1. Blog Commenting
There are several top blogs in your niche (like this one)
that get hundreds if not thousands of visitors on a daily basis. The proper way
to do blog commenting is to thoroughly read the post and if you have something
useful or meaningful to add to the conversation, then leave a comment.The
purpose of commenting isn't to drop a link, but to add value to the
conversation and to grow your network. Use your real name as the commenter and
a percentage of readers will click through to learn more about you.
Pro Tip: If you have content on your site related to the
post, use that URL as a link rather than the home page. Those who do click
through will then have an even better user experience.
2. Content Aggregators
Just create great content and Google will reward you with
traffic, right? Maybe, if you have an established website with lots of trust
and authority. Not so much, if you have a new blog or website. The workaround
for this is getting your content listed on popular content aggregators, where
lots of people will see it
Some popular aggregators include:
Alltop bills itself as the "online magazine rack"
of the Web.
BizSugar.com is a community of small business owners and
entrepreneurs.
Growth Hackers is a community sharing online marketing
techniques.
Hacker News is a social news website that caters to
programmers and entrepreneurs.
Inbound.org is a community sharing and discussing content
and online marketing ideas.
Pro Tip: Pay attention to the rules and don't submit to
unrelated aggregator sites. Make sure the content is useful, original,
high-quality, and not just self-promotional.
3. Forum Commenting
As you are reading this, there are probably dozens of
conversations happening around the Web that are related to your niche. Joining
or starting a forum conversation can result in instant traffic.As with blog
commenting, this isn't about dropping a link, but rather about engaging a
conversation and adding value to that conversation. Forum commenting reminds me
of the show American Pickers, where they discuss finding the honey hole. When
we find a forum where the client really "clicks" with the community,
it can drive thousands of visits over time.
Pro Tip: Find related forums using the Google search
operator "Keyword inurl:forum." Join the forum, pay attention to the
rules, participate, and become a real member of that community. Avoid blatant
self-promotion – it isn't necessary and will backfire. If you're providing
useful information in the forum, users will seek you out.
4. Google+
Forget the speculation that Google+ is going away – it
isn't. If you need help getting started with Google+, please check out my
Google+ Quick Start Guide. Google+ can drive loads of traffic, and you don't
even need followers.
The strength of Google+ lies with communities. As with
forums, the participants are typically hardcore fans of a given activity. We
like to think of these folks as highly targeted prospects. Google makes it easy
to find niche communities.
Pro Tip: Join the leading communities in your niche. Engage
with other members, by providing useful information and giving +1s to others'
posts. Once you've become a recognized, trusted member of a community, then you
can post an occasional link to a useful and related blog post or article.
5. Guest Blogging
Matt Cutts' manifesto, "The Decay and Fall of Guest
Blogging for SEO," has been widely misunderstood as meaning that guest
blogging is dead. It isn't. What Cutts said was this: "If you're using
guest blogging as a way to gain links in 2014, you should probably stop."
Guest blogging done properly has nothing to do with links –
it's all about leveraging traffic. If your content appears on a popular blog,
you accomplish two things:
You establish yourself as an authority in the niche.
A certain percentage of the blog readers will look into your
product or service and become customers.
Pro Tip: Read "Power Guest Posting for SEO" by
Eric Enge and follow his instructions on the proper way to guest post heading
forward.
6. Q&A
Q&A sites like Quora and Yahoo Answers offer another
great opportunity to generate highly targeted traffic. If you can provide a
genuine solution to a real problem, you may have a customer for life. At the
very least, you'll build up good karma.
Pro tip: Don't spam these sites by asking, then answering
your own questions. Once again, the purpose of this exercise is to provide
useful information and to drive traffic.
7. Reddit
If you can find a relevant niche or subreddit with a decent
number of subscribers (thousands) and traffic, then Reddit is an option worth
exploring. The key is to create useful content relevant to the subreddit. A
percentage of Reddit users will read your content, click through to your site,
and buy your product or service, if it is a good fit.
There are unique rules for every subreddit, which you should
know and follow. Generally speaking, links to your own site are allowed, but
linking exclusively to your own site is not.
Participating in the community is important, so remember to
leave comments for others. Reddit has a voting system, so the more you post the
better your chance to increase your score. Conversely, if your content stinks
and gets down voted, your score will go down. Over time, you should build up a
good reputation.
Pro Tip: Research the subreddit to see what types of posts
historically get upvoted to the front page. Once you know the pattern, create a
unique version that matches the model of past success. Page one is never
guaranteed, but after some trial and error, the odds for success will improve.
8. Social Media
Bet you saw this one coming. For most people, Facebook
offers the best opportunity for traffic. The formula for success is pretty
simple: Optimize your Facebook profile and link back to your website. Provide
useful and fun content on a regular basis. Make it easy to share your website
content on Facebook by using a share button.
Pro Tip: Depending on the niche, Twitter, Vine, and
Instagram have all proven to be successful in driving significant traffic. If
you have the resources, test these out as well.
9. YouTube
YouTube is the second largest search engine on the Web, processing
more than 3 billion searches a month. To put this in perspective, it's bigger
than Yahoo, Bing, Ask, and AOL combined and should not be ignored.
In my experience, the best performing videos for many
e-commerce websites are how-tos and tutorials. Niche videos can drive tons of
traffic.
I bet you've never heard of the Honda Ruckus – it's a small
scooter. If you have a Honda repair shop, you might want to consider producing
a video on how to change the oil – this one has generated more than 25,000 views.
Pro Tip: Check out Brian dean's post on 5 Advanced YouTube
SEO Tactics to Drive More Traffic to Your Videos & Website
10. Email
MailChimpThe number one message delivered by top affiliate
marketers is "the money is in the list." In reality, every business
can benefit from a mailing list. With robust and easy-to-use email services
like mailchimp to manage lists and campaigns, there's no excuse for missing out
on this opportunity.Another reason to love email is the conversion rate of 3.34
percent. Compare this to search at 1.94 percent and social at 0.79 percent and
you can see just how productive this form of marketing can be.