9 Lead Magnet Ideas and Examples (And ONE That Generated 28,507 Subscribers In 45 Days for Digital Marketer…)

This is a great  article I saw by Ryan Deiss

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This little baby generated 28,507 leads in 45 days…

It’s called a Lead Magnet and if you don’t have one — or don’t have a good one — this article could literally change your life.

Lead Magnet – noun – an irresistible bribe offering a specific chunk of value to a prospect in exchange for their contact information.

The goal of the Lead Magnet is to maximize the number of targeted leads you are getting for an offer.

It’s the first step in my Customer Value Optimization process.

We’re going to look at 9 different types of Lead Magnets in this article and the absolutely WRONG question most businesses are asking about generating leads.

But first, you must understand the single most important element of a successful Lead Magnet…

Specificity

I have great news.

Lead Magnets don’t have to be lengthy.  Or complex.  Or time-intensive to create.

In fact, a long and complex Lead Magnet will likely convert poorly.

You simply need to solve a specific problem with a specific solution for a specificsegment of your market.

Here’s the key…

Your Lead Magnet must be consumed by the prospect for it to have an impact.

The perfect Lead Magnet will offer tremendous value within 5 minutes of the opt-in.

This is a “rule of thumb”, of course, but we don’t recommend, for example, a mini-course delivered over 14 days or a 300 page ebook as a Lead Magnet.

These Lead Magnets take too long to consume and are unlikely to be specific.

Notice how simple and specific this Lead Magnet is…

On the other hand, this Lead Magnet is non-specific and takes 20 weeks to receive the full pay off…

Shoot for the former and not the latter when creating your Lead Magnets.  The good news is that the first one is much easier to create than the second one — and it will convert better.

Let’s look at some Lead Magnet types (with examples) that do it right…

1 – Guide/Report

Reports and Guides are amongst the most common types of Lead Magnets.

If you use a Lead Magnet of this type — be careful.  You could easily violate the specificity rule with this kind of Lead Magnet.
Here’s an example Free Report Lead Magnet opt-in from Joe Polish at Piranha Marketing.

Digital Marketer Lab Member Extra

Access your ‘How to Create Your First Lead Magnet’ Execution Plan in Digital Marketer Lab.

Build your Lead Magnet and put the processes in place to increase the number of customers you are attracting to your offers.

Click here to access your Execution Plan

Not a Lab member? Click here to learn more about DM Lab

2 – Cheat Sheet/Handout

Cheat sheets and handouts work well.

They have a different “feel” to them than Reports or Guides.

They are generally very short (one page or so) and cut straight to an ultra-specific point.
You can deliver these as checklists, mind maps or “blueprints.”

Here’s an example mind map used as a Lead Magnet…

Notice how the mind map is blurred out to build curiosity.

In one case, we actually used a NAPKIN (or the image of it) as a Lead Magnet,

3 – Toolkit/Resource List

A Toolkit or Resource List can make a great Lead Magnet for the right business and market.

This company is offering a Time Management Toolkit in exchange for contact information,

And this is one of the tools that is delivered after the Lead Magnet is taken by the prospective lead,

4 – Video Training

If it makes sense and you have the skillset, video can be a very effective way to deliver on your Lead Magnet.

This video is a simple screencast using software like Camtasia or Screenflow that we used to deliver on a Lead Magnet at Digital Marketer,

This first video delivered one Facebook Marketing tactic and made a pitch to receive a second Facebook marketing tactic if an email address is entered.

5 – Software Download/Free Trial

Software companies often offer a Free Trial of their software as a Lead Magnet.

Here’s how Bidsketch, a SAAS proposal building application, asks for an opt-in to start a free trial,

6 – Discount/Free Shipping

For those selling physical products on or off-line, discount clubs or Free Shipping offers can be an effective Lead Magnet Type.

Here’s how New Egg generates new leads using an offer of Promo Codes sent to the email inbox.

7 – Quiz/Survey

A quiz or survey, the results of which are delivered via email, can be a very engaging way to generate new leads.

You can use a quiz building tool like Interact to create these quizzes.
This is what the Lead Magnet offer looks like on the home page of a home improvement company,

The quiz is a fun and interactive way to capture new leads.  Here’s a question from this quiz…

Once all the quiz questions are answered, the prospect is presented with this opt-in form…

8 – Assessment/Test

An assessment or test, particularly if it is delivered online to increase the speed of consumption and gratification, can make a powerful Lead Magnet.

Hubspot, a company that sells marketing software, has been generating leads with their “Marketing Grader” for years,

9 – Blind/Sales Material

In some cases, the most desired piece of information for the market is pricing and descriptions of products or services.

Ikea harvests contact information in exchange for their catalog. And they can deliver it digitally to speed up consumption and gratification.

But how do I get traffic to my Lead Magnet?

Wrong question.

The fact is that traffic is all around you.

Google, Facebook and LinkedIn (just to name a few obvious sources) have
millionsbillions of users they’ll happily send to your Lead Magnet.

You just need to cut them a check.

The right questions to ask are:

• What offers will I make to new leads?
• How well do these offers convert?
• How much is a visit to my Lead Magnet landing page worth?
• How much is a new lead worth?
• How much is a new sale worth?

What if I told you that every time you generated a visit to your Lead Magnet landing page you made a $10 profit?  Could you get traffic to that page?

Sure, you could spend up to $10 to generate that visit without losing money.

It isn’t difficult to answer these questions.

Start by understanding the complete Customer Value Optimization (CVO) process.  The Lead Magnet is Step 1 of the 5-step process.

Then, understand these two simple metrics that determine what traffic, leads and new sales are worth to your business.

You don’t have a traffic problem.

With the right Lead Magnet in place and a strong funnel behind it… your business will become a lead and sales generating machine.

Questions?  Comments?  Let’s talk about them in the comments section below.

Digital Marketer Lab Member Extra

Access your ‘How to Create Your First Lead Magnet’ Execution Plan in Digital Marketer Lab.

Build your Lead Magnet and put the processes in place to increase the number of customers you are attracting to your offers.

Click here to access your Execution Plan

Not a Lab member? Click here to learn more about DM Lab

source 9 Lead Magnet Ideas and Examples (And ONE That Generated 28,507 Subscribers In 45 Days for Digital Marketer…)

5 Common Affiliate Marketing Scams To Watch Out For

Some excellent advice on what to keep an eye out for from RADHIKA BASUTHAKUR

Affiliate marketing is a legitimate industry. There are no two ways about that. Don't let anyone tell you the whole industry is a scam!

However, there definitely are some affiliate marketing scams that we've seen people fall prey to. This often happens to newbies and leaves them with a bad taste in their mouths.

We don't want you to become disillusioned with affiliate marketing, so keep reading and stay safe

Affiliate Marketing Scam Examples

Like any other online industry, there are plenty of scams doing the rounds in the world of affiliate marketing. Scammers (unfortunately) are always trying to find new ways to make money off innocent affiliates. 

These are some of the most common affiliate marketing scams we've come across.

1. Fake Affiliate Marketing Training

Most newbie affiliates like to do a training course to get started in the industry. There will be hundreds of people trying to sell you a course, an e-book, a webinar and various other kinds of information. Do your research before you pick your training program.

Many of these training programs are often nothing more than a rip-off. You don't actually learn anything useful and you're out whatever money you spent, as well. At the most, you might get an e-book that is full of fluff and no real, actionable lessons. So make sure do your training with a well known name. 

Check out AffiloBlueprint - a step-by-step system for newbies that shows you how to build an income from your website. 

2. Get-Rich-Quick Offers

The reason affiliate marketing gets such a bad rap is because of the proliferation of get-rich-quick offers everywhere. They promise you will make thousands of dollars overnight, or that you can just work 2 hours a day and have $5,000 in your bank account at the end of the week. 

Don't fall for it. 

If anyone tries to sell you a "secret system that works," don't believe them. Legitimate affiliate marketing takes a bit of time to learn and while you will make money from it, it doesn't happen overnight. You need a strategy and you need to implement it well before you make any income.

3. No Product/Service to Sell

Affiliate marketers make their money by promoting someone else's product or services. If a company is promising you thousands of dollars in income, look closer. What is it that you're actually selling? If there is no actual product or service, it's nothing more than a scam.

These affiliate marketing "opportunities" are designed like pyramid schemes where no one is actually making any money. You make an investment to join the program and after that, money is just passed around from one person to the next. These schemes are totally illegal! You will lose your investment, and you're not going to make any affiliate income from it, either. 

4. Pay-To-Join Programs

Real, legitimate affiliate programs are free to join. An authentic affiliate program should be risk-free for affiliates. You should never have to pay a fee to sign up to a program. If you are asked to pay a fee to join, steer clear. It is most likely an illegal multi-level marketing scheme. 

Be sure to check out our forum post on how to tell the legitimacy of an affiliate program. 

5. Domain Name Scams

This was a popular scam doing the rounds a couple of years ago. Say you owned the domain abc.com. You would receive an email (usually from China) telling you that someone is trying to register the domain name abc.cn in China. They are emailing you out of concern as they have noticed you own the .com domain. They want to make sure your trademark is protected in China.

If you fall for the blatant lie, they will tell you as the original owner of the particular business name, they will give you preference. So you have the right to register the abc.cn domain name with them, first. You will be sent a price list and they will make money off you by making you purchase a domain name that you didn't ever need.

There are a few other variations of this type of scam, so beware of any random emails concerning your domain names. 

How to Avoid Internet Affiliate Marketing Scams

The rule of thumb before signing up for any affiliate program or affiliate training course is to do your due diligence. There are some well known and reputable programs and courses in the industry (including ours!) but when you're new, it's hard to tell.

Follow these tips to make sure you don't get caught up in an affiliate marketing scam.

Ask Google

The easiest way to find out the legitimacy of any affiliate program or training course is to Google it. If it's a well known scam, you will more than likely see reports about it online. If you can't tell just by searching for the name, try searching for variations, such as "[affiliate program name] scam" or "[affiliate program name] ripoff." You can also search for "[affiliate program name] reviews," etc. 

The Company Website

If Google isn't yielding much information, head straight to the company website. Legitimate companies in the affiliate marketing industry always have professional websites. If this is not the case, it should raise a red flag for you.

Genuine Commission Percentage

As an affiliate, you will make money off commissions. If a company is offering a ridiculously high commission percentage, don't believe it straight away. It's not impossible (some programs really are quite generous), but it's better to do your research and see if they really pay out their affiliates. Also, make sure the products and services they offer are genuine and of good quality.

If It's Too Good To Be True

Image credit: Farces of Nature

The bottom line is, if something is too good to be true, you are better off being suspicious about it. Be wary of unrealistic offers, easy money schemes and any businesses (especially foreign) offering to help you with something out of the blue.

Use your common sense and you have nothing to worry about. There are hundreds of genuine and completely legitimate ways to make money as an affiliate. Be aware of the affiliate marketing scams, but don't let them keep you up at night!

source http://www.affilorama.com/blog/affiliate-marketing-scam

Do you know of any other affiliate marketing scams that we've missed?

How To Create Squeeze Page Headlines That Boost Your Opt In Rates (+10 Headline Ideas You Can Steal)

I came accross this great article by RADHIKA BASUTHAKUR that I just had to share. It's so full of great information and tips  on what makes a great headline, always an important part of internet marketing

Is your opt-in page getting you the leads you want for your affiliate marketing offers?

Are you giving something away for free but still unable to capture your audience's attention?

Well, your headline might be the problem. 

You don't need me to tell you that a web user has a very limited attention span. Even if you are giving something away for free on your website, a powerful, catchy headline that stands out is super important. Without it, you're unlikely to capture their attention -- and without their attention, you're not going to convert any leads. 

What Makes a Good Headline for Opt-Ins?

Fact: A good headline should grab the user's attention.

This is true for all headlines, but even more so in the case of opt-in pages or lead generation forms, because without your user's attention, you won't be able to convince them to convert. 

So how do you create a headline that grabs attention? There are a lot of great formulas for headline writing: for web content, for blogs, for email subject lines, for social media, etc. While many of the principles are the same, the advice below is specific to writing an optimized headline for opt-in/squeeze pages and forms.

Your headline should:

• Solve a problem.
• Be very specific.
• Appeal to the user's emotion.
• Be useful.
• Be formatted to stand out from other text on the page.

Of course, no headline can be all of the above. But if you aim to factor in at least one or two of these, your headline is definitely going to be more powerful. 

How to Create an Attention-Grabbing Headline 

1. Focus on One Thing Only

It's time to really think about what it is you're offering your audience. 

Think about it and then narrow it down to be really specific. The information you provide in your headline should tell your audience whether or not your offer is of value or interest to them. 

If your headline is vague and lacking any real focus about what your audience will gain from your offer, you're unlikely to get the results you want from your opt-in box.   

Jon Loomer's opt-in form is highly specific in nature. It invites users to sign up for a free workshop about a specific type of Facebook advertising copy. There's no confusion about expectations or what the offer actually includes. It's direct and focused. 

2. Offer Value

If you can clearly identify your audience's problem and sell the solution in your headline, you have a winner!

Get inside your audience's head and think about what it is that they really, really want. 

Your headline must immediately convey the usefulness and benefits of your offer to your audience. Otherwise, they are unlikely to continue reading. 

The headline on Quick Sprout's page, for example, immediately addresses an audience concern: getting traffic. Quick Sprout takes this concern, frames it into a question and then offers to send the user tips to make this traffic happen (in exchange for their email address). It's simple, it's specific, and it's definitely clear about what value it offers to its audience.

3. Use Proper Formatting

The way you format your headline has a huge impact on how it is received and how it performs with your audience. 

Needless to say, your headline should be formatted so it stands out from the rest of the text on the page. You can do this by making the text bigger, by making it bolder, or even by using a different type face. A different color also often does the trick. 

If your headline needs to be lengthier than usual, break it up with visual cues (e.g., punctuation) such as em-dashes or even ellipses. 

This opt-in form from Unbounce makes sure the headline stands out not only by making it bigger and bolder, but by placing it on a black background. It's definitely the first thing that catches your eye. 

4. Keep It Simple

A headline that works doesn't actually need to be something ground-breaking at all. In fact, when you keep it short and simple, you are more likely to succeed with it. Often, the real message gets lost in cleverness. 

Also, the length of the headline is also a factor worth considering. A shorter headline, one you can read at a glance, is usually more effective than a long-winded sentence. Most people scan online content, so a simpler, shorter headline will make sure your message is communicated more effectively. 

You don't always have to be creative or clever when straightforward will do just fine. 

Bidsketch's opt-in headline is incredibly simple. It conveys what the product does (creating proposals), while at the same time highlighting the simplicity of the process ("in minutes"). Without trying too hard, it offers a solution simply by talking about the usefulness of the product. There's nothing gimmicky about it. The simplicity is what works. 

5. Pair It With a Powerful Sub-Heading 

A good sub-heading can sometimes be just as powerful as your headline. Combine them to really pack a punch with your message.

Sub-headings work by backing up the interest that your headline piques. You can't possible say everything in a headline. Use the sub-heading to continue the though process and provide a bit more information (such as further benefits) about your offer.  

For example, Chris Ducker's pop-up opt-in box does a great job using the sub-heading to further explain his business bootcamp offer.

10 Headline Ideas to Get You Started

Stuck for ideas and not even sure where to start? 

Here are 10 headline suggestions to help get your creative juices flowing. 

You can reword these ideas to generate your own headlines for your opt-in boxes. Or, you can use them as inspiration when writing your own from scratch.

Simply replace the X's with the words of your choice to create a headline appropriate for your offer. I've got a few examples under each idea to give you an idea of how it would work.

1. A Simple X-Step Strategy to Reduce XXXX 

Some examples headlines you could create: 

• A simple 4-step strategy to reduce your blood pressure.
• A simple 5-step strategy to reduce your refund rate.
• A simple 3-step strategy to reduce your weight. 

2. Free Report Reveals: What You Must ALWAYS Do to XXXX (Don't Do This and XXXX)

Some examples headlines you could create: 

• Free Report Reveals: What you must ALWAYS do to ensure men call you back after the first date (Don't do this and you'll always be left wondering "why didn't he call?")
• Free Report Reveals: What you must ALWAYS do to gain muscle mass quicker. (Don't do this and you'll be spending all your time at the gym with no results)
• Free Report Reveals:  What you must ALWAYS do for better conversion rates. (Don't do this and you'll be wasting your advertising dollars)

3. Can You be Sure that XXXX? Take Our X-Minute XXXX Test Right Now to Discover the Truth!

Some examples headlines you could create:

• Can you be sure that your partner loves you as much as you love them? Take our 3-minute love-meter test right now to discover the truth!
• Can you be sure that you made the right career choice? Take our 5-minute career counselor test right now to discover the truth! 
• Can you be sure your website is search engine-friendly? Take our 6-minute website SEO health test right now to discover the truth! 

4. NEWSFLASH: Free Report Uncovers a Cunning Trick to XXXX

Some examples headlines you could create:

• NEWSFLASH: Free report uncovers a cunning trick to stopping dog obedience problems for good!
• NEWSFLASH: Free report uncovers a cunning trick to curing your insomnia and helping you sleep better!
• NEWSFLASH: Free report uncovers a cunning trick to solving your child's attention issues for good!

5. Free Report Reveals: X Strange But True Secrets to XXXX

Some examples headlines you could create:

• Free Report Reveals: 9 strange but true secrets to increasing your vocal range.
• Free Report Reveals: 15 strange but true secrets to a happier marriage.
• Free Report Reveals: 3 strange but true secrets to getting rid of your fear of heights. 

6. A Brand New Way to Learn XXXX

Some examples headlines you could create: 

• A brand new way to learn to play your favorite songs on the guitar.
• A brand new way to learn how to knit your first sweater. 
• A brand new way to learn to code. 

7. X Sneaky But Legal Ways that You Can XXXX

Some examples headlines you could create: 

• 12 sneaky but legal ways that you can save money on your taxes.
• 15 sneaky but legal ways that you can increase your click-through rates.
• 3 sneaky but legal ways that you can make an income on eBay. 

8. X-Minute Video Reveals Exactly What to do When XXXX

Some examples headlines you could create:

• 5-minute video reveals exactly what to do when you want to win back the love of your ex.
• 7-minute video reveals exactly what to do when you have a panic attack.
• 4-minute video reveals exactly what to when you have to do your makeup in a hurry. 

9. Free X-Part Mini Course Reveals: The Astonishing Secrets of How to XXXX (Apply These Methods and XXXX)

Some examples headlines you could create:

• Free 6-part mini course reveals: The astonishing secrets of how to plan a blockbuster wedding on a shoestring budget (apply these methods and your friends will swear you hired a professional wedding planner!)
• Free 10-part mini course reveals: The astonishing secrets of how to save $20,000 in less than a year (apply these methods and you'll never have to worry about money again!)
• Free 6-part mini course reveals: The astonishing secrets of how to pick up girls, anywhere (apply these methods and you'll always have a date on Saturday night!)

10. If You are Struggling to XXXX, Watch this X-Minute Video on XXXX Right Now!

<>Some examples headlines you could create:

• If you are struggling to reduce stubborn belly fat, watch this 5-minute video on how to lose weight -- even if you have a slow metabolism -- right now!
• If you are struggling to make ends meet, watch this 6-minute video on how to save money without sacrificing your lifestyle, right now! 
• If you are struggling with disciplining your kids, watch this 4-minute video on how to punish your kids without being a meanie right now! 

Before you get started, it's important to remember that not all of these are going to work for your site. Different headlines work for different sites and demographics. Some of the above headlines are quite long, so you can, and should, break them up as a headline and a sub-headline so they work better. 

The key is to write, test, see what works, and do it all over again. Keep testing till you can settle on a formula that works for your audience.

There you go, now that you have some tips and headline ideas - are you ready to write/ rewrite the headlines for your opt in pages?

source http://www.affilorama.com/blog/10-headlines-to-boost-your-opt-in-rates

Do you have a headline suggestion we missed? Leave us a comment! We'd love to hear from you.

25 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Website

another  really great and informative article on getting traffic to your website
 By Dan Shewan

Ask a marketer or business owner what they’d like most in the world, and they’ll probably tell you “more customers.” What often comes after customers on a business’ wish list? More traffic to their site. There are many ways you can increase traffic on your website, and in today’s post, we’re going to look at some of them.

1. Advertise

This one is so obvious, we’re going to look at it first. Paid search, social media advertising and display advertising are all excellent ways of attracting visitors, building your brand and getting your site in front of people. Adjust your paid strategies to suit your goals – do you just want more traffic, or are you looking to increase conversions, too? Each paid channel has its pros and cons, so think carefully about your objectives before you reach for your credit card.

If you’re hoping that more traffic to your site will also result in more sales, you’ll need to target highcommercial intent keywords as part of your paid search strategies. Yes, competition for these search terms can be fierce (and expensive), but the payoffs can be worth it.

2. Get Social

It’s not enough to produce great content and hope that people find it – you have to be proactive. One of the best ways to increase traffic to your website is to use social media channels to promote your content. Twitter is ideal for short, snappy (and tempting) links, whereas Google+ promotion can help your site show up in personalized search results and seems especially effective in B2B niches. If you’re a B2C product company, you might find great traction with image-heavy social sites like Pinterest and Instagram.

Image via Pascale Communications

3. Mix It Up

There is no magic formula for content marketing success, despite what some would have you believe. For this reason, vary the length and format of your content to make it as appealing as possible to different kinds of readers. Intersperse shorter, news-based blog posts with long-form content as well as video, infographics and data-driven pieces for maximum impact.

4. Write Irresistible Headlines

Headlines are one of the most important parts of your content. Without a compelling headline, even the most comprehensive blog post will go unread. Master the art of headline writing. For example, the writers at BuzzFeed and Upworthy often write upward of twenty different headlines before finally settling on the one that will drive the most traffic, so think carefully about your headline before you hit “publish.”

5. Pay Attention to On-Page SEO

Think SEO is dead? Think again. Optimizing your content for search engines is still a valuable and worthwhile practice. Are you making the most of image alt text? Are you creating internal links to new content? What about meta descriptions? Optimizing for on-page SEO doesn’t have to take ages, and it could help boost your organic traffic.

6. Target Long-Tail Keywords

Got your high commercial intent keyword bases covered? Then it’s time to target long-tail keywords, too. Long-tail keywords account for a majority of web searches, meaning that if you’re not targeting them as part of your paid search or SEO efforts, you’re missing out.

Image via thegardensofeden.org

7. Start Guest Blogging

Before you say it – no, true guest blogging isn’t dead, despite what you may have heard. Securing a guest post on a reputable site can increase blog traffic to your website and help build your brand into the bargain. Be warned, though – standards for guest blogging have changed radically during the past eighteen months, and spammy tactics could result in stiff penalties. Proceed with caution.

8. Invite Others to Guest Blog on Your Site

Guest blogging is a two-way street. In addition to posting content to other blogs, invite people in your niche to blog on your own site. They’re likely to share and link to their guest article, which could bring new readers to your site. Just be sure that you only post high-quality, original content without spammy links, because Google is cracking way down on low-quality guest blogging.

9. Go After Referral Traffic

Rather than trying to persuade other sites to link back to you (a tedious and time-intensive process), create content that just begs to be linked to.

When Larry wrote about the kick in the proverbial teeth that eBay took from Google’s Panda update, we managed to secure a link from Ars Technica in the Editor’s Pick section alongside links to The New York Times and National Geographic. Not too shabby – and neither was the resulting spike in referral traffic. Learn what types of links send lots of referral traffic, and how to get them, in this post.

10. Post Content to LinkedIn

LinkedIn has become much more than a means of finding another job. The world’s largest professional social network is now a valuable publishing platform in its own right, which means you should be posting content to LinkedIn on a regular basis. Doing so can boost traffic to your site, as well as increase your profile within your industry – especially if you have a moderate to large following.

11. Implement Schema Microdata

Implementing schema (or another microdata format) won’t necessarily increase traffic to your website on its own, but it will make it easier for search engine bots to find and index your pages. Another benefit of using schema for SEO is that it can result in better rich site snippets, which can improve click-through rates.

12. Link Internally

The strength of your link profile isn’t solely determined by how many sites link back to you – it can also be affected by your internal linking structure. When creating and publishing content, be sure to keep an eye out for opportunities for internal links. This not only helps with SEO, but also results in a better, more useful experience for the user – the cornerstone of increasing traffic to your website.

13. Interview Industry Thought Leaders

Think interviews are only for the big leaguers? You’d be amazed how many people will be willing to talk to you if you just ask them. Send out emails requesting an interview to thought leaders in your industry, and publish the interviews on your blog. Not only will the name recognition boost your credibility and increase traffic to your website, the interviewee will probably share the content too, further expanding its reach.

Image via business2community.com

14. Don’t Neglect Email Marketing

So many businesses are focused on attracting new customers through content marketing that they forget about more traditional methods. Email marketing can be a powerful tool, and even a moderately successful email blast can result in a significant uptick in traffic. Just be careful not to bombard people with relentless emails about every single update in your business. Also, don’t overlook the power ofword-of-mouth marketing, especially from people who are already enjoying your products or services. A friendly email reminder about a new service or product can help you boost your traffic, too.

15. Make Sure Your Site is Responsive

The days when internet browsing was done exclusively on desktop PCs are long gone. Today, more people than ever before are using mobile devices to access the web, and if you force your visitors to pinch and scroll their way around your site, you’re basically telling them to go elsewhere. Ensure that your website is accessible and comfortably viewable across a range of devices, including smaller smartphones.

16. Make Sure Your Site is Fast

Ever found yourself waiting thirty seconds for a webpage to load? Me neither. If your site takes forever to load, your bounce rate will be sky high. Make sure that your pages are as technically optimized as possible, including image file sizes, page structure and the functionality of third-party plugins. The faster your site loads, the better.

17. Foster a Sense of Community

People want to speak their minds and weigh in on subjects they feel passionately about, so building a community into your site is a great way to start a conversation and increase traffic to your website. Implement a robust commenting system through third-party solutions such as Facebook comments or Disqus, or create a dedicated forum where visitors can ask questions. Don’t forget to manage your community to ensure that minimum standards of decorum are met, however.

18. Make Yourself Heard in Comment Sections

You probably visit at least a few sites that are relevant to your business on a regular basis, so why not join the conversation? Commenting doesn’t necessarily provide an immediate boost to referral traffic right away, but making a name for yourself by providing insightful, thought-provoking comments on industry blogs and sites is a great way to get your name out there – which can subsequently result in driving more traffic to your own site. Just remember that, as with guest posting, quality and relevance are key – you should be engaging with other people in your niche, not dropping spam links on unrelated websites.

Image via organictalks.com

19. Examine Your Analytics Data

Google Analytics is an invaluable source of data on just about every conceivable aspect of your site, from your most popular pages to visitor demographics. Keep a close eye on your Analytics data, and use this information to inform your promotional and content strategies. Pay attention to what posts and pages are proving the most popular. Inspect visitor data to see how, where and when your site traffic is coming from.

20. Get Active on Social Media

It’s not enough to just share content through social channels – you need to actively participate in the community, too. Got a Twitter account? Then join in group discussions with relevant hashtags. Is your audience leaving comments on your Facebook posts? Answer questions and engage with your readers. Nothing turns people off quicker than using social media as a broadcast channel – use social media as it was intended and actually interact with your fans.

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— WordStream (@WordStream) July 29, 2014

21. Submit Your Content to Aggregator Sites

Firstly, a disclaimer – don’t spam Reddit and other similar sites hoping to “hit the jackpot” of referral traffic, because it’s not going to happen. Members of communities like Reddit are extraordinarily savvy to spam disguised as legitimate links, but every now and again, it doesn’t hurt to submit links that these audiences will find genuinely useful. Choose a relevant subreddit, submit your content, then watch the traffic pour in.

22. Incorporate Video into Your Content Strategy

Text-based content is all well and good, but video can be a valuable asset in both attracting new visitors and making your site more engaging. Data shows that information retention is significantly higher for visual material than it is for text, meaning that video is an excellent way to grab – and hold – your audience’s attention, and boost traffic to your website at the same time.

23. Research the Competition

If you haven’t used software like BuzzSumo to check out what your competitors are up to, you’re at a huge disadvantage. These services aggregate the social performance of specific sites and content to provide you with an at-a-glance view of what topics are resonating with readers and, most importantly, making the rounds on social media. Find out what people are reading (and talking about), and emulate that kind of content to bring traffic to your website.

24. Host Webinars

People love to learn, and webinars are an excellent way to impart your wisdom to your eagerly waiting audience. Combined with an effective social promotion campaign, webinars are a great way to increase traffic to your website. Send out an email a week or so ahead of time, as well as a “last chance to register” reminder the day before the webinar. Make sure to archive the presentation for later viewing, and promote your webinars widely through social media. If you're wondering how to do a webinar, click the link for some tips.

25. Attend Conferences

Whatever industry you’re in, chances are there are at least one or two major conventions and conferences that are relevant to your business. Attending these events is a good idea – speaking at them is even better. Even a halfway decent speaking engagement is an excellent way to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry and gain significant exposure for your site.

Well, that just about does it for today’s post. If you’ve got your own tips for increasing traffic to your website, I’d love to hear them

source http://residualincomeinsider.com/how-to-get-website-traffic/