The Magic Question
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 by Erin PetersWorking in the Web development industry, I’m constantly asked, “How can I increase traffic to my website?” I call this the magic questions for a number of reasons:
- There are multiple answers for this question
- There are multiple methods by which you can achieve this goal
- It’s the question, if answered successfully, can drive all those dollars floating around the Web into your business
In the searching for a way to increase traffic for your site, you’re sure to encounter terms like SEO, Pay-Per-Click, Key words, meta tags, and sitemap submission. While all very important parts of the puzzle, the most important piece…the piece that ultimately brings in the most return traffic, links and revenue is content.
Often the most neglected weapon in your marketing arsenal, the generation of original, relevant content is the most powerful. Think of original, relevant content as your website’s meat and potatoes. On the digital dinner table that is the Internet, the plates may be beautiful, the chairs comfortable, the silverware shiny, and atmosphere perfect… but if you’re lacking something to serve your guests – delicious meat and potatoes in this case (or spinach and tofu for you vegetarians out there), no one’s going to wait around for desert.
My metaphor’s lesson: If you can’t satisfy your website visitors’ craving to be fed information, you might want to stay out of the catering business altogether.
Visitors to your site will want to be fed the creative, the entertaining, the informative and the unique. The content on your website need to let people know who you are and why they should do business with you. Ultimately, when it comes down to it, they’re looking for an interaction online. So why wouldn’t you want to engage their interest and keep them wanting more…especially if that engagement results in Web generated revenue?
In the next series of blog posts by yours truly (so please, check back often), I plan to provide some tips and tricks you can use to provide original, quality content that drives traffic to your website again and again.
Till next time!