Rather than having a bland list of ‘linking partners’ you could be using your links to gain more credibility AND provide more content for the search engines.

Create a separate page for each link category and write 200-400 words of content on that subject. Offering your recommended links at the end will make you a source for information rather than just a catalogue of links.

Optimizing each page for a popular keyword will draw more traffic to your site than links alone. It will also be more beneficial for your visitors who are searching for related resources.

Press Release

If you thought you were starting to grasp the importance of content, you haven’t even started to see the potential yet.

Press releases should become an important part of your marketing. What do you need to create a press release? Content.

Press releases are notices to the media about newsworthy events, accomplishments or information.  By creating a press release to announce a new product, results of a poll or related news event, you can get free advertising in the media.

News media is always looking for new content for their readers. Learning how to compose and deliver a press release will give you access to this pool of willing advertisers.

To create your own press release, go to a website like www.PRweb.com and read the releases that are posted there. When you are familiar with the format you can write your own and submit it. Just avoid advertising copy and be sure to highlight some new thought or angle to make your press release newsworthy for publishers to use. If you want to invest the extra money you can hire a press release writer or have your release reviewed by a PRweb specialist.

Newspaper

Press releases can work just as well in your local paper as they do in online news websites.

Submit your press release to the editor or the writer for the section of the newspaper you want to target.

You could also try to submit your own column, giving tips and related information to your topic, as a free form of advertising. Smaller newspapers may find this idea more appealing since larger newspapers would not be likely to publish your works without formal working arrangements.

Magazine Articles

Just like online magazines, printed magazines need fresh content all the time. If you are writing articles you may be able to submit them to magazine editors for review.

Be sure to follow their policies which may be listed on their website or you can email or phone for instructions. Just like newspapers, you will have a greater chance for success if you target smaller publishers first.

Classifieds

Online classifieds have gone through some fluctuations of their own. Originally touted as one of the best methods to get traffic, the inundation of ads by internet marketers nearly flooded the market and made it impossible for readers to find what they were looking for.

However, using classifieds can still send you some traffic and will also help your site get listed in the search engines. Use keyword phrases in your ad and include a hyperlink. You are not putting a lot of content in these ads, but what you do put needs to be effective.

Offline Brochure

Do you promote a product, information or service that can be used locally? Consider creating a brochure that gives information on a question related to your topic. Include reference to how using YOUR service or product will assist them in solving the problem. Give some brief answers and point out your website as a source for more information.

Offer to leave your brochures in places that might attract your audience or post them on community boards. Pass them along to friends and family who might pass them along to others for you.

Traffic is people – whether they come to your site or directly to you, they all count.

Newsletter Exchange

Are you having success with your newsletter? Perhaps you’d like to approach another website owner and offer to write a short article for his subscribers – or to exchange articles to promote one another to each other’s list.

If the newsletter isn’t competition, but complimentary to your market, they should be equally interested to talk to your list of subscribers.

Article Announcement Lists

Article announcement lists are similar to article directories in that your article will be placed before an audience of webmasters and publishers who may choose to use your article on their website or in their newsletter.

The advantage of article announcement lists is that the members sign up to receive new articles by email. Your article will be directly sent to members who are interested in the topic of your article based on the list description they have subscribed to.

Yahoo! has a ‘Groups’ area where you can browse the lists and sign up to receive announcements. By following the guidelines for posting, you can submit articles relevant to the topic (for example there are groups for home, business, internet etc.)

The individuals receiving your article have already indicated an interest in articles on the chosen topic and this creates the perfect audience for your material. You may find traffic coming directly from the members of the list or from their websites when they publish your article with your link.

Publish an Ecourse

Create a multi page tutorial that can be given to subscribers or given away by other businesses.

Like a report, the ecourse can be offered as a freebie by yourself or others. The readers receive valuable tips and information all while being directed to your site at the end of each lesson. You may find that a tutorial delivered over the course of several weeks allows you to develop a relationship with your reader whether they originally received it from you or someone else.

By providing valuable instructions on a related topic to your business you are warming up your audience to become future customers or clients.

Affiliate Programs

Help your affiliates drive traffic to your site by giving them letters or reports to post on their sites or in their newsletters. Your affiliates are also in need of content to provide their customers and if you are providing that content for free they will have more success in sending their subscribers or visitors in your direction.

Your Blog

Creating a blog that is related to your business or niche will allow you to attract an audience that may not respond to a sales page. Providing content and news about your topic with hyperlinks to your various articles or sales pages is an indirect way to send traffic to your site. You can set up a free blog at www.blogger.com.

If you have valuable content and offer subscriptions to your blog (subscription services are free at www.bloglet.com) you can create a pool of readers who will turn to you first when looking for your product or service. You can also make your blog available for others to publish on their websites by creating an RSS feed. This will allow other websites to automatically run your new content on their websites every time you update your blog.

By submitting your blog to www.PingOmatic.com you can alert other blog services when you post updates.

Other Peoples’ Blogs

Your content can be just as valuable to other bloggers who may have a difficult time finding content to share with their readers.

Offering to submit an article to a relevant blog can be a great way to drive traffic to your site with the use of a hyperlink in your author credit.

Be a Contributing Writer

If your writing skills or expertise are truly impressive you may be able to offer an online or offline magazine or newsletter your services as a contributing writer.

By writing a column on your topic or service and having it regularly published in a magazine that caters to your audience, you will have the opportunity to place yourself as an ‘expert’, leading to loyal readers and customers.

With all these suggestions to use content for building traffic, what kind of content should you be using?