This post is going to contain the simple, yet effective techniques I have learned during my time online to generate targeted traffic and generate sales. These are strategies I’m using for my own online business and have found to be working well and improving over time.

If you’ve been following along with us, my last post was about a struggling internet marketer who is reaching out in a desperate attempt to generate sales with his affiliate marketing website.

One of the questions asked was, “How do I drive traffic to my site that can generate sales?”

This is going to be the topic of this post, and I’ll be going very in-depth, starting with the basics and moving towards the more advanced strategies.

I apologize in advance if this turns into a very lengthy post, but please bare with me as it will be well worth your time to read through everything.

So let’s begin, shall we?

The very first thing you must understand is that everything revolves around keywords. Keywords are the life-blood of websites and how they become seen by internet users using search engines.

SEO (search engine optimization) is the foundation of using keywords effectively, and this is how you’re going to target specific internet users to generate sales online.

Rather than going in-depth on the subject of SEO on this post, I have a few previous posts that should cover this subject thoroughly enough for you to understand. Please check them out, and if you have questions use the comment section:

• Web Page Optimization
• Easy Free Keyword Research
• Discover Commercial Intention of Keyword Phrases

Optimizing your web page for specific keywords is critical and is the foundation for which you’ll build the rest of your marketing efforts upon. Seriously, nothing else matters until you’ve done this. Don’t ignore it!

One thing I’ve learned is that backlinks are KING. Okay, so content is still KING, but backlinks are a very close second, and here’s why. Backlinks to your website or web pages are what helps to drive your site or pages higher in search engine results pages when someone searches for a specific keyword phrase. See how this is coming together?

Without building backlinks to your site, you won’t generate enough traffic to your site to generate sales. Now I know what you’re thinking here. There are other ways to generate traffic without building backlinks, and that’s true. However, the best traffic is free search engine traffic, and the only way to get it is to rank on the first page in Google, or Yahoo and Bing. I’d focus on Google as it produces over 70% of search traffic across the entire web.

Now that you understand the importance of building backlinks and getting your site or web pages to the top of search engines, you now need to start the backlink building process. There are numerous ways to go about this, and luckily for you, I’ve written many posts on the subject. Here they are:

• Improve Search Engine Rankings the Easy Way
• Get 80 High PR One Way Backlinks Each Month
• Build Long-Term Traffic to Your Work From Home Site with Article Marketing
• Build Your Online Business with Article Marketing
• Forum Signatures
• Free Traffic System

Remember when building backlinks that you want to use your keywords for the web page you’re linking to. This is the only way that your backlinks are going to be effective in boosting your search engine rankings.

Okay, so you now have  a great start in getting backlinks; however, I’m not done just yet.

Well… sorta. I have a post planned that will discuss another very effect backlink building strategy and will be posted soon, so stay tuned for that.

Hopefully right now you have a solid understanding of doing keyword research and web page optimization, and how it all ties in to building backlinks. This is all part of building targeted website traffic that will result in sales.

As always, if you have any questions about anything discussed here, leave a comment below.

My next post will discuss the second question asked by a struggling internet marketer, but in the meantime, start applying the tips I mentioned today to your website, and you’ll soon see an increase in traffic and internet income.

Writing articles is an art form. Developing content for the net takes time and practice. Writing effectively and getting your readers to respond is the first benefit in building traffic. This results in direct traffic as readers are inclined to click on your link(s) in the resource box of your article.

I suggest you take a moment to visit Patricia Makhulo’s Article Marketing Made Easy post which gives you many great pointers on getting your article noticed and read.

Article marketing has two main traffic benefits: direct traffic and search traffic. Both are important and should be utilized to their fullest potential. You want to get as much bang for your buck as possible, so there’s no point in wasting a good article by only getting half the potential traffic.

Article marketing is one of the best ways to create long-term, targeted traffic to your website. I’m going to explain both traffic benefits.

An article is made up of different elements that are essential to getting direct traffic. These elements include:

• Defining the product/service you need to promote – Most articles have the purpose of providing useful information in order to pre-sell a product or service.
• Using the “useful, but incomplete approach” – Provide useful information to your readers, but make sure it’s incomplete and that they could better use the information by visiting the link(s) in your resource box.
• Using a tips list or tutorial format when applicable – If your article can be broken down into a list format, then do it. This will direct your readers along towards realizing their need for your product/service.
• Expanding on your main points to build the content of the article – as I’m doing with these key elements, provide information that expands on the main points of the article.
• Providing a closing or “call to action,” usually in the resource box, also known as the “about the author” section – Most people fail to do this. The resource box is there for a reason. Tell your readers to visit your link(s) to make better use of what they read.
• Re-reading and proofreading the article to avoid errors – Don’t do this yourself as most people fail to catch their own mistakes. Have someone proofread your article for you so that it reads well and is error free. The best thing you can do when crafting an article is to write in a clear and concise manner. You need to convey your message to your readers so that they can understand it. Your article should read as though you were talking face to face with them.

If you focus on these key elements, your article stands a much better chance of receiving clickthroughs and your website getting targeted, direct traffic. Also keep Patricia’s models in mind as they work very well too.

The other main benefit involves getting natural search engine traffic from people searching for information. Aside from direct traffic, search traffic is just as good because it’s also highly targeted. Most searches performed in a search engine are for information. That’s why it’s so important that you provide useful information to your readers because there’s a better chance that they’ll convert to a customer.

There’s two elements that you need to be aware of when striving to get search traffic as a result of your articles. As people search for information, they enter keywords into the search box. The keywords they enter determine what results are displayed.

It is your job to find out what keywords those people are searching for. I recommend Google’s External Keyword Tool. Once you determine the keywords you’re going to focus on, the two elements soon come together. The first element is writing your article for specific keywords.

You need to determine what keyword phrase you need your article to rank for in search engines so that it is displayed when someone searches for that keyword phrase. This may sound complicated, but all you need to know here is that as long as you provide useful and unique content, your article will get noticed.

Websites are primarily ranked based on how many backlinks (links pointing to your site from other relevant sites) they have. The key here is containing the keywords you need your website to rank for within those backlinks. This you can completely control with the use of your article resource box.

The second element applies to your website. This involves the use of your article resource box. While the resource box can be used as your call to action as discussed earlier, it also has another use. As you need to get your article ranked high in search engines for a particular keyword phrase, you also need to get your website ranked high for keywords as well.

While developing your call to action phrase, create a link to the web page that you want to send your readers that contains your keywords you need your page to rank for in search engines. Every article you create will contain your resource box with your call to action and a backlink to your website. You see how your resource box serves two purposes in one?

If all of this sounds a bit confusing to you, then you should read some of my other posts on SEO:

Web Page Optimization

5 SEO Tasks You Should Do Every Day

I also recommend Suzanne Morrison’s 3 Steps to Search Engine Success.

Applying these methods to your article marketing efforts will ensure direct and long-term traffic for years to come. Both forms of traffic are equally important, so don’t ignore these methods. Article marketing, when done properly, will help you build your business and set it up for long lasting success. Remember, your website must have traffic, and article marketing can help you achieve it.

If your online business consists of a website promoting products or services, then your business depends upon getting traffic to your site. It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to sell if no one ever finds it. You must continually work to get traffic to your site on a daily basis. I’m going to detail the steps I take to build my online business, and how you can do the same.

Step One: Web Page Optimization

SEO, or search engine optimization is important for your website. Specifically, I’m going to talk about web page optimization. This first step is THE most important step that you can take to build your online business. Your website’s survival depends on it! Skipping this step is futile for you and your business. If you want to succeed, then make sure you do this FIRST.

Make sure you optimize your web pages for the search engines, importantly your homepage. Don’t worry, it’s not rocket science. Just follow the steps below, and you’ll be well on your way.

• Keyword Research – Web page optimization begins with keyword research. Find and pick keywords that people search for that are relevant to your site. Here’s what I mean by this. If you sell dog toys on your site, then keywords you might choose are “dog toys,” “dog accessories,” etc. The more relevant, the better. These are keywords that people actually search for in the search engines to find your site.
• Keyword Tools – It helps to know how many times a certain keyword phrase is searched for. Keyword tools can be very helpful for determining the best phrases to optimize your site for. Here’s a good list of keyword tools: Google’s Keyword Tool, Keyword Discovery, SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool, and Wordpot. They are all free to use and will give you a pretty good idea on how many people search for a given term. You want a good amount of searches per day for each keyword phrase, at least 200-300 a day. Here’s where it gets tricky. You don’t want much competition for those keywords, either. Once you find a few good keywords, do a search on Google for that phrase in quotes. If you want to rank for online business, then do a search for “online business” including the quotes, and see how many pages are returned. This will give you an idea of how much competition you will be up against.
• Keyword Placement – Web page optimization is achieved with proper keyword placement. This requires you know a little bit about HTML. Don’t fret, it’s not a big deal. If you don’t know much about HTML you can take a look at this Basic HTML Tag Tutorial. There’s more on HTML on that site, so have a look around and learn something new. Okay, back to web page optimization. Make sure to place your keyword phrase between the <TITLE> and </TITLE> tags of your page. Only put one of your phrases in the title, as Google will give more emphasis on it. If your page has a Header tag, described as <H1> and </H1>, then put it between them as well. If you’re not sure about this, then check the HTML source code and see. If you need an HTML editor, you can grab one for free called Nvu. Also, if you want, create a Header 2 tag, <H2> and </H2>, and put your keyword phrase between them as well. Make sure to use your keyword phrase throughout the content of your page. Sprinkle it here and there, but make sure to use it at the beginning and end of the content. This is very important.

Okay, no it’s not rocket science, and yes, web page optimization is work. Building an online business isn’t easy, but with a little work and effort it can be achieved. Remember, this is the first and most important step to building your online business. If you want a more in-depth look into SEO I suggest you grab a copy of the 3 Steps To Search Engine Success. I have seen this ebook firsthand, so I know the kind of value that it contains. It’s simple and easy to follow. It would be a wise investment for someone that needs to learn how to optimize their site.

In part 2, I will discuss the next step you should take in building your successful online business. Keep in mind that this first step is the foundation for the next steps to come, so DON’T skip this step!

P.S. If you found this useful please leave me a comment as you’ll be rewarded with a backlink. It’s what makes SEO work!