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Website Traffic?What?s That? |
Written by J.P. Holesworth
So you have a website. Now what? How are you going to get
people to visit your site? Regardless of how well your website markets
your product or how well designed the site is, there also has to be
traffic to it, or all is for nothing. No matter how popular and
aesthetic Starbucks is, a Starbucks built out in the middle of the
woods won’t sell any coffee because there’s no traffic there-- unless
of course, squirrels and raccoons start drinking coffee…but since
forest creatures don’t carry cash or credit cards, it’s just a no-win
situation.
I know this commentary is getting ridiculous. But isn’t it also
ridiculous to expect a website to have traffic simply because it is
online? Surprisingly enough, many people expect just this. And horribly
enough, many home based business opportunity “gurus” prey upon this
type of ignorance. Various business program packages out there now
include a website and usually charge around $20 per month for hosting.
The websites can be very nice looking and completely set up—all you do
is add some personal info., and they’re ready to go. But go where?
Imagine having an actual physical storefront business that
faces an alleyway instead of the street. Also imagine having no signs
or windows—and your telephone number is unlisted. Such an establishment
would be doomed from the beginning, even if the merchandise inside were
of the highest quality and the staff were friendly and knowledgeable.
Who would ever know?
Many people still perceive the internet as a unique and
different entity, with its own unique structure, set of rules and
operating mode. This, however, couldn’t be further from the truth. All
fundamental laws of Positioning-Marketing and real estate-location
relevance apply online with regard to websites and online promotion.
What makes the internet different, unique and very exciting is
the velocity at which information moves and the expanse of areas to
which it can travel. In this sense, there’s no comparison in the
physical world. Particularly when considering exponential propagation
of information across multiple points. So, the POTENTIAL of your
website is astronomical. Getting it exposed to traffic is the KEY.
As a new online business person, you should familiarize yourself with
terms like, Search Engine Optimization “SEO”, Key Words & Key Word
Advertising, Viral Marketing, Basic HTML & Meta Tags, URL Linking,
Affiliate Marketing, Joint Venturing, E-mail Autoresponders &
Prospect list building, Search Engine Listing and Niche Marketing, just
for starters. There’s lots of info. online, if you Google Search any of
the above terms. So take the time to surf and review the results of
these terms and get yourself acquainted with their meanings. You can
even search “’Term’ Glossary” and get great results that help to define
much of the strange new terminology related to internet marketing.
At some point you will come to realize that many of these
specialized terms have direct parallel meanings and relationships to
running & promoting a physical business establishment. The reason
for many of the “new” terms is due to internet marketing’s other
relationship with computer technology. That’s where many of us go off
the rails when just starting out.
So familiarize yourself in the areas mentioned above, define
the key terms and then you’ll find yourself better equipped to take
your website to the marketplace as well as bring the marketplace to
your site. On the internet, both can be considered to be “mobile”.
Article Source: Articuli.com - Articles and Content
J.P. Holesworth lives in The Pacific Northwest with a stressed-out Chihuahua—and uses his computer monitor as a tanning device.
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