Traffficum.com – Traffic for your website

 

 

Alternative marketing, also known as word-of-mouth, aims to reach consumers more directly than by traditional advertising on radio or television, or in print. It tends to be confusing, though, beginning with the number of names by which it is called. You can pick your favorite from a regular buffet of terms: under-the-radar marketing, below-the-line marketing, renegade marketing, street marketing, ambush marketing, vanguard marketing, ambient marketing, guerrilla marketing, covert marketing, stealth marketing, viral marketing, or diffusion marketing. They are all equally evocative of a marketing style that is unconventional in concept and hit-and-run in execution. Let’s look at just a few of the variations.

The Video Virus: Is it Catching?



Probably the best-known technique in alternative advertising is the viral video. A short video clip is produced, and slipped stealthily in front of the consumer by posting it on Internet forums, e-mails, video-sharing sites, and the like. This video is unlike the usual television commercial; it’s usually either humorous, or controversial, or both. A TV commercial wants to transfer information about a product to the potential consumer. These viral videos may include information transference, but their purpose is to entertain and amuse you. The idea behind them is that if people are interested and amused, they will pass the video clip on to Internet friends, and more people will then see it. Somewhere in the video is usually something about a product, or at least its name. Advertising companies believe that the details about a product will be sought out by the audience, if they enjoyed the video enough.

This is an interactive model of advertising, in that the consumer is active in receiving, viewing, and passing on the video clip. Even by just doing those three things, a person is exerting more effort than the watcher of television, who is simply sitting and watching. To see a video clip, at a minimum you need to press Play, or click on an arrow. And if you like it enough, you may watch it a few more times, then send it to some of your friends in an e-mail. After all this, it’s likely that you’ll remember the product when you’re in the market for something like it.

Blogs and Buzz

“Blog” is short for “web log”. Merriam-Webster Online defines “blog” as “an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer”. Blogs are a great way to reach an audience that pays no attention to traditional print and television advertising. Their contrast with the cleverly-produced values that are hyped on corporate websites is their “homespun” character. The voice in which they are told might be your own voice; at any rate, it’s the voice of ordinary, everyday folks. Many blogs are still, essentially, online diaries written by an individual; others have begun to dabble in the waters of marketing.

Anybody at all can set up a blog, as long as they have an Internet connection and something to say. There are webhosting services for sale that will help you create your own website for a blog, but you can get into blogging without hiring such a service. Most of the social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, or LiveJournal offer free blogging capabilities. In fact, there are so many sites and possibilities for blogging on the Internet that a new term, “blogosphere,” has been invented to encompass blogs and their myriad interconnections.

The marketing sphere and the blogosphere are beginning to intersect. Advertisers want to create “buzz” around their products: what better way than to get people talking about a product on their blogs? Young people, Generation Y-ers, and cool young professionals go to the Internet for the same services their parents would find in a telephone directory, an atlas, a road map, a radio or TV news program. This means that the Internet is the perfect place for advertisers to show their wares to potential customers. And blogs, because they are so friendly and believable, are the perfect medium for creating credibility.

You Can’t Get Away from the Ads!

The next new angle for advertising is the “captive audience”. Several companies like TransitTV are working this angle for all it’s worth. In five major US cities, over 3,000 buses, trolleys, and other public vehicles now have 8,400 screens installed to reach the captive audience. If you’re on a bus, in an elevator, or sitting in a restroom stall – you can’t get away from the ads! You can’t fast-forward through the commercials, or even turn the TV off! You are stuck, and even if you determinedly avoid looking at the screen, you can’t help hearing the sound.

TransitTV offers advertisers just what they want: an audience that is completely captive. There is only one channel, hence no flipping a remote from channel to channel when the commercials come on. There’s nothing else to watch. There is no way to get away from the commercial. Sometimes the commercials are hidden in what’s supposed to be a review of current events, a watered-down, not-of-the-moment news program; sometimes they are not. They’re the only game in town. Your only defense, as a consumer, is to avoid public transportation and elevators like the plague.

TransitTV also gives the advertising companies detailed demographic breakdowns of people exposed to their network. In addition, they can provide accurate measurements of advertising success. Advertisers love them; soon they’ll be everywhere.

“How’s It Going? Here, Try This!”

In an effort to make marketing more personal, and create real connections between advertisers and the people they want to target, “street teams” are becoming more popular. These people are paid to go out on the downtown streets and talk to people they encounter. They are a little like the lady in the supermarket with the bite-size samples of something or other – except that it’s easy enough to take another aisle if you don’t want to deal with the Sample Lady. The Street Team is right out there, walking alongside you, asking you to try something… it’s very hard just to brush past. It’s rude. They are counting on the likelihood that you won’t want to appear discourteous, and that you will have a verbal exchange with them, and maybe even agree to taste the crackers or cereal they’re pushing. They have already put up fliers and posters all over the buildings, so you’ve seen the name of the product just recently…

This is a first step in the creation of buzz. Advertisers have decided that the best way to get started on a network of personal connections that will be buzzing about their product is to force the personal connection between consumers and a company.

Buzz… buzz… buzz

“Buzz” is defined by Merriam-Webster Online as “speculative or excited talk or attention relating especially to a new or forthcoming product or event.” It’s estimated that consumers are exposed to about 3,000 commercial messages every day; so in order to cut through the clutter and make a point about your product, you’ve got to try something different. All the alternative advertising methods touched upon here are designed to create buzz and keep it going.

 

And buzz is a whole lot cheaper to use than traditional advertising. During primetime viewing hours, it costs an advertiser about $450,000 for a 30-second spot on television, for just a single airing. That’s just the airtime; it doesn’t include any production costs, actors, etc. Enough advertisers are investigating and using buzz that they have actually formed an association to try to weed out unscrupulous word-of-mouth advertisers. The Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association was formed in 2001, and is working with the Federal Trade Commission to set up guidelines to regulate marketing practices and prevent dishonest strategies.

I often get emails from my customers asking me how I manage to get my customers coming back to my websites over and over again. Many webmasters have a customer visit them once and then they disappear for good. It really doesn’t need to be like this as you should be able to capture your visitors in a way that they can not resist a return in the future.

 

Here are my favourite 6 powerful ways to get your Website visitors returning for more:

 

Publish a free Ezine – This is my favourite method, if you offer one of quality with great special offers you will become known for it. This will result in people visiting your Website or Blog to find out more information. Through this type of method you will be able to see your visitors increase and the number of subscribers you have will go through the roof. You could then use these subscribers to recommend pages in your Website or Blog.

 

Free updates list – Create a separate subscribers list just for website updates. When people join this list as soon as you place a new article or e-book on your website they will be informed about it straightaway. Even if you have created just a really small change you are still having repeat website visitors have a good old noisy at what you have been up to. You can create a notify list for pretty much anything I have one for affiliates for example so that if a new product hits the market they will know about it first and is a great way to get your affiliate sellers with very little effort.

 

Add a forum – I could probably name fifty forums that I regularly exchange comments on. This can be anything from a little bit of personal fun through to assistance in creating new products. Not to mention taking advantage of the signature and advertising my own products. Everyone loves forums and it is a great way to communicate with others, if you adding one to your site you can pretty much guarantee repeat visitors on a long term basis.

 

Create a special offers section – This is your personal goldmine and should never be knocked for what it can do for your business. Whether it is a one off or a weekly special if people know that you will be placing it on a regular basis and will come back especially looking for it. Once you have reeled them in the majority will have a good look around and purchase your other products.

 

Add a free resource – If you could provide something for free that your customers desperately need they will come and visit you a daily basis just for this resource. This could include a link reducer, keyword checker or even a Google search facility and trust me it works like you would not believe.

 

Add a free resource section – You could offer something that would add to the niche that you are focusing on. For example if you are working within the make money online niche you could offer a section were people can download lots of free internet marketing e-books.

 

If you tried just two of these ideas you would be able to see a swift increase in traffic through to your Website or Blog. Just imagine how much traffic you would get if you tried all of them.

Fortunately there are more ways than one to increase website traffic. If you don’t mind spending a few bucks to attract visitors, the options obviously increase. But let’s examine what you can do to increase website traffic totally free of cost. It can be done and here are 10 ways to do it.

10 Effective Website Promotion Techniques



Search engine and directory submission: This is the first step towards effective website promotion. Don’t wait for the search engines to find your site. Go ahead and submit to them voluntarily. Submitting a sitemap would be better and will encourage the search engines to examine your site more often. Visits by the Search Engine Spiders are a key way to increase website traffic.



Top search engine ranking: Search engines drive maximum traffic to websites. Millions of surfers depend on search engines to locate the information they want. Research proves that people won’t usually go beyond 2-3 results’ pages (top 30 results) in their quest. Now you know the importance of gaining a top listing.



Listing in the top directories: Don’t ignore directory listings for your website; they get you about 10% of the traffic. You can really increase website promotion through the directories. The directories have human edited listings, and are more reliable and relevant. Don’t ignore Open Directory Projects, such as DMOZ.



Build link popularity: Top search engines count inbound links when ranking your website. Look for free link exchange programs. You can increase website traffic by including relevant links to your site. Some website owners use free blogs as lead generation tools. These things definitely help in your website promotion efforts. They are also a direct means to increase website traffic for free! Free classified ads that allow links to your URL are also good ways to increase website traffic.



Article marketing as traffic drivers: A relatively new but powerful website promotion tool and excellent website traffic booster. Publish articles on Ezine and Article Directories. Articles create interest in your website as you are seen as an expert. Having your URL and anchor text listed increases your number of relevant inbound links.



Use forums: Forums are a good way to boost your website promotion campaign as they are opinion builders. Join discussions and include your website URL.



Sign-up visitors for newsletters: Signing up new visitors is a great way to increase website traffic. The more the subscribers you have, the more revisits you will get. Use links to various products and pages throughout the newsletter.



Increase organic and direct traffic: Give your visitors reasons for them to return to your site. Use ideas like autoresponder courses, etc. Organic increase of your website’s popularity means retaining your audience while you ramp up your website promotion tactics.



Hire a professional to design your website: Good website design goes a long way toward retaining your visitors and increasing new visits to your site. A professional web designer knows that pages that are very long and require lots of scrolling down risk abandonment without getting read. A professional website design job will go a long way in retaining your visitors, drawing new ones and is an excellent website promotion tool. A professional web designer can give your site just the right mix of graphics and text.



Beat your competition: You win when your products and add real value for customers. This is the sure-fire way to beat the competition in addition to improving your site’s content and appearance. Therefore, knowing your competition is essential.



Despite not finding a place in the list, choosing the right business or topic for your website and its content holds the key to effective website promotion. Popular topics drive more traffic than a Ph.D. dissertation.

Web traffic refers to the number of people viewing number of pages. The more they view a page the higher would be the Web traffic.Web traffic is measured by using external tracking device and also by packet sniffing device.

By using these techniques of measuring Web traffic one can get information about web traffic across the internet. One should be very alert while monitoring Web traffic. While measuring Web traffic one should calculate the number of visitors, the number of page viewed per visitor and the duration of the visit on a particular page.

Web traffic is also monitered by finding about the domain classes and the most popular pages. We traffic measuring also involves finding out aout the Top paths. In Web traffic a host finds out the link source and thereby find out which sites generate the most traffic.

There are many Web sites which conduct Web traffic rankings on the basis of the people who visiting the sites. Its simple, if your web site is liked by many and has become popular the more would be the Web traffic.