Thoughts From LBJ Web Design & Consulting

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Traffic needs to come to your website from many different avenues.  Bypassing or ignoring the old tried but true methods could hurt your traffic and therefore, your bottom line.  Use the following list as a checklist to remind of things you should be doing more often.

1.  LOVE YOUR WEBSITE!!!  If you don’t love your website, no one else will either.  Go take an objective look at your website or have someone you trust do it for you.  Is it sloppy, outdated?  Is it covered with information that anyone could get at 100 different websites?  What makes your website stand out?  What makes your website intice your visitors to want to bookmark the page?  If you can’t answer these questions, no one else will be able to either.

2.  Submit your website to search engines – but I say this loosely.  Submit your website one time – properly.  By properly I mean, by hand, not using a submission service.  Do it every three months at the most so you do not get accused of spamming the engines.  And then concentrate on other traffic builders!  I promise you that if you submit your website to search engines and sit back and wait for the floods of traffic to come in, you probably will be waiting for a very long time.

3.  Exchanging ads is such an easy, free way to generate traffic it just doesn’t make sense not to do it.  Go to websites or blogs that or similiar or complementary to yours.  Search group and newsletter directories for appropriate ones.  Then send them quick, little emails.  Don’t waste their time or yours with a big, long reguest.

–Would love to exchange ads with you.  Let me know if you would be interested in this.
Signature Line

That’s it.  When you get a response, work out any terms and be certain that their ad runs on schedule and send them a copy of the URL where they can find their ad.  Make sure that you obtain a copy of what they run for you.

4.  Write as much of your own articles and content for your website as possible.  This is an important one.  Submit the article that you write to free article directories for distribution.  Make sure that you have a strong resource box to include with your article.  Offer to write a column or two, if you like writing, that will allow you to include your resource box and link back to your website.

5.   Ok, here is my big finale!  Put something free on your website.  I have doubled my traffic on a website just by offering a tiny, free cross stitch design that I made available to download.  The key here is that it needs to be something of real value to your viewers.  Not just another freebie that they can get anywhere on the internet.  Like no free backgrounds!  Sorry but I can get free backgrounds all over the web.  There is one place and one place only that someone can download on of my free patterns.  Every website should be offering a valuable freebie.  If anyone wants to put a freebie on their site but can’t come up with an idea, let me know.  For a small fee of $4.95 I will look over your site and figure out a valuable freebie that you could offer on your site.  Send an email to contact@lbjwebdesign.comfor details.  Once you have a freebie up and rolling on your site, there are hundreds of freebie directories for you to submit your freebie too.  I would suggest starting with FreakyFreddies.com.  You will have to put a small button on your page linking to his site but for the traffic that he gets, it is worth it.

Ok, that should be a good start for you.  Go generate some traffic!

LBJ

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