Archive for October, 2008
Next Entries »Chatting your Way to Increased Website Traffic
Saturday, October 18th, 2008Millions of people are drawn to the websites every day just to chat. Chatting is one of the most popular activities done by those using the web. Many people admit that once they begin chatting, they become almost addicted to it.
The average online “chatter” will log on at least once a day for a chat. Although there is no definite reason why people love this form of communication, there is something to be learned by their behavior. When it comes to your website traffic, you may be able to utilize this chat “addiction” to increase website traffic. There are two main ways you can use chatting to help your site. One involves less startup time, but more maintenance time by you. The other involves a longer startup time, but less maintenance. Consider these ideas and begin using chatting to help your website increase traffic immediately.
If you are interested in using the chat audience, then you can certainly log in a few hours a day delivering advertisement to them. This basically means that you can go into chat rooms with the purpose of posting your website link into the chat. You can do this randomly, hitting a room, posting the link without prompt from other chatters, and leaving to another room. This is the best way to reach the largest number of chatters. The best way to do this is to join rooms that relate in some way to your website and its content. However, by doing this, you will likely annoy some chatters, which is not good for your website. You can decide whether the risk is worth it or not.
You can also be more personal about your advertisements. This will call for going to rooms where you think the most selective targeted audience may be located. For instance, if your website is about music, then you may want to visit chat rooms with music themes. Once you engage in conversation a bit, you can freely and casually bring your website link into conversation. You may gain more respect with this approach but you will likely not have as large of an audience as with the random posts.
If you are an avid chatter, then also consider adding your website link to your chatting profile. As you chat, others in the room will be looking at your profile, without you even knowing they are doing so. This is a subtle, but effective way to use chatting to help increase your website’s traffic. Those that view your profile will likely want to check out your site and may even tell others about it as well.
Another way to use chatting to increase website traffic is by adding a chat element to your website. This will likely take quite a while to set up. Adding chat to your room is not the simplest thing to do. It can however be a great way to draw people into your website. This is especially true if your website is about a specific hobby, passion, or job. If you have a retail site, it is unlikely that chat would be appropriate. However, if your site is about stock tips, then a chat room would enable traders to discuss tips and information with each other, which would likely keep them and their friends coming back frequently. One thing to remember however is that you should always monitor your website’s chat area every once in a while. It would be unfortunate to have chatters using your room inappropriately or abuse certain policies you have placed upon chatters. This would only make your website look unprofessional.
Using chatting to help increase website traffic is a free way to advertise. If you do chat often, you have likely seen other chatters using this delivery as well. Take note on which methods of chat delivery is most attractive to you when you see others doing the same thing. This will allow you to have a view on both sides of the issue and likely help you to create a plan that is more effective. The more time and effort you put into this task, the faster you will see results, so go ahead and start right away!
The Visual Design of 2.7
Friday, October 17th, 2008It’s finally here, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! The long months of your tolerance and forbearance as you suffered through the inelegance of our hacked-together, leftover Crazyhorse interface are almost at an end. (Was it really that painful?)
This week at the Automattic team’s semi-annual offsite meeting (offsite since we have no office), [...]
Bulk Mail, Email Style – How an Email Campaign Can Boost Your Website Traffic
Thursday, October 16th, 2008There is one thing that is true about email – most people get a lot of it. Sometimes it is hard to keep your inbox cleaned out. If you are considering an email bulk campaign to get your business up and running, you will need to be personal in your emails. It takes a lot more than just sending an email and say buy my product. It takes heart, consideration and manners. Read a little more about the issues that you will need to address to be successful.
Check before you begin to see if it is ok to make contact. It is best to use an opt-in-list. There is nothing more infuriating than to get countless emails from someone you perceive to be pushy. It says to the customer that you do not care about their feelings or of their feeling put upon. If they click to join your informational campaign then you’ll know they will listen. This depends on whether you have convincing copy. You will fail if do not have a tactful approach.
Talking at your customer is a no – no. Talking with your customer is the approach to take. First, you have to know what the customer wants and what their needs and interests are. Why is it important to know this? Because you may have other websites and you want to let them know about those products as well. Make sure any message you send will gather more information for you to study. Tailor it to look at how they buy, and why they buy your product. It is wise to post your questions as an informational opportunity to serve them better.
Next consider the approach of using a personalization to your email campaign. You wouldn’t go up to a complete stranger on the street and yell “hey you, you want to buy my widget?” You will want to personalize the email with their name to make it less offensive. Consider that you will need to respond to emails if the customer asks you a question. You should answer as promptly as you can, if possible within a 24-hour period. If that is not possible, you can purchase an auto responder. Remember you are up against a lot of competition and if your customer does not get the answer they need – they will go somewhere else in a flash.
When you write your message for the bulk email campaign, consider the subject line. What subject line catches your eye? Do you open email without a real email address? It is likely that you simply toss those emails without opening them. Do you appreciate a bunch of exclamations and dollars signs in the subject title? To most, it tells them that it’s an impersonal sales email, and again it feels pushy. If your potential customer is not interested, they may just press the delete key. When people read emails, they appreciate honesty.
The best way to achieve that is to state the facts quickly and get to the point. Questions often work nicely in the subject line. The fact that many people have email filters is another reason to write your bulk email carefully.
Listing the benefits of your product will get your customers attention and may lead to them responding. However, dragging out the message and writing uninspiring text will bore them. You will not hear from them again and profits will quickly diminish. Tight compact writing makes emails short and simple. If you want your customer to act, do not direct them to the point of clicking and responding to any email sent. After they are at your website, do not leave them stranded. Point them to exactly what you want them to do, and make it easy to do it. Web design factors are very important. Cluttered pages and broken links are a pain for your customer. You may need to redesign your web pages to make it easier for the customer to order.
Creating a bulk email campaign is easy. But, making a bulk email campaign successful takes some work. Most of all, it takes a willingness to have a personal relationship in a very impersonal setting on the Internet. It can be done; it’s only a mater of how much heart you’re willing to give. So take charge of your own success with a successful bulk email campaign.
Belong to the Exchange Club – For Website Links, That is
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008When used sensibly, website link exchanges can draw an exceptional amount of website traffic and greatly increase your search engine outcome. Nevertheless, remember that too many link exchanges can be harmful. You do not want your website clogged with other website links. This can look tacky and cause visitors to turn away from your website almost immediately. You can write to other website owners and ask them to place a link from their website to yours, but there are a few rules of etiquette you should follow.
When you ask another website owner to place a link on their website, remember you are asking them for a favor. They are under no obligation to comply. If you are asking this favor from a website with more traffic than your own, this can greatly improve your link popularity and generate more website traffic your way.
If you decide to become a member of a website club that exchanges links, do your research carefully. Here are the top five tips to get you started with your website link exchange:
1. Show respect. When asking another person to place a link for your website on his or her website, be sure to ask nicely. It is very important to remain respectful. Never sound demanding or brag about how great your website, products or services are and how the person you are asking would benefit from granting you this favor. Do not make it sound like they need you. Also, do not ask many questions or attempt to flatter the recipient of your request. This may make them to delete your email inquiry immediately. Your request should only run between 2 – 6 sentences, not half a page. Be polite when asking, but do not over do it. You do not want to sound like a fraud.
2. Make sure you proofread your request. Before sending out a request to another website, check your grammar and spelling. You want the recipient to see you as a professional, not as a person who cannot spell correctly. Spelling errors and bad grammar can kill any opportunity to promote your website quickly. Avoid using slang in your request. Nothing can be more distracting and annoying than a poorly written request.
3. Send your request from your website’s professional email address, not your own email address. It is unprofessional to request this favor from a personal email account or a free email account. For example, if your website is www.lovemydog.org, then send your prospective link associates your request through the website’s email address: contact@lovemydog.org. Do not use your own personal account or a free email account.
4. Have a nice, high quality looking website. This will help you to look more serious and professional than a low quality generic looking web site. Also, be sure your website content looks professional and is free of any spelling or grammatical errors. Lose the clutter. Websites cluttered with ads can be distracting and hard to read. Having an attractive website will also help encourage other website owners to be more willing to work with you. Working with a professional is more attractive than being associated with an amateur.
5. Before you ask for your link on another person’s website, you can offer to place his or her link on your website first. This can increase your chances of having the other website place your link to their site. It can be as simple as one hand washes another. Just make sure that whatever links you use on your website have similar content to your own. It is better to have the websites compliment each other rather than clash with each other.
Exchanging web links is a great way to increase traffic to your website by increasing “link popularity” which can have a major affect on where your website appears on search engines. The websites that exchange web links with you will surely heighten your link popularity. This is especially true when the websites you are exchanging web links with have similar content as yours.
You can increase your targeted website traffic by exchanging web links with other websites. This will increase your link popularity and drive more people to your website through the links. Now do your research carefully and make your list on who you would like to contact for web link exchanges. Be careful to follow these top five tips closely and write away!
Are You a Member of another Website? Exchange Links
Sunday, October 12th, 2008If you know anything about small business, then you know that some of a small business owner’s strongest business allies are other small business owners. When you are a part of the small business world, you realize that by working with other owners like yourself, you can often become more successful. This is especially true on the web as well as locally. If you want to promote your business more on the web, but have no budget to help you do so, consider working with other websites. To do this, you will have to log in a little time however. Not every website operator will be willing to help you out with advertising. Use these tips to help you along the way.
The first thing you want to do when considering a website link exchange with another site is to make your site the best it can be. Although this may sound irrelevant, it is likely website operators will only be willing to help you if they truly admire your site and find it appropriate. This should be the standard in all cases at least. If a website operator is going to commit to allowing your link to be placed on their website and vice versa, they will want your reputation and website to be top notch. So, before you even ask for the trade off, make sure your links are working and everything looks great with your own site.
After polishing your site, you will need to make a list of the potential websites you can trade with. If you are a member of another website, then certainly add it to your list. Any site that you regularly visit or contribute in some way to is a great place to begin. Consider sites that you frequently use for message boards or chat rooms as well. If the site is familiar with you in any way, they will be more likely to partner with you on this task. Make sure you are realistic in your list as well. An enormous site will not likely be interested in helping a smaller site promote itself.
When creating your list, also be aware of websites you are in competition with. Many people who automatically be drawn to websites that offer similar services as their own. This is a mistake however. The best thing to do is target sites that offer services or products that are somewhat connected to what you offer, however are not the same. For instance, if you operate a website that sells flowers, consider targeting another website that sells vases, but not a site that also sells flowers. If you can find a correlation that works for both you and the other site, you will reap the most benefits.
Once you have a strong list of potential sites to work with on the exchange, develop a little proposal to send to each webmaster or owner. This should be short and concise explanation of what you want to do, which is exchange links on your sites. You can outline a few potential benefits for the other site as well as yourself. Explain why you think your site would mesh well with theirs. Even if it seems elementary, they may not realize the benefits unless you spell them out in the proposal. Make sure you include contact information for yourself and ask them to respond by a specific date. You can reasonably state, “a response within ten days would be greatly appreciated”. Most webmasters or owners will likely have gotten around to reading the proposal in that amount of time.
Once you have a few sites on board, you can sit back and see the benefits roll in. With users seeing your link on their website as well, you will get much more traffic than usual. You will be able to reach an audience that you might not have gotten to otherwise. Using the method of exchanging links with other websites is an inexpensive way to boost your website’s traffic. You may need to research and connect in order to make the agreement work with other sites, but the effort is well worth the cost. Once you have developed these relationships between yourself and other sites, you will be able to work on other issues together as well. This type of networking is great for your business overall.
All Keyed Up – How to Use Words That Pay Off
Friday, October 10th, 2008You have decided that you want a website. But, how do you get it to be seen by search engines? The key is keywords. An adage on the Internet is that content is king, that is with the proper keywords in place. To learn a little more information about keywords and how important they are to your website – read on.
What’s the purpose of keywords? Keywords are specific, targeted words that people search with when looking for information. The search engines and directories will use the keywords found on your web site to place your site into a certain category. You will need to be sure that the keywords that you use are relevant to what you want to tell or sell to a customer. For example, if you have an adoption site and you want to sell books about adoption – then you might want to include “books about adoption” as a keyword phrase.
The search engines use certain mathematical calculation software to figure how and where a site ranks based on keywords and phrases. It is an algorithm. Based on this, it looks for certain criteria. Value to a site depends on how many times a keyword or phrase is used, where the keywords are located on your webpage, and finally how the tags on your site use the keywords. Different search engines use different algorithms. The purpose of choosing tightly defined keyword content for your site is so that you will get the spiders and crawlers to rank you higher in the engines and directories.
To find the best keywords for your website, there are several approaches to take. The most important part is to determine what a visitor might be looking for. Look around at other sites similar to yours and see keywords they are using. Ask yourself if it makes sense to use similar keywords for what you are selling. If it does, then you can be sure that your review of other websites is on target. By targeting good keywords, you will hit a home run with traffic and increase profits.
There are two ways to come up with a keyword list to use for your website. Take pencil in hand and write down every word or phrase that you can think of. You will have to begin with the basic words. For instance, if you are selling hats, include words like hats, color of hats, popular color of hats, and then expand from those such as formal hats, seasonal hats, hat accessories etc. Do not be afraid to use as many keywords as you think appropriate. Think not only of what you would search for but try to anticipate what others would search for as well. Use between 60 – 100 solid keywords and phrases and you will be well prepared for a spider or crawler to grab your website and rank it!
Many times, you will need a little extra help with finding the perfect keywords for your website. Take advantage of all of the special software on the market for keyword research. The software today is easy to use. You can often find niche markets that you have not previously thought of. Paid subscription plans will allow you access to millions of search engines too. Often it is the best way to research, especially for niche markets that are very profitable. The subscription plans are not that expensive and the hundreds of keywords that you can get from it are worth it.
Finally it needs to be stated that you’ll need to follow the rules with keywords, or your site will be dropped from the search engine ranking and directories. Don’t try to keyword stuff your site pages. Also, do not attempt dirty design tricks such as fake pages. The software will detect the hoax and it will cost you more in the long run. Site redesign, time in keyword regeneration, loss profits and a ruined reputation just are not worth it. Using them might initially draw your site up quickly in the search engine ratings, but once caught, you will lose those rankings. Follow the rules from the start and be honest, it is the best policy to follow. You’ll know when you succeed that all your hard work paid off.
WordPress 2.7 Wireframes
Wednesday, October 1st, 2008For those of you who have been downloading the nightly builds or contributing code to 2.7, you’ve noticed how quickly features are being added, small layout changes are gradually being implemented, and the application is morphing before your very eyes. For the most part, the response has been extremely positive, but even the people who [...]
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