LESSON #72: Introduction to Web Traffic

By | July 23, 2010

This is the point in the lesson series that so many people have been waiting for… web traffic!

We’re going to spend 14 consecutive lessons covering web traffic strategies, starting right now…

(Watch this video…)

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Main points:

  • Internet marketing without web traffic is futile.

  • If you’re really an Internet marketer, you WILL find a way to get traffic to your site.

  • You can outsource it.

  • There are no magic bullets!

  • Web traffic requires (at least initially):

    1) Work
    2) Money
    (Or both)

    -All web traffic is not equal regarding what it takes to get it, and what you get out of it.
    -Best to look at it in terms of ROI.

  • 5 main web traffic strategies that I’ll be covering:

    1) List building
    2) Paid traffic/advertising
    3) SEO
    4) Affiliate, JV, and Piggyback Marketing
    5) Social Media, Web 2.0, Viral, and “everything else”

    (See video for details of each)

  • We’re going to avoid the scammy and spammy stuff.

  • We’re going to keep it mostly “white hat”.

  • Instead of focusing on traffic tricks and tactics, you should focus on traffic fundamentals.

  • Those who get CONSISTENT traffic for the LONG TERM are those who are good at one or more of the fundamentals of web traffic.

    Action steps:

    1) Be a list builder.

    2) Choose to become an expert in at least one other area of web traffic.

    We’re going to start with paid traffic in the next lesson!

    As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below 🙂

    Have a great day!

  • 101 thoughts on “LESSON #72: Introduction to Web Traffic

    1. Dave Guindon

      Always great stuff Eric! I always find myself on your blog watching these cool videos … gives me more ideas for my online biz.

      Hope your well .. all the best to you and yours,

      Dave Guindon 🙂

      Reply
    2. Kwame

      How do you do that again and again. Delivering solid content for free. As I have been inquiring when ever you start a coaching program put my name first on the list. Thank you you so much and God Bless you and your family.
      How is the Belize projects going?

      Reply
    3. Eric Post author

      Thanks Kwame. Belize projects are going good. I am planning on going again in November.

      Reply
    4. Colin

      Eric I possibly know hundreds of traffic methods. But listen I started building mini-websites and now marketing all of them takes forever. Its been a fight to get even 100 page impressions to them all.

      What do you suggest would be the best way to market at least 100 – 200 minisites that all have info products for sale and are monetized by Adsense?

      Reply
    5. DANIEL

      YOUR LESSIONS HAVE HELPED ME MORE THEN I CAN YOU. THATS WHY I STARTED HAWKSNESTMARKETING. THANK-YOU FOR ALL THE INFORMATION. KEEP UP THE GREAT JOB.

      Reply
    6. Janice

      I am a newbie and I hate that word and quite confused about starting to market. I have to get my site up with a squeeze page or landing page to get email addresses but one time I am told I have to list on Creigs list and then write articles and post them on another list. Where do I start. Then I have to be promooting my site for 3 hours a day. Am I right.

      Reply
    7. Patrick

      Great lesson Eric. I enjoy the fact that you like being honest and upright. Your success follows your integrity. It’s true I have not kept up with the action steps and I need to go back and work through them again. You had stated in one of the early lessons to pick one or two people to listen to as a source of learning internet marketing. It is so easy to get distracted and soon overwhelmed in what to do. I need to get back to the basics of these lessons and build from there. Thanks for reminding us to be strong in the fundamentals.

      you are the best!

      Patrick

      Reply
    8. Eric Post author

      For that business model, SEO is probably the best route. If you’re monetizing with Adsense, it would probably be difficult to have a good ROI if you were spending a lot of money on traffic.

      If you’ve already tried SEO on your 100+ sites, and aren’t getting much traffic on ANY of them, then Google probably has a problem with the sites or there is a problem with your SEO strategy.

      Out of that many sites, I would think at least a few of them would be getting traffic (assuming they all have unique content).

      As a part of your SEO efforts, I would tie in some social media/bookmarking, and video submission marketing.

      Now I would also suggest a few other things…

      1) Clarify your business model. You say there are info-products for sale AND Adsense. But if you’ve got good info products (targeted for your audience, good sales copy, etc), then there should be no need for the Adsense.

      If you want to be in the info product business, then I would recommend refining your sales process until you have some good-converting products.

      At that point, you can implement an affiliate program, and start getting traffic from affiliates as well. Generally affiliates do not want to send traffic to sites with Adsense or alternative forms of monetization.

      2) If you decide to go the Adsense route, then a major key is having good original content. With that many sites, you would basically need to outsource it.

      3) Regardless of whether you decide to focus on monetizing with Adsense, or with info products, I would add list building into the mix. you can set up lists in AWeber for all your niche sites, and setup an autoresponder sequence to sell them your product, affiliate offers, etc. (See lesson 68)

      4) I would also focus on making sure one website is profitable, before moving to the next one. If you’ve got a website that consistently earns a profit, you can easily add paid traffic into the mix because you’ll know your ROI.

      Reply
    9. selfconfidencehypnosis

      I am looking forward to this. I have spent a couple of thousand on PPC and not made a cent. At the time I was peddling affiliate products. The penny finally dropped & I started on list building while at the same time, I worked on SEO to get my website on google first page,albeit position 9.
      Alas, still no traffic and still not a SALE or a subscriber to my list. The website I am refeering to is the one referred to here. Do you have advice for me? I am in South Africa-not that I think that should matter.

      Thanks for your excellent tuition.

      Reply
    10. Tim

      Hi Eric,

      Loved your stuff as always, great substance vs hype&fluff.

      I provide Internet Marketing Services for local businesses and have been able to outsource most technical functions i.e. web design, hosting, graphics etc to reliable sources but am still looking for a good place to outsource “Traffic Generation” for my clients to. I know I can go to Odesk&Elance and post a request there however most of the people that have responded have less experience than I do. Rather than wading thru countless elance/odesk/rentacoder profiles can you recommend a good person/firm that focuses on Traffic Generation?

      Your advice is greatly appreciated,

      Thanks,

      Tim

      Reply
    11. Gary Pettit

      Eric It’s going to be really nice having you guide us trough the fundamental traffic methods. I’ve taken a few traffic courses in the past but I’ve really been anticipating the teachings coming from you 🙂

      I may need to reflect back a little on the list building series but my problem hasn’t been so much as building a list through traffic as compared to having a responsive list after getting the traffic and sign ups…thats what is frustrating for me. Everyone says how valuable the list is but if the list is not responsive then it’s not valuable.

      😉

      Slaughter Your Competition with Unstoppable Targeted FREE Traffic!
      http://WebTrafficMassacre.com

      Reply
    12. Eric Post author

      No I would not recommend using craigslist for advertising, as 99% of what internet marketers are using it for is not allowed by craigslist. There are some exceptions, depending on what you’re selling and how you’re using craigslist. But I do recommend it for finding freelancers or employees.

      No you don’t have to promote your site for 3 hours a day, although it’s not a bad idea.

      First, you would want to make sure you have a profitable website before investing a lot of time into promotion.

      Then you could outsource your traffic generation, but if you have 3 hours a day to spend on it, and you don’t mind doing it… that’s a good task to focus on.

      Too many marketers focus on all the other stuff and then expect the traffic to come.

      But as marketers, we need to do our #1 job, which is… marketing!

      My advice for now is to follow all my lessons, then you’ll have a much better understanding of how it all works 🙂

      Reply
    13. Eric Post author

      Well you obviously know HOW to get traffic from PPC. Since that traffic was sent to affiliate offers rather than your own site, I think it’s worth another test.

      But this time don’t spend thousands. Spend $10-$20 as a test to get 100 visitors, and see how your site converts. If you’re not getting opt-ins or sales (whichever is the objective of your landing page), then you’ll know that the problem is not just a lack of traffic, but it’s an issue with your site converting.

      Get your site converting, then you can pour your efforts into getting traffic to it using the methods that I’m going to teach.

      Reply
    14. james

      Really looking forward to the upcoming lessons about traffic. I think its 1 part knowing what to do, then 1 part making a habit of doing something every day to build the traffic, because in the long run the habit will still be there.

      Kind of off topic but do you talk about setting up your home “studio” in any of the lessons.. ie. audio equipment, recording sofware, editing software, where to get music for the introduction to your videos?

      Thanks
      James

      Reply
    15. Jan Smith

      Eric I am really looking forward to the next lesson.

      I have been always looking for that ‘magic bullet’ that I believed was there and no one was talking about. Coming from you, I accept your assurances that there is no such thing.

      So, I will now concentrate on the FUNdamentals with your help and guidance.

      What do you think of traffic exchanges?

      Reply
    16. Eric Post author

      Thanks Tim

      If you are looking for the type of outsourcing that an Odesk/Elance/Rentacoder worker would provide for you, then I would recommend Traffic Sage

      It is run by a couple of fairly well known internet marketers, and the workers are all India based. I did a review of it awhile back:

      Traffic Sage Outsourced Web Traffic and SEO Review

      On the other hand, in your situation, since you have an ongoing service with local businesses, I think it would probably be ideal for you to develop your own team of traffic specialists in the Philippines.

      If you need to learn HOW to do that, I recommend ReplaceMyself from John Jonas.

      Philippines workers can also be trained to manage paid traffic/PPC. If you want a more experienced PPC manager, I would look for a certified Adwords Specialist who has a successful track record of managing a high volume of ad spending.

      If you have high end clients who are looking for something more along the lines of enterprise level SEO, then you can expect to pay $2k+/month with a major SEO firm along the lines of BruceClay.

      You can find a list of many top SEO firms here:
      http://www.topseos.com/rankings

      Reply
    17. Eric Post author

      Thanks Gary, yup I’d review the list building series. If you’re lacking responsiveness, try focusing on providing something that really helps them. If you can truly help them, it will build reciprocity.

      On a side note- you might want to get some other opinions, but I think the graphics on your webtrafficmassacre are a bit over the top. It would definitely be a turn-off for me. You have a nice pic here on your gravator, but the masked monster doesn’t exactly invoke trust, LOL 😉

      Reply
    18. Eric Post author

      I talked a little about it in lesson #41 and #42, but here are the basics of what I use:

      -$99 Alesis USB podcasting microphone
      -Camtasia Studio for recording and editing
      -Made the music in Garage band on my mac
      -You can find cheap or free royalty-free audio loops and intros in a number of places if you search for them.

      -For live action videos, I shoot on Sony HD camcorders and do the editing in Final Cut Pro on a Mac.

      Reply
    19. Eric Post author

      Traffic exchanges would be in category #5 under “everything else”. Some of them can be a decent traffic source, and I’ve even promoted and used a few of them in the past. But they are not one of the fundamentals. They’re more of an “extra” source of traffic. And they work best for people who are already getting traffic. Most of them can also be manipulated with black-hat tactics like automation using macros.

      Reply
    20. RACNicole

      Hi, this is Nicole from vWorker.com (formerly known as Rentacoder.com).

      vWorker makes finding qualified workers easy. The search engine allows you to query workers by:

      -Coder rating. Work with a select group of coders within a specific rate range.
      -Completed job number. Find coders who’ve completed a minimum number of jobs.
      -Last log in date. Make sure you solicit coders who’ve recently checked into the RentACoder website.
      -Top coder status. Work with the best of the best.
      -Expert Rating status. Locate coders who demonstrate a preferred intellect.
      -Country. Limit your work force to individuals in a specific location.
      -Time zone. Avoid delays by soliciting coders in your own area.
      -City. Find coders in a specific city. This is a great option should there be a need to physically meet somewhere.

      If you have any questions, feel free to call in to talk to a facilitator, or send email through the site’s feedback form.

      Nicole
      vWorker.com

      Reply
    21. Gary Pettit

      LOL…I’ve been told that before! That site converts pretty well but probably would convert even better if I updated a couple images.

      Reply
    22. Eric Post author

      Haha well I suppose it really depends on your audience. If they are marketers who also love horror movies, then I suppose it would convert like crazy.

      Reply
    23. Jia Bin

      Thanks Eric for sharing this! This is an amazing post! I’ve been looking on how to build up my traffic to my website.

      Reply
    24. Jim

      What is the best method using free traffic that works, to build a list in affiliate marketing?
      What are the exact steps to doing this?

      Reply
    25. Jim

      How about using all of your lessons in a zip file as an incentive for someone to sign up to build a list?

      Reply
    26. Eric Post author

      Thanks for the comment Nicole. I’ve recommended RentACoder (now vWorker) many times in the past. I’ve used RAC for quite a few projects and have spent over $80k there. I really like the rating system and escrow sytem.

      Reply
    27. Eric Post author

      I’ll be covering free traffic methods in several lessons. A far as building a list… the same methods would apply that I taught in lessons 59-70.

      Reply
    28. Eric Post author

      When it comes to opt-in incentives (see lesson #62) providing the lessons in a zip file would probably work fairly well, but providing them as an e-course will probably have a higher perceived value.

      But beyond that, delivering them over time via email (or even better.. on a blog) will be better for building relationsip with your subscribers.

      If you delivered them in a zip file, most people would never even unzip it and view them. But delivering them over time helps people digest them, builds their trust, and if you’re delivering them on a blog or forum it also builds an interactive community.

      Reply
    29. Jim

      I just saw Russell Brunsons’ “Social Media Anarchy” video. It sounds really corrupt to me.
      Have you seen it and what do you think?

      Reply
    30. Petre Tudor

      Hi Eric,

      I’m so glad you are going to cover the traffic web strategies within 14 lessons.I tell you this because I just created a squeeze page by using your template and now I just started to get traffic to this my webpage by using the trafficexchanges as method I know better.I don’t know how of effective is this method. I joined 8 free trafficexchanges and added my created squeezepage as my referral URL and I daily surf the 8 trafficexchanges by 50 times each of them by means of my CrazyBrowse program.
      My final goal is to get my own opt-in list and the same time to sell a product.My squeeze page leads visitors to my OTO1 sales page or to my MRR’s sales page.
      So far I already got 6 subscribers (1 subscriber/day) but unfortunately without to thet at least 1 sale (OTO or MRR),but I hope I’ll get some sales.
      I do thing I made some wrong because my subscribers get my MRR product without to use my “Buy Now” button to pay me for MRR product.
      If you have some time, you can see my squeezepage and tell me what is wrong with my strartpage below:

      http://www.petretudor.com/OTO1/lbesqueezepage.htm

      I look forward to your early replay and hope you’ll help me what’s wrong

      Respectfuly,
      Petre Tudor

      Reply
    31. Graham in UK

      Hi Eric
      Well that ‘wetted the appetite’, traffic seems to be the biggest problem to most of us.
      I’m looking forward to the Web 2.0 video because I find this the most confusing.
      When you have an RSS feed from your blog, do you have to sign up with an account to all these different places such as Twitter, Hubpages etc before your post is pinged and displayed?
      If so then you start off with a static site, add a blog, then have to make tweets or posts on these accounts in order to promote your original website?
      Seems like a lot of work to promote one site?
      I am confused!!

      Reply
    32. Gillian

      Thankyou Eric,

      This is great informative and no nonsense information. I’m really looking forward to the coming lessons and am reminded to go over the earlier ones again.

      Reply
    33. Michaela

      Hi! Eric,
      I am looking for the traffic lessons for a long time, and I’ll make available myself for all of them even though I’ll probably use only 2-3 methods from that list.
      Knowing the quality of your lessons, and your honest opinions, they will be a big plus for me and an excellent learning curve.
      By the way, the lessons about list building are awesome.
      All the best
      Michaela
      http://squidooeventlog.com

      Reply
    34. John Roux

      Hi Eric,

      Just want to take the opportunity to say thanks
      for all your lessons.

      Regarding web traffic methods, please tell me where traffic exchanges fit in. I believe many are extremely successful with this method.

      Warm regards,
      John.

      Reply
    35. Dan @ Instant Money Making Websites

      Thanks Eric for the traffic lessons you have just started, I’m sure this is what all your subscribers have been waiting for.

      Although I have a good knowledge of website traffic generation based on my couple of years experience making money online, I will still keenly look forward to all the lessons. Just like your other lessons, I believe I will find something valuable to help me take my traffic generation to a higher level.

      Thanks, keep them coming, I appreciate.

      Reply
    36. Eric Post author

      Traffic exchanges would be in category #5 under “everything else”. Some of them can be a decent traffic source, and I’ve even promoted and used a few of them in the past. But they are not one of the fundamentals. They’re more of an “extra” source of traffic. And they work best for people who are already getting traffic. Most of them can also be manipulated with black-hat tactics like automation using macros.

      Reply
    37. Eric Post author

      I’ll be covering RSS, web 2.0 sites, etc.

      Yes it can be a lot of work, but there are some shortcuts.

      Reply
    38. Eric Post author

      I find it interesting that so many ET readers are using traffic exchanges. There are definitely better traffic methods to focus your efforts on 🙂

      Regarding your squeeze page, you’ve got all the fundamentals down, but there are several nuances that need to be tweaked to make it more effective.

      1) Attention List Builders isn’t the best attention getter, because you’re targeting people who aren’t yet list builders.

      2) I would consolidate the headline into one statement like… An Easy Way for You to Build an Email List of 1000’s of Subscribers, Even if You’re a Complete Newbie!

      3) There are several typos like “Builing” “make your money” “top 2 way” “desing”

      4) A couple of formatting issues. The table needs to be centered. Do not show the table border.

      Reply
    39. Eric Post author

      I’ve seen the video, but I haven’t tried the software. I am an affiliate of Russell and I support most of his stuff because he has good quality products, but I agree this one seems spammy.

      It does look like a VERY powerful tool to get traffic, but I would not use it to create back links to any site that you’re serious about, because it could backfire. I think it is best suited as a blackhat method of promoting your secondary sites, which can then funnel traffic to your money site.

      If anyone is planning on buying it, here’s my affiliate link if you want to support my blog 🙂

      Social Anarchy

      Proceed with caution.

      Reply
    40. Anonymous

      Dear Eric,

      Amazing stuff as always. You are the master of your craft! I have been waiting for these series of lessons for some time. You have my undivided attention now.
      Thanks for being completely professional.

      Best regards,

      Ari

      Reply
    41. Richard

      Hi Eric,
      Enjoy your videos, and looking forward to receiving the ones to come. I have been a self employed carpenter contractor since ’88. It has been a good occupation for me, but it wouldn’t be for most people.A lot of physical labor, and as in most self employed situations, some long hours. At this stage of life, I am looking to start spending more of those hours at IM. I have a vision of being able make my income from the computer. I would like to be making a 6 figure income within a year. In that way I would be able to give more to animal causes, travel the country playing more golf, and being able to volunteer my carpentry skills to the people that need such a service.
      What is the best way to advertise for more than one affiliate website. Most of them require 3-5 members in your down line. I am a member in about 10 such sites. I have had some success in creating a down line, but am looking to do better. Would you say one of these site’s a day to my safe list’s and a couple of email blaster’s? That way they get sent about once every 10 days. Would you cut that list in half to be able to send out once a week. I could also do all of my programs everyday. But to a fewer number of list.
      Because of the hours required for my present company, I am somewhat limited in the amount of time I have to advertise.
      There must be a better way. Any advice would be welcomed.
      Thanks for your time.

      Reply
    42. Bill

      Hi Eric, money is definitely in the list but if you have a list and no means to utilize that list, where are you?….Nowhere without the tools to use them.

      Reply
    43. Eric Post author

      Hi Richard

      None of my fundamental traffic methods involve downlines at all. So my advice at this point would be to follow the upcoming lessons and learn about some other ways of getting traffic before deciding which one(s) you want to focus on.

      There are some various methods in my category #5, which may involve downlines (viral sites, matrix, MLM-style stuff), but I don’t rely on those for traffic at all. My advice would be to use those safelists and MLM type of sites to send traffic to a squeeze page offering something compelling to get them onto your own list on AWeber. Then you can build a relationship with those people and email them anytime you want.

      Reply

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