getting started

Let me start by saying: This is not just a "marketing problem." Though customer acquisition (or audience development, depending on your industry) is typically the marketing department's domain, this quest is interdisciplinary on the web. The strategies used to increase traffic touch almost everyone in the organization.

It's possible and often useful to assign ownership of the sub-goals to different organizational departments: Marketing can bring in new users and remind them to return, design can increase the length of visits, and engineering and production can speed the site along. Meanwhile, the producer can develop product strategies that influence all these factors.

But don't use this as an excuse not to communicate. Compartmentalized solutions rarely work on the web, and each of these sub-goals requires a cross-disciplinary approach.

It's a good idea to have a single person responsible for coordinating traffic-development efforts. This probably isn't a full-time job, but it's an important cross-disciplinary task for someone who communicates well.

50 ways to increase traffic

attract new visitors

1. Get site listed in directories, such as Yahoo!.

2. Get site listed in all major search engines.

3. Improve ranking in search engines by:

4. Targeting the right keywords.

5. Targeting different keywords for different pages of your site.

6. Including these keywords in page titles, headlines, and meta tags.

7. Placing keywords near top of page.

8. Considering a more relevant URL.

9. Getting popular sites to link to you.

10. Let offline customers know about your web site.

11. Collect email addresses from offline customers; send them promotions for your web site.

12. Solicit links from complementary sites.

13. Join a web ring or link exchange with related sites.

14. Buy keyword-based ads (or paid links) on relevant sites or search engines.

15. Run ad banners on related sites. Strong offers and relevant placement produce the best results.

16. Reward users for "telling a friend."

17. Let users email site content (articles, product reviews, itineraries) to a friend.

18. Create an affiliate program so other sites can promote your products.

19. Post site information to related discussion groups.

20. Enter your site in relevant contests.

21. Promote your site to the press, especially web-based operations.

22. Send targeted email to a list of potential customers. But beware! Unsolicited mail may anger recipients.

23. Try cross-media marketing: direct mail, in-store promotions, TV, and print ads.

keep visitors around longer

24. Test what works best for your site: Watch your traffic logs and run experiments to see what gets used and why.

25. Experiment with headlines to see what words and content users respond to.

26. Improve site speed so users don't leave in frustration.

27. Improve site search so users can find what they came looking for.

28. Improve site navigation (this produces more successful visits, which may be longer or shorter).

29. Keep your home page fast and simple to get users in the door.

30. Remove the audio soundtrack from your home page immediately!

31. If you must have audio on your home page, give users a way to turn it off!

32. Break articles or features into multiple pages.

33. Encourage participation, through bulletin boards or user-generated reviews.

34. Integrate searchable databases.

35. Offer related links or products.

36. Add polls and quizzes, with results leading to related content.

bring visitors back more often

37. Create mailing list with email addresses.

38. Place "enter email" solicitation on every page of site, including the front door.

39. Set up one or more email newsletters.

40. Experiment with different newsletter formats to see what works best.

41. Offer customers specialized newsletters, addressing their personal interests.

42. Update site more frequently, giving users a reason to come back.

43. For stores, run sales and promotions.

44. For stores or service sites, send a confirmation email with each transaction.

45. For content sites, launch an ongoing series. Supplement with a newsletter.

46. Add participatory features, so users feel part of a community.

47. Encourage users to make your site their personal home page.

48. Encourage users to add your site to their "Favorites" list.

49. Distribute content to handheld electronics (Palm Pilot, cell phones, etc.).

ask your mom

50. Hey, if all else fails, and your mom isn't too busy...Click, Mom, click!