NOW we're getting into some deep stuff. I'm going to hit some high-level concepts in this lesson and also refer you to some resources. If I typed up everything there is to know about generating traffic, grown men (and women) would start crying by the end of this email. It's some heavy stuff.
Just like everything else, you'll perfect it with practice over time. There are A LOT of different ways to generate traffic and learning them all will take months or years. The good news is you only have to be really good at one or two to make a living in this industry.
I want to start by addressing an extremely important topic: using paid traffic.
If someone is instructing you to use paid traffic before your internet marketing business is profitable they might as well be telling you to set your money on fire. This is just my opinion of course, but I have VERY strong opinions on this matter based on years of watching new internet marketers get started.
Everybody in this industry learns from the mistakes they make early on you will too - it's part of the process. We'll talk about how to minimize that trial and error process in our next lesson, but for now understand that you can pay hard-earned money to learn these lessons, or you can learn them while getting free traffic.
There are multiple ways to get free traffic. The most well known are probably search engine optimization (SEO) which is where you get your site ranked at the top of the search engines, video marketing, article marketing, forum marketing, etc...
SEO is my preferred method of traffic but it definitely requires a long-term strategy. It's evolved a lot over the years and there's a HUGE amount of outdated information being taught out there. Essentially, the practice of search engine optimization is doing your best to show Google and other search engines that your website is more relevant for a particular term than all of the other websites on the internet.
This lesson will give you a comprehensive understanding of SEO basics and show you how to set your website up for search engine rankings. It's a lot of information, but mastering this is a golden key in internet marketing.
So that's SEO which is a great long-term source of traffic, but what about the short term? Well my two favorites have always been video marketing and forum marketing.
Video marketing will be uncomfortable at first, but you'll get better and better as time goes on. This is content just like anything else, so you should be using it to teach lessons, answer questions, etc...
Make sure the information you're giving is as high quality as possible and link back to a relevant blog post or directly to your homepage in the video description.
Now my other favorite: forum marketing. This is where you find conversations on forums that are relevant to a blog post you've written and contribute to the conversation based on what you said in that blog post. You need to make sure to do this correctly otherwise it just comes across as spammy, hurts your reputation, and gets you ZERO traffic. Let me give you an example:
You find a conversation on a forum about improving your golf swing. You've written a blog post about enhancing your golf swing that's packed with valuable content, so you would reply to that forum thread giving one or two tips from your blog post (a couple of the most helpful to hook the reader) and then say, "I have six more tips in this post on my blog. Feel free to check them out and comment if you have any questions." And link "this post" back to your blog.
This way you're contributing to the community by adding valuable content which hooks the readers and demonstrates your expertise/credibility, then leading them back to your blog where they hopefully opt-in to your email list so you can keep in touch with them and build a valuable relationship over time.
Do you see how it's all beginning to connect now? I could have talked about traffic earlier, but first you have to lay your foundation of having a website setup, creating high quality content, incentivizing opt-ins, and tracking your visitors' behavior to optimize your site over time.
If you do all of this right you could be making a very good living on the internet after you practice the cycle a few times.
There's a lot more to know about generating traffic in this industry, but for now this is a very good start and more than you'll need. Traffic is the lifeblood of your internet marketing business so don't take it lightly. Practice it over time and you'll determine your own income if combined with the other lessons I've given you.
That's the end of this lesson, and we only have one more left! My hope is that you can look back on what you knew on day one and what you've learned in these lessons and see a HUGE difference in your understanding of this industry. If you're overwhelmed, just re-read them from time-to-time and I guarantee they'll have a positive impact on your internet marketing career.
I can only give you the information. What you do with it is up to you.
Just like everything else, you'll perfect it with practice over time. There are A LOT of different ways to generate traffic and learning them all will take months or years. The good news is you only have to be really good at one or two to make a living in this industry.
I want to start by addressing an extremely important topic: using paid traffic.
If someone is instructing you to use paid traffic before your internet marketing business is profitable they might as well be telling you to set your money on fire. This is just my opinion of course, but I have VERY strong opinions on this matter based on years of watching new internet marketers get started.
Everybody in this industry learns from the mistakes they make early on you will too - it's part of the process. We'll talk about how to minimize that trial and error process in our next lesson, but for now understand that you can pay hard-earned money to learn these lessons, or you can learn them while getting free traffic.
There are multiple ways to get free traffic. The most well known are probably search engine optimization (SEO) which is where you get your site ranked at the top of the search engines, video marketing, article marketing, forum marketing, etc...
SEO is my preferred method of traffic but it definitely requires a long-term strategy. It's evolved a lot over the years and there's a HUGE amount of outdated information being taught out there. Essentially, the practice of search engine optimization is doing your best to show Google and other search engines that your website is more relevant for a particular term than all of the other websites on the internet.
This lesson will give you a comprehensive understanding of SEO basics and show you how to set your website up for search engine rankings. It's a lot of information, but mastering this is a golden key in internet marketing.
So that's SEO which is a great long-term source of traffic, but what about the short term? Well my two favorites have always been video marketing and forum marketing.
Video marketing will be uncomfortable at first, but you'll get better and better as time goes on. This is content just like anything else, so you should be using it to teach lessons, answer questions, etc...
Make sure the information you're giving is as high quality as possible and link back to a relevant blog post or directly to your homepage in the video description.
Now my other favorite: forum marketing. This is where you find conversations on forums that are relevant to a blog post you've written and contribute to the conversation based on what you said in that blog post. You need to make sure to do this correctly otherwise it just comes across as spammy, hurts your reputation, and gets you ZERO traffic. Let me give you an example:
You find a conversation on a forum about improving your golf swing. You've written a blog post about enhancing your golf swing that's packed with valuable content, so you would reply to that forum thread giving one or two tips from your blog post (a couple of the most helpful to hook the reader) and then say, "I have six more tips in this post on my blog. Feel free to check them out and comment if you have any questions." And link "this post" back to your blog.
This way you're contributing to the community by adding valuable content which hooks the readers and demonstrates your expertise/credibility, then leading them back to your blog where they hopefully opt-in to your email list so you can keep in touch with them and build a valuable relationship over time.
Do you see how it's all beginning to connect now? I could have talked about traffic earlier, but first you have to lay your foundation of having a website setup, creating high quality content, incentivizing opt-ins, and tracking your visitors' behavior to optimize your site over time.
If you do all of this right you could be making a very good living on the internet after you practice the cycle a few times.
There's a lot more to know about generating traffic in this industry, but for now this is a very good start and more than you'll need. Traffic is the lifeblood of your internet marketing business so don't take it lightly. Practice it over time and you'll determine your own income if combined with the other lessons I've given you.
That's the end of this lesson, and we only have one more left! My hope is that you can look back on what you knew on day one and what you've learned in these lessons and see a HUGE difference in your understanding of this industry. If you're overwhelmed, just re-read them from time-to-time and I guarantee they'll have a positive impact on your internet marketing career.
I can only give you the information. What you do with it is up to you.
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MarieC
Premium
Just completed your training, Ian. Boy, was it well-done, too! I am amazed at the level of instructional prowess you and other WA trainers possess. Your teaching points were very clear, well-organized, and very applicable to my niche website experiences thus far.
You suggested offering my visitors a useful opt-in incentive such as an ebook. I found a couple of plr ebooks related to my niche and downloaded them. One of them (Bird Watching for Beginners) is excellent and I will use it right away. The other, (Making Money Online from Your Hobby) unfortunately, was not as good. It contained a multitude of grammatical errors and fluency issues, making it unsatisfactory for my readers. I'm considering writing my own ebook on the same topic, incorporating the information and knowledge I've gained from WA over the past couple of months into the manuscript. I think I'm finally up for that big task!
Finally, I will continue to strengthen my niche website by continued application of your 7 steps -- in particular, using solid data to drive my improvements. Analyzing my data from Google Analytics is becoming much easier for me as I learn how to interpret all of the facets involved (visitor behavior, page content stats, bounce rates, referral sources, conversions, etc...).
Thank you for providing us with such excellent instructional support. Now I'm off to apply more of what I've learned from you today!
~Marie
You suggested offering my visitors a useful opt-in incentive such as an ebook. I found a couple of plr ebooks related to my niche and downloaded them. One of them (Bird Watching for Beginners) is excellent and I will use it right away. The other, (Making Money Online from Your Hobby) unfortunately, was not as good. It contained a multitude of grammatical errors and fluency issues, making it unsatisfactory for my readers. I'm considering writing my own ebook on the same topic, incorporating the information and knowledge I've gained from WA over the past couple of months into the manuscript. I think I'm finally up for that big task!
Finally, I will continue to strengthen my niche website by continued application of your 7 steps -- in particular, using solid data to drive my improvements. Analyzing my data from Google Analytics is becoming much easier for me as I learn how to interpret all of the facets involved (visitor behavior, page content stats, bounce rates, referral sources, conversions, etc...).
Thank you for providing us with such excellent instructional support. Now I'm off to apply more of what I've learned from you today!
~Marie
pribs
Premium Plus
I just saw your review, and thank you so much! That helps people know what to expect coming in. I'm so happy that I've helped you, and very much look forward to hearing how it helps you expand your business in the future!
And don't worry, I know it's exhausting. I actually wrote them as a set of courses that's spread out over two weeks to my email list, so covering it all in one night is no small feat. You're a trooper!
And don't worry, I know it's exhausting. I actually wrote them as a set of courses that's spread out over two weeks to my email list, so covering it all in one night is no small feat. You're a trooper!
