Life In Sherman Oaks

So you have a website or blog… but nobody visits.

Why?

Because nobody knows you are out there.

The Internet is a big place and everyone is competing for the same thing: vists, eyes, and ultimately, business.

So what can you do to bring people to your website?
I’ll list 5 dead simple things you can do.
And you don’t have to be a webmaster to do it.

1) Have good content

“Content is King” — I don’t know who said it, but it’s known in the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) community, that no matter what you do, nothing will bring more traffic to your website more than relevant, informative, and compelling content.

If you have a blog then post daily, or as often as you can. And post something that you can’t find elsewhere, some original content, that is tailored to the type of visitors that you are targeting to. Who do you want to come to your website? Then write something that those people would want to read.

2) Fully embrace social media

You’ve heard of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the others. Now use them.

If you use Facebook, set up a Facebook fan page. Or even if you don’t, now is a good time to start. Just click this link, Create a Facebook page, and you’ll see how easy it is.

If you use Twitter, promote the hell out of your website through Twitter.

• First, add the link to your website in your Twitter profile.
• Then, follow people in your target demographic. Just do a search for them using the Twitter Search, or some of the Twitter directories like WeFollow, Twellow and others. Hopefully, they will be curious enough to check you out, hence, your website.
• After that, post a tweet every time you post something new to your website, including the URL (link) back to your site.

Not on Twitter yet? What are you waiting for? Scared? Just jump right in, you’ll figure it out. Or contact me @davebonds on Twitter and I’ll hold your hand.

Same with LinkedIn. You make connections, just sign up and search for people. It’s really not that difficult. Just make sure you list your website in your profile.

The same goes for any other social network, just post the URL of your website on your profile so people know who you are, and where to find you.

3) Get people to link to you

This is probably the second most important rule in SEO, but I put it as number 3 on this list, because I want to emphasize how important social media is.

Next to having good content, search engines (the way most people will find you) rank your website based on how many other sites link back to you. So you need other websites to link to yours.

This can be done in a number of ways:

• Find web directories based on the type of website you have and see if you can get listed in them. Some you will have to pay for links back, and some are link exchange programs, where all you have to do is include a link to their website and they will give you one back.
• Ask for links from other people. Do your friends or family also have websites? See if they will add a link to your website, tell them you’ll add a link to theirs (just to be nice), and they’ll probably do it. Or if you don’t have friends or family, ask for links from your local businesses, local blogs, or other websites you visit.

There are other ways to get your link out there, but the point is, don’t be shy. You want traffic? Then promote your website in any way you can.

4) Market your website

Now of course, if your website looks like crap, then don’t. It’ll be embarassing. Hire a good web designer. Build a site that you can be proud of.

Then put the website address on everything: business cards, letterheads, yellow pages, flyers, and any other websites you are active on.

5) People love lists

I don’t know why, but people love them.

• Letterman’s Top Ten list
• The NYT Bestseller list
• the list you’re reading now

Here’s an article from Tremendous News about this subject, albeit satirical and may contain offensive language, but it gets the point across. Post a list. Something good and it will bring traffic. It brought you here didn’t it?

About the author: Dave Bonds, East Bay, CA

Dave Bonds has been designing websites for 15 years. He is a web designer with Lost Pine Design, a computer repair technician with East Bay/Tri-Valley PC Repair, and a blogger.