The latest social media fads may come and go, but some
strategies for attracting an audience online will always be in style.
Here are 42 of my favorite timeless ideas for
attracting more visitors to your website. You can
bet the farm on these. They’ll be as effective in five years as they are today.
Make Your Content Irresistible
1. All the
promotion in the world won’t build a thriving audience if your content sucks.
Truly incredible content, products or services can be your best marketing tool.
Everything you do online has to start with creating something incredible.
2. Don’t be
afraid to say what everyone else is thinking but not saying. Other people are
probably thinking about it too, and they’ll love you for being brave enough to
say something.
3. Write epic shit.
4. While
you’re at it, make a real case for why the world should actually
give a shit about what you have to say.
5. Put your
words in a different format. Go visual. Try creating an infographic or slideshare presentation.
6. Go big.
Write something so incredibly thorough and valuable that people
are compelled to
share it.
7. Interview someone
exciting. You’ll learn something and the interviewee will probably share
your session if you do a great job.
8. Learn how
to create a viral post, and try creating one yourself as many of our readers
like Maria, Benny, Steve and Jim have done.
9. Cut
out the fluff.
Publish when you have something worthwhile to share, not when your calendar
says you’re supposed to publish.
10.
Headlines! Headlines! Headlines! They’re ridiculously
important. Enough said. Try these 5 easy tips for writing catchy headlines
from Jeff Goins.
11.
Give away your secrets. All of them.
Take Your Show on The Road
12.
Be everywhere
(as my friend Pat Flynn likes to say). Make videos, create a podcast, represent
on different social media platforms.
13.
Write guest articles for other blogs. This is still
one of the most effective and underused strategies for building your own
audience. Just do it and stop making excuses. Start with this complete overview
of how to land guest
posting spots by Glen Allsopp.
14.
Join Help a
Reporter Out (HARO). Do a good job and you might just end up on the front page of
Yahoo like our friend Jaime Tardy did.
Make Your Case Clear
15.
When someone comes to your site, you have to answer
the question they’ll be asking themselves: “why should I spend any time on this
site instead of one of the dozens of other sites I already know and love?” You
have to answer this question quickly, clearly and compellingly. Your Unique
Selling Proposition is the key to making your case. If you don’t have a
USP, it’s time to get one. Start with our guide to finding your
USP.
Keep Them Coming Back
16.
The best audience is a captive one. Instead of
constantly relying on other sources of traffic, create your own by getting your
visitors to subscribe for updates from you (focus on email first, social media
second).
17.
Directly ask people to
subscribe once in a while. Tell ‘em what’s in it for them.
18.
Create special subscriber-only content.
19.
In your welcome email for new subscribers, point them
to your social media profiles so they can connect with you in different ways.
20.
Optimize the heck out of your email sign-up offer. Try
placing email sign-up boxes in different places (in your header, sidebar,
within posts, end of posts or footer). Try changing the wording, button label,
call to action and offer. See what works best over time. Just keep the best
interests of your audience in mind and don’t do anything
you don’t appreciate yourself.
Make it Pretty(ier) and More Functional
21.
Your site’s design matters more than you think. If you
have a crappy looking design, you’re missing out because too many of your hard
earned visitors are leaving before they read your incredible content.
22.
Design for function. What do you want your site to
achieve? You want to hook your visitors and keep them coming back. Design with
the end goal in mind.
23.
Use social proof. New visitors are looking
for clues about whether your site is worth spending time on. Use validation
(in the form of metrics, testimonials, “as seen in” logos, etc.) to reinforce
your value.
24.
Make it easy for people to share your content (try
using a plugin like Digg
Digg, for example).
Play Nice with the Search Engines (SEO)
25.
Optimize your headline and content URL for the search
engines. Use the Google Keyword Tool to find popular keywords. Don’t worry
about optimizing your content. Write for humans like normal but use keywords in
your headline and content URL.
26.
Make sure your site is Google friendly. Offer a
sitemap, use an SEO-optimized platform (or plugin) and register for Google Webmaster Tools.
27.
Focus on optimized
content instead of link-building for long-term SEO success.
28.
Make your site as fast as possible. Site speed is now a factor in search rankings,
and a faster site will keep more people from leaving before your page loads.
Consider moving to a faster webhost
and leverage caching (if you’re on WordPress try using a caching plugin
like Quick Cache).
Borrow What Works
29.
Innovation is important, but using proven formulas is
smart and effective. Don’t be afraid to borrow from what you’ve seen work
elsewhere. Try to figure out how other sites are bringing in visitors and try
their techniques. Don’t copy directly, just tweak things to suit your own needs
and audience. (For example, thanks to Chris Brogan for the inspiration for this post)
30.
Your own successes can be borrowed upon as well. Look
through your old content and think about your most successful strategies. Reuse
what works until it doesn’t work any longer.
Organize Group Projects
32.
Organize a group writing project. Each blogger writes
on a central theme, and each article links to all the others in the series.
33.
Start a social media promotion group. Invite people
you respect. Each person can submit content for others in the group to Tweet,
Like, etc. only if it’s a good fit. Organize this for free using Google Groups.
34.
Organize a group survey in your niche. (Get full
details and scripts on how to do this in my free “B-List Breakthrough” video.)
Make a Splash
35.
The best way to rise above the noise of the billions
and billions of pieces of content being shared every day is to do something
remarkable.
36.
Create a big ambitious group project and invite your
readers to participate.
37.
Set a big audacious goal for yourself and report on
your progress over the months or years it takes you to get there. Chris
Guillebeau is visiting
every country in the world by his 35th birthday, for example. That’s a
story worth tuning into.
Launch a Product or Service
38.
Did you know that launching a new product or service
can actually help
grow your audience? It’s true. Launching a product also always leads to
tons of interview requests, links from other blogs, partnership inquiries,
and a different kind of respect from
colleagues. Plus, because your new product will generate revenue, this
should be top on your list.
39.
Offer an affiliate program and pay commissions to people
who refer customers to your product. Reach out to these affiliates before your
launch and offer to help them with content, interviews, webinars or anything
else that will help them drive sales. You’ll be getting access to a whole group
of customers you wouldn’t have otherwise.
Make Friends in High Places
40.
The most consistent source of highly desirable
visitors you can tap into are links for other respected sites in your niche. To
attract these links on a regular basis, you need to 1) create remarkable
link-worthy content and 2) make friends with other great content creators who
could link to you. Just don’t make connecting
with people online harder than it actually is.
41.
Link out freely to content you admire and think your
audience would appreciate. Linking out is one of the best ways to get
noticed and start making friends online. Make sure you include the
name of the site or content author you’re linking to increase the chances of
the author learning about your link.
42.
Try creating a “follow friday” or “link love
wednesday” type of post on a regular basis. It’s a great way to get noticed, make
friends and share useful content with your audience.
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