How to grow your business ~ Increase your site traffic

So, you have a new business, either you are selling your own product or you are an affiliate promoting and selling products as an affiliate. Either way, you need to sell the product, so how do you boost sales? One of the most obvious and first ways to get going is to have a website and build your site views (traffic), the more people see your site and product(s) the more chance you have of sales.

1.) Understand at least the basics of SEO ~ search engine optimisation. The basics of this are to get your site high up on the search engines, and this largely depends on the clever use of certain relevant key words. Statistics show that sites listed on the first page of results on a search engine (e.g. Google) get the most traffic, and so have more chance of making money.



2.) Join internet directories. Some people might wonder if these are even still used at all, especially now that social media such as Facebook is so much a big factor in marketing, but they are still useful. An example of this is that I write on age, employment and disability issues and so to attract business in these fields, I list my blog in directories for these subjects, where people looking for such articles may look. Internet directories can bring you a lot of business.


3.) Publish fresh content regularly: You do not have to write every day but if you let your readers on your blog expect new articles every e.g. Monday and Wednesday then do try to stick to it and then your readers will stick around. Also, provide tools and apps that will help your readers, such as in the case of my blog I provide job search engines and a link to the Facebook page where more jobs are posted. Regularly test your web links on your blog so that you can be sure they are working.



4.) Be sure to remember the nature of blogging, that it is more a community than a contest to get the most readers, bloggers grow their blogs by sharing links, also be sure to build relationships with your customers and give good customer service. Running an online business is not so very different to running a shop, treat your customers well and make them feel welcome, provide rewards for good and new customers. The Japanese say that The Customer is God and here in the UK we say The Customer is always right, this may not be strictly true, but do show that you listen to them.

Valerie Hedges