Creating web traffic growth

Change creates growth
this leads to

The opentracker law of website traffic:

Given a constant environment, website traffic will remain unchanged unless you take action.
"Unchanged" refers to: the number of new visitors, visitors entering by search term, referred traffic, etc, will not increase.

executive summary: in a nutshell

The point of this article to make you aware of the need to change things on your website in order to increase traffic and make your site more effective.
In 10 words or less: measure and evaluate, in order to make effective changes.
We see many sites "stuck" at the same level of traffic. Many sites generate the same number of new visitors consistently, year after year, the number changing only 1-2%.
In practical terms: you can rely on changes in your search engine ranking or free publicity, OR you can work to make change yourself.

general introduction: change creates growth

Summary:

• Change creates growth
• Action is required for change

"Actionable metrics" are data or information that you can apply.
By looking at thousands of web traffic datasets we have learned that change does not happen by itself, you need to make change happen.

Steps To Take In Order To Succeed:

In order to take action you need:

1. information or data
2. the ability to implement your ideas effectively
3. a way monitor this; indicator of success or failure
4. ability to identify and implement the most effective solution

Example: you have a website and want visitors to find your products. You can use a search bar, a drop-down, roll-over or click selection. Place alternatives on your site and use measurement to think with your clients, to understand how they like to navigate.
Find out and make it happen. The best option will mean increased user satisfaction and products viewed.
A lot depends on your site strategy. Google, for example, is designed to get visitors off their site; fast results drive high visitor click-throughs, and keep visitors coming back.
Your goal may be to keep visitors on your site. Therefore you should identify the solution that results in the most pages served (clicks) & time spent on your site. We think the goal is to give your visitors a good experience.

your website: understanding the internet environment

Pay attention to what is happening on the internet, and how it affects your success:
Your website does not exist in a vacuum. Your website exists in the internet environment, this means your (potential) success is dependent on this context and how you "fit in". In evolutionary terms, this is called adapting, survival of the fittest.
What can you learn from the wider internet and apply to your website in order to improve? Specifically, what observable trends will influence your content management strategies?

how to stimulate change: seeing your website in context

• The question is "what should you do in order to stimulate change?"
• The public are increasingly savvy
• The internet is more interactive in the Web 2.0 environment.
• Can you generate content related to any changes you observe?

In the next article in this series, we will provide examples of how to learn from and adjust content to fit-in with current Web 2.0 environment.

SEO Tops Digital Marketing Tactics for 2011

Here we are just past the halfway mark in 2010 and we’ve tapped into the stream of future marketing planning with our readers for 2011 with a poll. Our question? What 3 online marketing channels & tactics will you emphasize in 2011? The number one answer? Not social media, not email marketing.

The top digital marketing tactic for OMB readers in 2011 is Search Engine Optimization

Our poll this year provided 44 different answers to choose from ranging from display advertising to no holds barred spam. Over 200 readers took the poll and made their choices. While there are many signs of marketing budgets making a recovery, the vast majority of marketers are still focused on planning the most efficient and effective online marketing mix they can for the new year.
Hopefully the responses from our poll will be helpful in making those choices as budgets and strategies are planned for 2011.

The top responses in this year’s survey reflect a more holistic perspective that includes search, social media, advertising, content and email.  While social media marketing continues to get a lot of media attention and companies are investing more ($1.2 billion 2011, Forrester), search marketing (PPC and SEO) gets the lion’s share of digital marketing budgets ($20.7 billion 2011, Forrester).

A new entrant to the top 10 this year is content marketing which is a reflection of the increasing importance on providing more than just product/service features and benefits to customers in order to get them to buy. Content is the glue for the intersection of SEO and Social Media. Content is often the outcome of social interactions online and content can be shared and linked to, increasing it’s visibility within all kinds of search. I wouldn’t be surprised if Content Marketing jumped a few more spaces next year. According to the Junta42 Content Marketing Spending Report, 59% of marketers surveyed planned to increase content marketing spending in 2010.
Advertising through Pay per click and social media rated well, but not concomitant with budgets. That is more likely an indication of the topical focus of Online Marketing Blog which pays less attention to advertising than Search Marketing, Social Media, Content Marketing and Online PR.
Keep in mind, the results of this single question poll are a reflection of our readers and with 232 responses, isn’t a significant sample size for making broad generalizations. It is however, useful insight for our readers to see what others are focusing on. Online Marketing Blog is rated well as a marketing blog and has a significant readership in the marketing community.
You can see the full set of responses and all 44 digital marketing tactics here.
Are Search Engine Optimization, Social Networking and Blogging your top digital marketing tactics for 2011? If not, what areas will you emphasize next year?
resource:http://www.toprankblog.com/2010/07/seo-tops-digital-marketing-2011/

Top 5 SEO Resources Online

Search engine optimization contains hundreds of factors and there are updates far to often. Researching SEO can be a challenge because you don’t always know if the information is old, new, correct or incorrect. The infographic below shows the most popular SEO resources on the web, as well as their current rankings and monthly traffic.

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Web Promotion With Article and Directory Submission

Web promotion fundamentally involves a combination of directory submission to web directories and article marketing. You can also promote your site offline, but these are the two most profitable techniques that you can use in internet marketing to promote a website.

Sure, there are other ways such as on-page SEO and other similar techniques, but if you really want to get your web pages listed on Google and read by as many people as possible, you cannot rely on on-page SEO alone. The problem is that most people do not understand optimization that does not involve their web pages - and even then, most are confused!

Here is a brief outline of the off-page optimization techniques possible to you that involve submitting your web pages or the entire site to online publications such as article directories and social networking or bookmarking sites. Most have heard of these, but most of those also have no idea what they are or how to use them to their best advantage in web promotion.

Google Algorithm Updates

Most understand the basic principles of article marketing, although do you fully understand the algorithm change Google made in February of last year with Panda, or last month with Penguin? If you do then you will no doubt now be avoiding these poor quality article ghostwriting services offer on many websites. If you don't, you may have a shock coming!

I will say no more about this because it is you who must decide the best article services to suit your web promotion needs, but keep in mind that Google will no longer accept poor quality content of any kind: standard of writing or depth of content. Penguin is designed to detect scraped content and articles written using software. Those who relied on a software package to write their articles in the past are now liable to have all their current and future web content removed.

Those software developers that claim Google 'can't tell the difference' are wrong - Google can, and those that have paid for this software are soon to find out! The only safe way now to create articles for your website or for submission to article directories is to write it yourself or use an article ghostwriter.

Article and Directory Submission Services

However, having an article written and submitting it are two different things. Some directory submission services will submit your articles to article directories only, while others will go further. Your articles can also be submitted to PDF directories and to social bookmarking and networking sites. Your website can be submitted to web directories, social bookmarking sites and also to Craigslist!

These are the directory submission options open to you, and if you are paying for a submission service you should request that a full service is offered that carries all of these submissions mentioned above. Otherwise do it yourself - you cannot afford to leave money on the table with your web promotion because your competitors sure won't!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7066560

Marketing Tools to Promote Business

Promoting is one of the most important things you should take care of when you own a business. This is true even in online marketing or sales. Fortunately for you, there are a number of available marketing tools to promote business on the net for you to take advantage of. One of the most famous is search engine optimization. You can also venture on the newest techniques of website optimization such as email and social media marketing. These days, even social networks like the overly famous Facebook are being used in promoting businesses. This is also the easiest way of promoting your business as you simply need to create a page and get as many friends and subscriber to like it, and you now have a long list of leads. The challenge here is to convert those possible customers into real consumers of your product or service. Included in these marketing tools to promote business are the user-based forums and message board sites. You can find a lot of these sites all over the web. It seems that every product is being discussed here and there. All you have to do is look for these sites on the net, post and provide links that will take these 'forum participants' to your site.

Optimizing all your resources and just anything on your site or in the office is another marketing tool you can use to promote your business. You can use everything that goes out of your site, like reports and emails, with links or signatures that will take your readers or recipients back to your site. You can also use your expertise and passion in writing as marketing tools to promote business online. You can upload your personally written articles to appropriate sites, which are so many so you get more advertisement. Just make sure that these sites channel to the right market. And don't forget to put links that will again, take your readers to your site. You can also make your own press releases and post them on famous websites online, and on your site of course. There is also a buddy marketing type of promotion you can use for your site or the product or service you offer. How it works? You always attach a leaflet or business card on any brochure, soft or hard copy, you send. That way, you will always get leads on everything that goes out of your site or office. Freebies are also effective marketing tools to promote business. In fact, in some surveys, freebies are among the things that possible customers go for. Going out of your way such as giving seminars and presentations are also promotions you can consider.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7066650