DAY 7 -- Build Free Traffic

SBI! Modules Used Today -- Content 2.0, TrafficCenter (Traffic Stats,
Search Engine HQ, Value Exchange HQ, Other Search HQ)

Your DAY 7 goal is to build your own free traffic.

How?

By creating more high-value, optimized KFCPs and by establishing a quality links program.

Picture your traffic growth as a snowball increasing in size and speed as it rolls forward down the hill. It's all about pleasing both your human visitors and the Search Engines... naturally and effectively.

The more closely you meet the engines' criteria (on- and off-page) for a quality site, the higher your page ranking scores will be. And the more pages that you have ranking in the top ten positions on the major Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), the easier and faster it will be for your target group to find your site and business. The snowball grows...

The more traffic, the more off-page behavior generated by humans (ex., in-pointing links to your site, time away from engines after a click to your site, etc.). The more, and the better, off-page criteria, the higher your keywords rank. Which brings more traffic... the snowball grows and grows.

The best free traffic-building techniques are high-yielding and sustained. In other words, you must get...

• big traffic returns for your time and effort.
• ongoing traffic, not short-term or one-time spurts.

When you "get it right" at the Search Engines, they deliver high volumes of traffic for months, even years. What more can you ask for?

Let the free traffic momentum begin!...

Step 1 - Add Content 2.0 invitations to some of your pages.

Once you have built several KFCPs, consider adding a Content 2.0 invitation to a few of your pages. Content 2.0 (C2) lets your visitors have their say on your site. They can submit content that becomes a page, or comment on the submissions made by others, or both. That's unique on the Net.

If you have a few provocative keywords, or some that you know your visitors would love to write about, create invitations for them. Once a few visitors find your invitations and see that they can easily have their ideas, opinions or knowledge published on the Web, they will soon be telling their friends, who will submit content and tell their friends. It's a great way to start the traffic snowball rolling and a great way to leverage your time with Content-building.

C2's notification tools make it very easy for your visitors to stay current with all the latest submissions and comments. They can choose to be notified when others comment on their submission, and when other submissions are made. This brings repeat traffic, which turns your visitors into fans.

If the timing does not feel right for your site now and you would prefer to wait until after you have started your link campaign, that's fine. Just don't forget to come back to it down the road. You will learn more about the community-building aspects of C2 on DAY 8.

Once you have some pages built, and have a steady stream of traffic to your site, it's time to get started with your first invitation. Click on the Content 2.0 Library button in the Libraries section of Site Central...

You will build the invitation itself, followed by the Thank You page. Then you'll create the AutoConfirm E-mail, which contributors will receive if they ask for notification of your acceptance of their submission. You'll also create the Notification E-mail, which alerts you to new submissions (and new comments, if you want to be alerted about them).

When your invitation is completed, you add it to a page that uses that provocative or "passionate" keyword you selected. If you build your site using the blocks method, use the new Content 2.0 Invitation block. Select it, and choose the invitation. If you upload your pages, the code for the invitation is in the Upload Your Own HTML module. Simply copy it and paste into your HTML editor where you want the invitation to appear.

The Content 2.0 help will walk you through the entire invitation-building process...

Click here to read the help.

Once your invitation is live, link to the invitation from a few other pages of your site, including the home page. And ask friends or family to "seed" the first few submissions, to get the C2 snowball rolling.

After that, your job is to manage the submissions you receive. If you selected a great keyword back in DAY 3, you will receive submissions. Many SBIers have received over 1,000 submissions, and a few have received over 5,000 submissions. All your visitors could be building content for you!

The C2 Guide has dozens of tips for using Content 2.0 to your best advantage. Use the guide to develop a C2 plan for your site. Then start building your invitations.

Prefer to watch? Click here to watch The C2 Guide video.

Step 2 - Work the free major Search Engines.

The Search Engines will provide you with lots of traffic as long as you work with them rather than against them. That requires some patience, motivation, and a collaborative, WIN-WIN attitude.

Let's start with the "10,000-foot view" of the process and then see how SBI! executes it. The traffic-building process boils down to these actions...

1. Build an "on-page-optimized" Keyword-Focused Content Page, one that delivers content that will "WOW" human visitors.
2. Submit that page to the Search Engines. Build another content page.
3. Check for each spider's visit. Continue to build more content pages.
4. Check for the presence of your page in each Search Engine's index (i.e., database). This could take anywhere a few weeks. Continue to build more content pages.
5. Evaluate performance of your page. Keep building more content pages.
6. Track your performance on a regular basis. As you start to see results, you will do #3-6 less and less often (and SBI! takes care of #2). Why? Because you'll be busy building more content pages.

It may take 2-3 months, but your efforts will pay off if you have followed this Action Guide and the online Help & Strategies. You will start to rank well for a few pages at one engine, and then more and more pages at different engines.

That success will grow as you continue to build out your site's content. And that can only mean increasing volumes, month-on-month, of targeted traffic.

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Now let's see how SBI!'s integrated tools make the traffic-building process a snap...

Phase #1) Once you are finished building a page (on-page-optimized with the help of Analyze It!), WorldSubmitter automatically adds it to your sitemap file and pings (notifies) Google, Yahoo! Search, Bing (formerly Live Search) and Ask to let them know about the new page. However, you must manually start the process. For specific how-to details, please see the Search Engine HQ's online help.

Phase #2) SpiderWatcher checks your site's log files regularly, looking to see which of the major engines' spiders have visited, and which of your pages they "took back to their mother ships."

In all cases, SBI! reports the most recent dates for SE submission, spidering, and listing. So, if a spider revisits at a later date, SpiderWatcher will report that date, overwriting the previous one.

Phase #3) ListChecker watches for when each engine lists (i.e., "indexes") each of your pages (that have been spidered). The dates are recorded in the Submit-Spider-List Report.

At this point, the pages are officially in the database, but not yet ranked.

Phase #4) After your page has been submitted, spidered, and listed, the Keyword Ranking Report tells you where your page ranks, at each major engine, for the specific keyword that the page focuses upon.

Phase #5) The Keyword Searches Report tells you the keyword searches that found each page (and # of times), which Search Engine(s) found each page for each keyword (and # of times), and how you rank today for that keyword search.

Step 2 - Understand why "tweaking" is a low-yield exercise.

Many Webmasters, experienced and otherwise, fall into the trap of excessively adjusting or tweaking their Web pages in order to improve Search Engine (SE) rankings.

Trying to manipulate the SEs is a game that is not worth your time. Search Engine Optimizers ("SEOers") are kidding themselves if they think their tricks are anywhere near what SEs really want. Search Engines are getting better and better at recognizing reality.

Simply keep it real. And be realistic. Do not expect to rank #1 for every keyword at every engine. It is not necessary (to succeed), in any event...

Be delighted to get half of your Specific Keywords in the Top 10 at some of the engines. That will build you more than enough traffic in the long run.

Always keep in mind...

1. Content drives the C  T  P  M train.

   Trust the process. Build a content-rich site, and deliver great information about the theme-related topics (keywords) that your brainstorming has found. Create Content, Content, and more Content. Every newly optimized page offers another opportunity for top rankings.

2. Tweaking creates no new content; it merely reshuffles words. Even if it "works" (and that's unlikely), it will likely stop working as the engines change their algorithms (ex., the so-called Google Dance that makes SEOers whine).
3. Tweaking merely diverts you from creating new content. It is a low-yield, time-consuming process that derails your business, is frustrating, and puts your focus on all the wrong things.

Best advice? Polish content, don't tweak keywords. Polish content to please humans and build your "Brand of One." It is what the Search Engines really want and it makes the next two steps so much easier, too.

Do not let on-page SEO dominate your thoughts. The key to top rankings lies off-page rather than on-page. Ready for that? Good, the next two steps are about "getting off-page right"...

Step 3 - Build a quality links program to improve your link popularity.

The measurement of inbound links is one of the over 200 "off-page criteria" that measure human reaction to your content. In-pointing links are, in a sense, "seals of approval" for your site.

The more sites that link to your site (i.e., in-pointing links), and the more credible the linking sites are, and the closer the linking sites are to the theme of your site (even to the topic of individual pages), the more "popularity points" Search Engines award to your site and Web pages.

Do secure quality, relevant inbound links. But before discussing how to do that, here are the important guidelines to remember and keep real...

1. Establish credibility

   An in-pointing or inbound link from a quality, related site tells the Search Engines that another Webmaster thinks highly enough of a site to link to it. A link is human feedback, a vote of confidence.

   A link is worth less (or zero) if it is from an off-theme site, from a page with a ton of links, from a page/site with low-or-zero credibility.

   Avoid the temptation of link manipulation. Like other forms of SEO, it jeopardizes the integrity of search results. Expect the SEs to ignore, and at worst, penalize you for off-theme links.

   What does that mean in the real world? Don't buy links from sites "selling high Google PR links." Never, never link to a link farm (an organization set up merely to boost link popularity).

2. Work to secure your first few inbound links

   Search Engines do indeed factor link popularity and link credibility (i.e., where your inbound links originate from) into their ranking algorithms. Other off-page criteria are increasingly important, but in-pointing links are particularly important to give the "SBI! Snowball" that all-important first push.

   Without a few credible links, you may find it difficult to get listed and ranked in some of the major SEs (especially Google).

   The good news is that a small number of credible links will do the job. 99% of most Web sites do not have many inbound links. (If the SEs were to weigh in-pointing links too heavily, they'd make 99% of the Web disappear!)

   Of course, if your topic is much more general/competitive in scope (ex., "e-commerce," "computers," "sports cars"), obtaining links becomes more and more important.

   Some people misunderstand the role of links. In the era of the e-dinosaur, Webmasters used to seek links for the direct traffic from them.

   While links will bring a little traffic, we now want links to build off-page credibility with the SEs.

3. Start only after you have built 20-30 content pages

   Most Webmasters will link only to sites of value. Quality content is the currency of the Web. So you will need a sufficient amount of it before you go link-hunting. To get a Webmaster's "vote" of confidence, your site must provide some benefit to his/her audience.

   Directories, too, are only interested in adding Web sites of substance and value. A more mature site will also help you impress a human editor and secure a directory listing. (More on this below.)

4. The major "to do's"

   Once you have numerous high-value pages, build a strong, all-round inbound links program. Here is a summary of the key action steps...

i) The Major and 2nd Tier Directories

Get IN-pointing links from second tier directories and possibly a major one.

The best directories to be listed in are managed and maintained by human editors. Every site in these directories has met a certain minimum standard of quality. If a major Search Engine finds your listing in DMOZ.org (Open Directory Project) or dir.yahoo.com (and, to a lesser extent, the second tier human-reviewed directories), it knows your site belongs in its database as well, and deserves a couple of "quality kudo points," too.

Securing a major directory listing may help to accelerate credibility for a new site. Unfortunately, DMOZ is slow (if you get in at all) and Yahoo! costs $299/year for a commercial site, as much as all of SBI!.

Second tier directories are not on par with the majors, but that shouldn't deter you. Remember, you're not after traffic from these directories. You want the inbound link. And to ensure that you have a quality inbound link, concentrate on those second tier directories that have a review process.

For a more in-depth explanation about directories, see the Directories Series in the TNT HQ.

ii) Themed Directories and Niche Hubs

List with directories that are specific to your area of interest. These themed directories and "niche hubs" offer listings for little or no money. The links are valuable if the directory or hub is a good one -- to verify, use Search It! to check Alexa and Google PR.

Also use Search It! to find related directories and hubs (Inbound Link Opportunities category).

iii) Complete a few high-value exchanges

Link exchanging can be extremely time-consuming. Since the strategy is to cherry-pick a small number of high-quality exchanges, the best use of your time is to...

Participate in SiteSell's Value Exchange. It generates credible matches so that you contact only sites with similar themes which have specifically expressed an interest in exchanging links with you.

For more details, click on the Value Exchange HQ link at Site Central...

iv) Set up three OUT-pointing links

Out-pointing links (that are not exchanges) "count" with the human editors of directories and with engine algorithms. If directory editors see that you provide bona fide links to other quality sites, your site is a more credible resource for their directory. Why? It shows "visitor focus"...

Visitors appreciate being presented with high-value links to related material that further enhances their surfing experience. No need to go overboard, of course...

You want your site to be viewed as an "authority" and not as a "hub." So have more in-pointing links than out-pointing. Three per page is enough going "out-only." And open a new browser window when you link out (in your HTML), so you don't lose your visitor completely.

Long-Term Strategy

It is important to work to get your first inbound links. Once you do, those links give your less competitive keywords a boost. More visitors arrive. Since you OVERdeliver great content, they respond in a way that engines track better and better (the "off-page" criteria). And meanwhile, you are building more content. The snowball starts...

More content More visitors More off-page criteria Better rankings for more competitive keywords More visitors Around and around the snowball grows...

The long-term strategy for building link popularity is a passive one. Simply build a site of such high quality that people want to link to it in order to increase the value of their own visitors' experiences.

What could be easier? Your link popularity builds itself! So do all the other off-page criteria. That is the power of "keeping it real."

And don't forget to periodically check into the TNT HQ's Link-Building Strategies section of the Traffic category for additional ideas.

OK, now for the final action step of DAY 7...

Step 4 - Seed a buzz through link-building. Work your niche.

There are many good techniques to seed word of mouth buzz, especially if you are selling your own product or professional service...

• There have been many books on buzz marketing. Most overlook the most important "strategy" of all...

  Deliver a best-of-breed site, product or service. Nothing pierces a deafening roar faster than OVERdelivering on your promises. Customers love and appreciate it when they receive more than they expected. They will buzz for you.

Other "buzz" strategies include...

• Articles
• Ads
• Wikis (Wikipedia, for example)
• Forums, and discussion groups
• Referrals
• Social bookmarking
• Signature file (AKA "sig file" -- a short VPP-focused message after your name) in your daily e-mail correspondence.

For complete details and more tips, see the Link-Building Buzz Strategies section of TNT HQ.

When does buzz work particularly well?

Circumstance 1) The "nichier" your site, the better.

Circumstance 2) Have 30-40 pages of content. There must be substance.

Circumstance 3) Be remarkable. Wow them with content and they will buzz.

If all three circumstances are present, making a post or writing an article produces higher, longer-build yields.

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Wrapping Up

That's just about it for DAY 7. Here's your work in the days, weeks and months ahead...

Drop by the Search Engine HQ in Site Central and check its different reports periodically. Do not become obsessed by your ranking results.

And do not become frustrated by a slow start. Getting over a potential "hump" stage is very do-able.

Create more high-value content. Keep linking, as quality opportunities present themselves. Then start the cycle over again. As your site becomes more substantial (say 30-40 high-quality pages), seed word of mouth buzz.

End result? Achieve an ever-growing traffic snowball rolling downhill at an ever-accelerating pace!

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It's a Process

Of all the 10 DAYs in this Action Guide, DAY 7 is the most "metaphorical." Great volumes of traffic are not built in a single DAY. It's a process.

But traffic you will build. Ten visitors per day will grow to 50, then to 100, and then to 1000. How quickly depends on such variables as theme (competitiveness), the amount of time you invest in your business, "doing" the Action Guide to a tee, and so forth.

So how do you build an ongoing relationship with them? How do you encourage these potential customers to return often to your constantly expanding site?

It's easy! Let's Advance to DAY 8.