We've now come to the most important (and most difficult) task of creating a website. Designing a website can be quite fun and the more you learn, the more rewarding the experience. The final product should leave you beaming with pride. So now you have a fully functional site, designed well and ready for visitors. I often get emails or phone calls at this point with the biggest website question of all: "How do I get traffic to my website?" Prepare to put in the work now. It's time to examine "Marketing 101". You can successfully drive traffic to your site! You can compete with large websites that have been online for years. You can make an income with your website! The keys are knowledge, patience, hard work and consistency! Let's look at the different methods you will have to employ to get website traffic and create a profit with your website.
Let me start by saying that marketing your website is no different than marketing a local business, in that the same marketing rules apply. There's a common misconception that a website isn't like a regular business and the rules are all different. Granted, the tactics are different (as they are for any business), but marketing has been around for centuries and the rules have always been the same. The approach is the same! You have to utilize basic marketing principles to drive traffic and make your website profitable. Don't hesitate to visit your local book store and educate yourself on marketing principles with a good book, even if that book has nothing to do with websites. You will find that the creativity starts flowing when you're reading about marketing principles.
I'm going to take your through the "steps to success" in driving traffic to your website. I encourage you to not just make this a leisurely read. Go through these topics, read them all through once, grab a pen and paper and read them again. This time, create an action plan that you will follow through with on a daily basis. "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." We've all heard this but take it to heart. To drive traffic to your site and make an online income, you have to implement all of the following:
Next up.. I'll be writing separate articles focusing on the success I've found implementing each strategy when launching a new website. See you soon!
Amy Kastner is a Web-Designer, Online Marketing and Search Engine Optimization Specialist.
You can usually find her on twitter, where she occasionally writes about interesting stuff.
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Web Design 101
http://www.web-design101.com/staticpages/index.php/how-to-get-traffic-to-your-website