A Proven Website Marketing Strategy
The website marketing strategy outlined below is one you can use to boost your traffic (I use it myself). No matter what niche you're in, if your site is low on traffic you can benefit from using this marketing plan.
I continue to refine and improve this promotion process by testing new techniques and adding new Web properties and new twists. The basic concepts, however, are the same.
A while back, I outlined a basic website marketing strategy in the blog. It was based on a post I made at the SBI! forums detailing the steps I took to drive traffic to a new page I had created on one of my sites.
You can read about the success I had promoting that page here in this post on success with article marketing.
As with most plans, this plan can be broken down into several overall steps, each made up of several sub-steps. I originally mapped out a diagram for my strategy on a white board, which included my speed link building and Web 2.0 link cloud models.
That eventually evolved into the process I use today. Here I outline the basic process involved and some of the concepts so you can adapt the plan to your needs.
If you'd prefer to simply follow a "do this then that" format, I've detailed out a step-by-step website marketing plan for you. I suggest, however, that you read this page first so you get the concept. It's not that it's earth shattering or difficult, it's just easier to apply the method if you understand the principles behind it.
Strategy Overview
Here's the overview of the strategy. There are three main segments.
First, we build Site Content, then we add monetization to the site, and then we build the Link Cloud.
These don't have to be done in that exact order. In fact, I've actually started building a link cloud before building my content at times.
It's wise, however, for you to start out by following this order. After you get familiar with the process, you can get creative.
Site Content
We start with website content first, then website promotion second. Add a page (or pages) to the site that you intend to promote with your website marketing strategy. It doesn't do any good to bring people to the site if there's not enough there for them to chew on, so the primary focus is on building your site.
You have to have enough juicy content on your site to keep people interested. Think about your most wanted response for each page you build, and always build your business first.
Use keyword clustering if it makes sense. Keyword clustering is treating related keywords as a group, and building one page per keyword in the group. So, for example, you might do one page on dog collars, another on personalized dog collars, another on rhinestone dog collars, and link them all together. Treat each section of your site as a mini-site within the site, and make a focused effort to promote key pages within a given section.
Monetization Plan
Plan out your monetization for the pages or section of the site you want to promote. Choose the advertising model (affilate marketing, contextual ads, your own products, etc.) and your most wanted response for each page.
Ideally, you've done this work up front and it's just a matter of fine tuning here. Modify the pages and linking structure if needed as you add different monetization methods so that you funnel traffic within the site to your money pages. Money pages can be either on the site (Google Adsense ads on a page, for example), or off-site (such as a link to a sales page for an affiliate program).
The Link Cloud
Link cloud is the term I use for several Web properties that link to your site, and sometimes link to each other. The link cloud uses user generated content sites to attract attention, build links, and send traffic to your main site and money pages.
We create content on any of a number of Web 2.0 properties. We use article marketing to drive traffic and create backlinks. We use social bookmarking to reinforce our linking, and increase the amount of attention our properties get.
Traffic from some of the Web 2.0 properties is notorious for being worthless in terms of money. For example, I've gotten more than 2,000 visitors to a single page in a single day from Stumbleupon, with an increase in Adsense income of only $.72.
So, what we want to do is use the properties that don't pay off simply as extra exposure and added link building. We especially want links that pass Google PageRank of course. In addition, we want the properties than can pay off for us to not only build links, but send us valuable traffic.
For a step-by-step version of a plan that uses the elements of this website marketing strategy, see this page to learn about an effective website marketing plan.
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