A marketing / traffic secret for ALL websites
Published: October 17th, 2006Okay, so maybe this ’secret’ is right under your nose the whole time; but nobody really ever notices is, so here’s the nudge you need!
I’m going to let you all in on a secret for promoting your site.
Are you ready? If you’re not… then I’d say go jump out the window. But that’s not nice is it? Okay instead… can you get me a koala to make me coffee every morning? I’m sure that will make you ready.
Oh wait, what was I supposed to tell you all about? A secret? Oh right… but it’s a secret. I don’t know if I would feel right letting you all in on something that is so simple, yet so beneficial. The only thing that you have to do to make it work, is well have time. Oh, and do it properly. That to, but that’s all in the secret itself, not the overall “theme” of the secret.
Once you understand this, then maybe… just maybe I could let you in on it.
Hmm. *sips coffee*
Okay, I’ll tell you.
Build relationships by contacting similar websites = Major Traffic for multiple reasons.
“But… Daniel, Mr. Big Fisch, I already know that!”
Then I have to say, “Why are you failing?”
“Because… it doesn’t…work… Mr. Big Fisch sir…”
“Yeah, well that’s because you are doing it wrong.”
“How would I build relationships by contacting similar websites, properly?”
“This is the secret in which I will explain how”
“Please tell!”
Yeah, very interesting conversation, I KNOW! That’s why I wrote it. Yeah, that’s you talking to me. I just want to clarify that you’re a figment of my imagination. Okay, since we got this out the way, let’s continue.
Type in your main niche into google. For instance “spiritual communities”
http://www.google.com/search?q=spiritual+community
Contact each and every single one of these sites.
“But wait, Daniel Fischer, hold up. There’s one problem… what do I say?”
“Haha silly figment of my imagination, you start a relationship!”
“But… I’m anti-social, how do I do that?”
“Of course you are, that’s why you are a figment in my mind. Okay, well I’ll help you out buddy…”
This is what you do:
1) Send them an e-mail with the subject of something like this “Could you please help out my *site here*
2) After that, you’re going to need to write a nicely written email on asking if they would link to you. Yeah, that simple, a link. You could of course ask more and get more involved with the relationship. Maybe work on a sponsorship deal, use them for a contest (if they have products of some sort) and in return promoting them. This is where you have to get creative and think of ways to persuade into getting what you want (traffic and noticability) but still allowing them to feel like it’s worth it for them to have this relationship with you.
3) Some people will do it with nothing in return, for the pure love of your site. (These are pretty valuable for inbound links) Try to get these.
See what is going on with this traffic-generating-secret? By building relationships you generate inbound links, and popularity. Not to mention that the actual person you contact may become interested in your site and regularly visit it for updates.
This technique is extremely powerful for communities, it’s where I’ve recieved the biggest return and replies to emails.
Don’t spread the secret around to much.
Got Fisch?
Hey, I read it all. You write very good informations here. Care to share on DP forums too?? This will attract more visitors to your own blog too.
Great post! This is one of those things that everyone seems to be forgetting these days. As long as your site is related, you could be starting a very beneficial relationship.
Great post! Simple but yet effective :)
[...] I came across an article today called A marketing/traffic secret for ALL websites. The author claimed that he was going to share a “secret” marketing technique, and his premise is that you can really benefit from building relationships with similar and complementary websites. While this might not be the earth-shattering secret that the reader was hoping for, it’s definitely worth talking about. [...]
Yes. Building this kind of traffic is not very used. But it has more power. When you have link on your competitor site with good position in SE, visitor of your competitor who is interesting for your type of product, usually click on links on your competitor web pages.
Ready. Set. Go.
In terms of the formatting, you're allowed to use markdown, textile, or basic html; it's truly up to you -- what strikes your fancy?
You don't have to worry about your e-mail address being sold to a russian-spam-mafia. I'm only going to use it for my own weird needs; like asking you out for a date on a lonely night of coding.