In his post he stated the need and importance for gathering alexa users from around the world. It is very important to get visitors from other countries to increase our Alexa ranking. So how do you get visitors from around the world? Easy, you join social blog networks and directories like BlogCatalog or Social Spark.

BlogCatalog

One great resource for finding Alexa users from around the world is Blog Catalog. Locating bloggers from other countries is easy. First, Sign up for an account on blog catalog. Once logged in, visit the directory and start browsing blogs by country. Try to request as many blogroll/ link exchanged with various bloggers from other countries. Another way to drive traffic from these blogs is to ask them if you could do a guest post on their blog. This will most likely result in a increase in foreign traffic to your blog, thus increasing your alexa rank. Make sure that your post is relevant content to their blog and not just yours.

I used this technique and it did increase my blog’s Alexa rank significantly. My blog has been active for about 3 months when this post was written and now has an Alexa rank under 89K. That shows the power of this technique.

I’m sure there are plenty more social blog networks out there to help you find more foreign Alexa users. Just wash, rinse, and repeat the process.

What other methods are you aware of to help increase your alexa ranking?

Putting out a notice that you are looking for guest authors creates a buzz about your site, and welcoming submissions for content or posts creates a high level of reader participation.

Once a guest author has been approved for your site and has had his or her first post or page  posted, you can guarantee that he or she has sent notice to everyone on his or her list and told them to come and visit your site!  This introduces an entire new set of faces to look at your site – and when they see your site, they will see your product or service, too.  More eyes on your site means more money in your pocket each month.

Guest authors want to be on your site because they can also get a new audience and expand their network.   They meet your circle of readers and can greatly expand their web presence.  Make sure you encourage guest authors to want to work with you by offering things such as an author’s page and links to their website.

You want to have guest authors for reasons other than just generating more traffic.  Guest authors can provide you with fresh content – without any effort on your part.  They can expand on topics you do not know that much about – and give added value to your readers.  They help free up your time so you can work on promoting your site and other forms of marketing.

Using guest authors is truly a win-win situation for all parties – you, your guest author, and your readers.  Everyone benefits, and that means more traffic (and revenue) for you!

Using Google Insights:

The first thing to do is to visit http://www.google.com/insights/search/ and sign in to your google account at the top right.

The home page will look something like this:

Google also provides data for categories, seasonal, and geographic keyword data. Make sure you take the time to look over each section.

Finding a niche market:

To find a niche market all you have to do is type a keyword you want to research. Google insights will then dig through it’s data providing you with a goldmine of top searched keywords and keyword phrases.

So for this example I will research rifle scopes. I’ll type rifle scopes in the search bar, choose U.S.A., and gather the data all the way back from 2007 for the top keywords and phrases.

Google will then generate a graph like this:

Click to enlarge

Don’t mind the data on the graph it’s self. You just want to pay attention to the relative volume to see if the term is rising. You can even compare this term with a second one. Just hit the plus sign to add a phrase and google will generate a chart to compare the data.

Click on the add search term

Now I’m able to compare two different keyword terms to see which is better. For this example I’ll use the term spotting scopes.

spotting scopes

This is the data google provided. You can compare the relative volume of both.

Click to enlarge

Google Insights also provides related terms on the rise in google. This enables you to dig deeper to reveal potential niche markets and sub-niche markets. After I scroll down I clicked on the “leupold rifle scopes” term to dig a little deeper.

I clicked leupold rifle scopes to dig deeper

Then google provided me with the common search terms and keyword terms on the rise.

Now I know the search volume and keywords on the rise to profit from. Google Insights will help you dig through all the junk and help you find those true niche markets, making all you niche marketing efforts worth wild.

Go and check out his tool and let me know what you think. Was it easy to use and find your niche market?

Co-branding can be very cost effective, particularly for small online businesses.  However, if you choose the wrong partner, or too many partners, it might be more harmful than beneficial.

Adding Partners to your Website
As a small business you need to be cautious with your marketing budget.  When you add a partner to your website you need to ensure that you’re going to see strong and positive results from the union.  These positive results can include more traffic to your website, increased online sales, or more contact with your customers.  Online branding can be costly so be sure to choose partners that can benefit your business.

Co-branding can be described as a variety of activities that include:

• Joint promotions
• Value endorsements
• Joint ventures
• Alliances

Co-branding works best when both you and your partner company each provide a related service or product to the same types of customers.

Powerful Co-branding

Studies show that most online users like the idea of co-branding because it helps them to make decisions about the hundreds of brand name products that they come into contact with on the Internet.  When top-quality brands join together in a partnership it strengthens their customer’s approval.  If you have a lesser know brand it will be to your benefit to partner up with a more well known brand so that your overall image is improved and so that you get more exposure on the Internet.  And if a popular brand partners up with a lesser known brand it won’t harm the popular brand.  Your best bet is to partner up with a company that is equal to you. A partnership needs to make sense and customers need to understand the connection.

Guidelines for Co-branding
If you have the right partner you can share the costs of marketing as well as strengthen your company brand.  You’ll also have access to a larger customer base.  Following are some important co-branding considerations:

• What does your co-brand partnership say to your customers?  Will it make your customers feel better about themselves?
• What do you and your partner have in common?  Are both of your products innovative?  Are they dependable?  You want to make sure that your image makes sense for your current customer base.  You don’t want to lose your current customer base but instead you want to build on it.
• How does your co-branding partnership benefit your customers?  Will it save them money?  Or will it save them time?  Your marketing campaign should make the benefit very clear to your customers.
• Your goal with co-branding should be to find the best solutions for your customers.
• There should be an equal value for both brands in the partnership.  You need to have an equal partnership or your marketing strategy will be uneven.
• Will your customers easily be able to see the connection and value of your partnership?
• Does the co-branding partnership bring you into contact with new customers?

The above questions need to be answered before you join in a co-branding partnership.  Joint promotions take a great deal of time and thought to be implemented correctly.  However, when done correctly and accurately, a co-branding partnership can bring you results that are far better than other traditional internet marketing methods. One of the basic rules of internet marketing is:  take your message, content, and promotions to your customers rather than focusing too much energy on the effort of trying to bring customers to your website.

Integrating Partnership Products
When it comes to co-branding partnerships you need to take the time to include the benefits of both brands into the overall design of your marketing promotions.  This way your customers will understand the connection between both products or services.

Simply putting your company logo, or a link to your website, on another company’s website will save you time and money but at the same time may cause you to lose some potential customers.  Co-branding that is successful never leaves your customers wondering exactly what website they are on.  Partnerships should improve a customer’s shopping experience by helping them to make buying decisions.  You’ll want to exchange content with your partner so that you both expand your expertise in the industry.  However, you’ll need to incorporate this content into your website so that it flows naturally and fits in with your own content.  The end result will be beneficial to both of you when you maintain professional consistency.

Complementary Partners
Your website will be more legitimate and competitive when you have co-branding content that is well integrated into your own web pages.  Co-branding will only help your business if it complements the business goals you have defined for your company.  Always keep your business goals in mind no matter what internet marketing strategy you’re trying to incorporate into your business.  This means that all your website content, promotions, and activities with your co-branding partners encourages your customers to follow through with the sales action.

Joint Ventures
A joint venture is where you team up with another marketer in a compatible niche for what should be an equally rewarding promotion or project.  Often times joint ventures involve promoting each other’s products as affiliates or even working together on a mutually beneficial product launch.

Some people think “joint venture” means getting the biggest guru you can find to promote your product and make you rich.  Those people are wrong!  Most experts say that the best place to start with joint ventures is with your peers and friends, of which most are probably at a similar level as you are.  Even if you have to get out and meet some new people, there’s a good chance you aren’t going to get one of the “big time” marketers to promote your product if you don’t have previously established relationship with them.
A “joint venture” is as much about relationship building as it is about selling products.  Sometimes in the beginning you may have to “give a little” more than what you get back—and that’s OK, because it’s part of the relationship building process.

Here are some tips for finding joint venture partners:

• Search the search engines.  Find people with related products and services that you can contact and get to know.
• Go to events and seminars related to your niche or product, or general internet marketing seminars.
• Ask your customers.  Send an email out to your list to fish for prospective partners.
• Visit forums and online discussion boards, and ask around.
• If you find a potential joint venture partner, don’t be afraid to sign up for their mailing list and/or purchase one of their products.
• Consider how working with your competition could pay off for both of you.

This is by no means the ultimate, exhaustive traffic bible, but this should get you started. Good luck getting on your traffic endeavors – website traffic is really the key. If you have traffic, you can make money… it may be the most difficult game on the internet.

Word of Mouth Marketing
The second most common way that people find new websites is word of mouth.  Search engines are the number one way.  Word of mouth can be generated from message board postings by virtual strangers or by e-mailing friends.  Effective word of mouth is known as “viral marketing” and is one of the biggest success stories on the Internet.

Viral marketing works in much the same way urban legends and funny jokes on the Internet work as they are forwarded all around the world.  Viral marketing takes advantage of the socialization needs of society.  No matter how small the social network starts out as, effective viral marketing can turn a small unknown company into one that is known everywhere in the online world.  Some of the biggest companies on the Internet rely on viral marketing to stay successful.  You can set up an effective e-mail marketing strategy without a big budget or a lot of technology.  All you need to do is set up an e-mail signature that has a marketing message within it.  This marketing message will be attached to any e-mail that your company sends.  Signatures are easily set up through Outlook and other e-mail programs.

You can take the concept of e-mail messages one step further by attaching your marketing message to all mail that is outgoing.  This is done through a simple process known as “mail rerouting”.  When you use this process you can track the results as well as know for sure that every outgoing message will look and feel the same no matter whether you or your employees send the mail.

Something for Free
Everyone wants to get something that is free.  When you offer something that is free the word will spread very quickly.  And free offers will bring traffic to your website.  However, most small online businesses can’t afford to give away much for free.  What you can do is become creative and offer a free product for the first 20 people who buy another product from your website.  This can be as simple as movie tickets.

Message Boards and Chatrooms
Message boards and chatrooms are great places for word of mouth and viral marketing to flourish.  This is particularly true for those people who are 25 years of age and younger.  In chatrooms people share ideas and concepts and this can lead to some great leads for your business.
E-mail makes it easy for people to share ideas and concepts with others anywhere in the world.  If you can attach your marketing message to these infectious e-mails you’ll be able to create a buzz and stir about your product or service.  When potential customers recognize your logo or company name you’re on your way to gaining trust, credibility, and the close of a sale.

Domain Names
One last thing to remember when you’re trying to spread information about your company is the effectiveness of a memorable domain name.  You want to pick a domain name that is easy to remember, easy to spell, and that relates to what you’re selling.  When people easily find your website you’ll want to make sure that your home page content is dynamic so they keep returning.

Come back for part 5 of the 10 part series on target traffic generation.

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If you decide that you want to purchase banner ads you should focus on buying them on web pages that are very targeted.  Ads are cheaper the more targeted a web page is.  And the cheaper the ad the more cost effective your banner ads will be.  Another way that you can target the placement of your banner ads is to embed them in web page content.  Before you purchase a banner ad find out what content the website administrators will be including on their web page that may be related to your online business.  If the website uses a keyword search tool ask that your banner ads appear when key words that are linked to your product or service are typed into the search engine by visitors to the website.

Try to place your banner ads on a web page that is as deep into the website as possible.  This way you’ll be reaching people who are truly looking for information that relates to your business.  This is a great strategy to use if you want to get the most value for your online budget.  Again, if your budget for marketing is quite high, you’ll want to buy banner ads on the home pages of websites so that your brand reaches a lot of people.

Establish Credibility
One of the main problems with internet marketing is establishing credibility with your customers.  Since there are so many Internet scams out there people are wary of whom they do business with and even more cautious of companies they are unfamiliar with.  As a small business you need to gain credibility on the Internet by making your logo and company name a familiar item to Internet users.  One way that you can achieve this credibility is by setting up a shopping cart on Yahoo!  You’ll not only have access to the technology of shopping carts you’ll also find yourself affiliated with a familiar and successful online company.  This gives customers the confidence needed to do business with you.  When a customer buys something from your online Yahoo! Store they become more familiar with the name of your company and will be more likely to buy from you directly at your website the next time around.

Get your Content to Other Websites
Another way that you can build credibility online is to swap content.  If you can position an article that includes a link to your website on another website that is at the top of the field of your industry you increase your chances of credibility.  This then increases your sales potential.  But just how do you get web editors to take any notice of your company?  The bottom line is that more companies are willing to trade a free mention on your website for a good article.  This way the content provider gets targeted and free advertising for their product or service, and the company that is posting the article (and the link) can feature content that is informative and valuable.

This is a form of “article marketing”, which will be discussed in more detail later.  When a potential customer reads your article you establish yourself as an expert in your field.  When the customer links over to your website you have a very good lead that can generate sales.

People who use the Internet want results that are immediate.  They know exactly what they are looking for so your advertising message needs to be appropriate, concise, and to the point.  You need to think about what kind of people will be accessing the website where you plan to post your article.

Come back for part 4 of the 10 part series on target traffic generation.

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Doing something innovative and creative online, as well as using the latest technology, will always getattention.  For example, adding animation, flash, or a photo can create a buzz about the product or service that you’re selling.  Just as e-mail, which contains jokes and strange pictures, gets forwarded all around the planet so too can your marketing message make the rounds.  Come up with a marketing message and then forward it to family, friends, and anyone else you know.

Any time that you can get someone else to forward your e-mail to others you get the information out there about your website and the product or service you’re selling.  One key to great internet marketing is remembering that quality, not quantity, counts.  Avoid buying e-mail lists and focus instead on building your own with people who are actually interested in what you’re selling.  Today internet marketing isn’t about how many people you get to your website or how many people are on your e-mail list.  Today internet marketing is all about how people react to your website and what it is that you’re selling.

Personalizing Your Website

Even if you’re not selling a product or service that is for a specific target audience you need to have a website that is personalized.  For example, even though Amazon sells products that appeal to all target audiences they have still managed to create a personalized website that fits every customer.  This is the goal of personalization technology.

Try to limit the number of products or services that you’re offering to your customers.  “Information overload” is one of the biggest problems on the Internet.  If you give your customers too many choices they’ll have a hard time making a decision.  The key to avoiding information overload is organization as well as making sure that products and services are directed towards your customers.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that internet marketing stop when you generate a sale. Your current customers are the ideal way for you to reach new customers.  You want to get leads from your customers by using marketing concepts such as “tell a friend” e-mails.

One mistake that many small online businesses make is to focus only on self-promotion.  The bottom line is that customers don’t care about you.  They only care about what it is that you’re selling and what you can do for them.  When someone visits your website you have about ten seconds to get their attention before they move on to the next website.  That means that you have ten seconds to tell this person why it is that they need you.  The home page of your website should tell people why your service or product is just right for them.  Your home page should include information about your company and/or have a personal bio about who you are.

If you’re not sure about whether your website is reaching the right people, ask them.  If you provide something of value to people who visit your website they’ll give you information.  Things of value include contests, coupons, and free products.  Make sure that you let them know they can trust you by including a privacy policy on your website that states you won’t share any personal information they provide with anyone else.  Stick to your policy and never sell the information your customers provide you with.  Otherwise you’ll lose and abuse their trust.

Once you know the demographics of your customers you’ll know how to spend your marketing budget.  You can focus your online promotions using targeted marketing strategy.  Even though you may end up with fewer people visiting your website, targeted internet marketing is the way to go.

Come back for part 3 of the 10 part series on target traffic generation.

General Marketing Methods

One of the best ways to get leads on the Internet is by getting a product mention or a free link on another website.  Effective internet marketing is all about putting your product or service in front of potential customers at the exact time that they are looking for it.  This technique is known as “pinpoint marketing”.
Pinpoint marketing is much different than advertising on radio or television, which are known as “interruptive marketing” techniques.  Interruptive marketing costs a lot more than pinpoint marketing and is less effective for the simple reason that you’re attempting to put your product out there in front of everybody instead of pinpointing those potential customers who want to find out more about you and your business.

Pinpoint Marketing: Pinpoint marketing is the process of sending the right message at the right time so that it produces actual results.  For example, if you’re at a ball game and are eating a bag of popcorn. Just when you take a handful of popcorn the Coca-Cola logo appears on the big screen.  The next you thing you know you’re looking for the first vendor who can sell you a can of Coke.  However, if an advertisement for a new car appears on the big screen while you’re watching the game and eating popcorn, you’re less likely to be interested since it’s not something you’re looking for at that moment.  Interruptive marketing isn’t really targeted because it’s not something that you are actively looking for.  People who use the Internet are usually looking for a solution to a problem.  When you put your product in front of them at the right time you’ve reached a potential customer.

Day-part Marketing: The placement and timing of ads on the Internet has become so important to internet marketing that some companies, such as Yahoo!, are selling advertisements in “day-part”.  Day-part is something that has always been done in television advertising.  Day-part marketing works like this – specifying at which time of the day certain ads are viewed so that you can effectively target your customers.

Embedded Marketing Messages: These days, more people than ever are using the Internet to research a product before they buy.  As well, most Internet users are becoming more serious about the amount of time that they spend online.  Studies show that users are spending less time on the web and that the time they do spend surfing is focused and deliberate.  Many users bookmark their favorite websites so that they can access information fast and easily.  When people want a solution to a certain problem, such as a health issue or taking a vacation, they often look online for the answers.  This is why it’s important for you to put your product or service right in front of them whenever you can.

Come back for part 2 of the 10 part series on target traffic generation.

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