This article reviews the latest developments in getting traffic to your web site.
1. Social marketing and web 2.0 properties
This is all the latest buzz. The idea is that you use web 2.0 sites like Propeller, Tumblr, Squidoo and others to create mini sites that target key words.
If the Google gods smile on you, they spider your site, list it at the top under your key word and all is well.
There are also clever bookmarking methods using services like onlywire.com that tag your site in a number of the sites.
Bottom line? All of these methods are designed to get you organic seo positioning. “Organic seo” is a term used to distinguish between the non-paid listings on left side of your Google search results and the paid listings at the very top and the right side of your results.
So you have organic or non-paid listings. And you have the pay-per-click listings.
Methods, secrets, tricks and techniques for getting top positions in Google have been around since day one.
These methods DO work. But they also go out of style quicker than fashion. If you have the money and time to muck around with a method that may only get you a year of results, or less, go for it.
I tried creating a bunch of these sites and links and nothing happened. That means there’s a substantial learning curve.
On the other hand, creating the sites is free. So your main cost is the cost of buying the know how and the time to implement the methods.
The best approach is to take the articles you create for article marketing and spin web 2.0 properties from them.
Opinion: If you build these web 2.0 properties or sites with quality, unique content — your sites will have staying power.
If you outsource your content creation to the lowest cost bidder, well, keep your fingers crossed.
2. Article marketing
Article marketing in one form or the other has been working for years.
It’s still an organic seo game.
The current vogue is to write articles and submit them to a small set of directories that get a lot of Google love.
The downside is that tomorrow Google could change its mind. You have no control over fickle Google love.
Having said that, article marketing has worked for years and will continue to work. For a person on a limited budget marketing on a national or global basis, it’s a good choice.
If you’re marketing locally, I would think local pay-per-click ads would be a better choice.
A lot of marketers are hiring others to write articles for them. I have mixed feelings about this.
My guess is that in the long run, unique, valuable content will get Google love. And run-of-the-mill content won’t.
The current vogue is article spinning where you use software or services to write variations of your articles, so you don’t submit duplicate articles to the different directories.
It’s a constant cat and mouse game between Google and marketers. Google started penalizing duplicate content, so marketers started spinning articles to avoid the penalty.
The next move is Google’s.
I’m not really on board with the article spinning idea in that it isn’t evergreen. However, some view it as whatever gets traffic this month.
They’ll worry next month about what it takes to get traffic then.
Opinion: Stick to evergreen article marketing methods and provide the Google gods the unique, valuable content they request.
If you outsource articles, go for higher quality writers and vendors who use a brain when they write. My opinion is that over time, Google will find a way to weed out mindless, low quality content.
Opinion: If you have little or no budget, use article marketing.
3. Viral marketing
Viral marketing is good traffic when you can get it.
But can you get it steadily and consistently? That’s the million dollar question.
Of course, the best and brightest minds can. But what about people who are less than marketing gurus?
The best method of viral marketing I know of is still Mike Filsaime’s Butterfly marketing concept.
That means you create high quality content that is given away by others to their list for free. And you make money from an immediate upsell, or as Mike calls it “the OTO” or one time offer.
The reason this works is a lot of people will email valuable content to their list where they might not email a pitch or offer.
As you’ll notice, article marketing and viral marketing come down to the ability to provide quality content.
The good news is that with Elance and other freelancing sites, you CAN have content created. The issue becomes the QUALITY of the content.
The least talented and laziest people will have content created by the lowest cost bidder. And you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out others may not want to email low quality, rehashed, brainless content to their list.
Opinion: Either hire writers who have a brain and use it or develop some expertise on a specific topic yourself.
If you zero in on a specific topic, it doesn’t take long to learn more about it than most others.
Opinion: Viral marketing has a higher skill level than article marketing because you have to find people willing to email your content to their list.
If you have your OWN list, and the content is compelling enough that your own members will spread the word, then you’ve reached the ultimate scenario.
Maybe easier said than done in the days of over-marketed, over-communicated, over-saturated markets. Still, it’s doable.
Opinion: Getting the software set up and running correctly isn’t a piece of cake. Do you use a stand alone installation?
Do you integrate with Amember or other systems? Which software? Do you create separate viral sites for each product? If you use the email feature built into the software programs, where do you host it?
4. Video marketing
One of the latest crazes to hit the scene is creating videos and uploading them to the video sites.
Software programs like Traffic Geyser (and others) will handle the uploading part for you.
I know of one marketer getting 200+ opt ins per day from video sites at no cost. Not a bad deal.
As more and more marketers all rush to use the same method, Google will undoubtedly show less and less love to these videos.
Part of the play is organic, meaning that Google has shown these video sites its love.
However, these sites get a LOT of traffic. So video marketing is likely here to stay, although the results will dilute over time.
Matt Bacak is turning his articles into videos and uploading them. That’s a sound strategy that leverages content in a rational way.
Opinion: Video marketing is here to stay but measure the results and watch your return on time and investment.
5. Pay-per-click marketing
I hate Google. Sometimes.
They keep turning the screws on marketers tighter and tighter, even for those PAYING for advertising.
I really wish there was someone else in the game who had traffic and considered more the interests of marketers.
Unfortunately, Google IS the game. Well, there’s Ebay. But they just put the clamps down on ebook marketing.So they’re following the footsteps of Google.
The good news is the instant traffic IS there and you CAN buy it. Until Google changes their ever loving mind again, the game right now is about relevancy. Meaning the more closely your ad exactly matches the search term and the content on the landing page, the lower your CTR (click through rate).
The WHOLE problem and issue with this is it takes away the advantage you had in pay-per-click to freakin’ begin with — scalability.
Now, the best and brightest minds do find ways to hack, get around, or comply with Google’s whims and demands.
For example, one of my friends found that by selling ebooks for $17.00 on highly specific topics, he could get the advantages of relevancy, positive revenue and scalability.
I think he’s onto something. This is the best strategy I’ve heard about lately.
Opinion: You can’t trick Google in the end. So you have to find ways to create landing pages that match the search terms. And then figure out how to scale that.
My personal solution is to try to hire someone. If you can’t afford to hire someone (perhaps overseas), you’ll have to invest a lot of your personal time and keep your fingers
crossed that in an overnight Google slap your marketing doesn’t fall apart!
Opinion: Stay away from gimmicks, do your best to give Google what they want and keep it evergreen.
6. Affiliate marketing
The final option I’d like to discuss is affiliate marketing.
For many years, this has been my chosen method for obtaining traffic. The landscape has changed in Internet marketing.
Nowadays, affiliates are driven by the launch of the week. That means you aren’t likely to get the continual traffic you did in the old days.
However, in protected niches, this isn’t so. And affiliate marketing can still be a huge tool for you.
In the arena of Internet marketing, the competition for affiliates to promote an offer is voracious. Mostly, it’s built on small groups of friends and “inner circle camps” promoting each others offers.
Opinion: Affiliate marketing is still gold in niches. If you’re in the Internet marketing arena, you better beready to run with the big dogs or you won’t get much action.
Opinion: Affiliate marketing has a higher skill level than other methods because you have to network and get others to take action. The payoffs can be sweet but it’s a game best played by good networkers.
The analysis
Social marketing — Google loves these sites right now. But how long before Google withdraws its favor? Who knows?
Article marketing — has always worked and still works. Some of the methods change. Focus on quality content.
Viral marketing — Not as simple as article marketing. But the basic “Butterfly Marketing” strategy has legs and will continue to work. Hey, people love free content. The key here is to have content high enough in quality that others will want to send it to their list.
Video marketing — Video sites have big traffic. Watch your roi. Turn your articles into videos and leverage your content.
Pay-per-click marketing — Focus on evergreen strategies. Find a way to outsource or hire talent so you can scale.
Affiliate marketing — A more difficult game for newbies. Plays to the strengths of networkers. Still works in niches.
Organic seo — The rules change frequently. Are you smart enough and swift enough to keep Google’s love?
