How Do I Get More Traffic From Search Engines?

1. Measure Your Current Results

To ensure we can focus on the methods that bring you success and eliminate the methods that don't, we need as much detail as we can get about what works and what does not.

We use a tool called HitsLink to measure for each search engine keyword, how many people have clicked through to your web site and then bought your product or service online.
If you don't have an online store, measuring the number of people who complete your enquiry form is just as good.

This quickly shows us how well each keyword is working for you in ALL the search engines, and helps us establish how much better each keyword can work for you.

Choose popular keywords that are relevant to your product or service and you can create a flood of traffic - and a stream of sales that grows steadily.

Or if you get a top search engine ranking for a keyword phrase that nobody is searching for, you'll get no traffic and you've wasted your time.

So choose a keyword phrase that is searched for frequently, and about which you can offer expert advice.

For example, if you sell printers then "printer" is a popular and relevant keyword phrase. But surprisingly, "hp printers" is searched for 70% more often than "printer".

To get a great ranking you need to show search engines that your page is popular. That means getting plenty of links from other web sites that use similar keyword phrases.

To get ranked well for "hp printers", 10 links from web sites that talk about printers (especially hp printers), are better than 100 links from web sites that talk about politics.

Effective ways to improve your link popularity include:

1. Submit your site to quality free or paid web directories
2. Write an article and submit it to an article directory
3. Build a small info site focused on the keyword phrase you are targeting
4. Use keyword rich links throughout the navigation of your web site
5. Swap links with suppliers, partners and associates
6. Swap links with other top ranking sites

Traps to avoid (search engines may penalize you for these):

1. Submitting your site to link farms (web sites that are just big lists of random links)
2. "Keyword stuffing/spamming" - over using your keyword phrases
3. Swapping links with web sites that you think are junk

Remember - if you find a web site that you think is drivel and nobody would ever want to visit, then there is a good chance that a search engine will agree - so don't swap links with them.

Search engines want to return the best and most popular information to their customers - so make it your mission to produce it and make it popular!

So if you wrote an article like "Most Reliable HP Printer Reviews" and got links from 10 printer related web sites in the last month, your increased clicks, transactions and revenue might look like this:

March

Search Engine	Search Terms	Clicks	Transactions	Revenue
MSN New Zealand	hp printers	31	5	235.25
Google New Zealand	hp printers	2	0	0.00

April

Search Engine	Search Terms	Clicks	Transactions	Revenue
MSN New Zealand	hp printers	45	7	295.75
Google New Zealand	hp printers	17	2	34.55

If you spent $300 with your web designer to achieve this it was well worth the investment to get an extra $90 per month.