Getting Traffic?

[avenue]

Hello everyone!

I've been wanting to do affiliate marketing for years, and I finally got started with it.

I have a huge interest in telecommunications, such as television service, cell phone service, and home phone service. I really know the product well, and I can answer any questions people have about it. I'm offering a free consultation service on my site where I'll answer any questions and help people find the right company and plan for their needs. I think this is a great offer. The problem is, nobody knows about the site! I have yet to get a consultation request. I'm trying so hard, but I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

I've also written some articles on different cell phone plans, contract vs prepaid, etc. They come up on Google if I type in the exact title with quotes, but otherwise they don't come up. I have submitted my site to Google along with other search engines. I've looked into SEO optimization, and I've tried my best with it. I got Google Webmaster Tools setup, along with StatCounter. I'm limited with what I can add since I'm using Google Sites.

I don't really have much money to invest into advertising, or anything for that matter. I'm looking for ways to promote the site for free. I think what I'm offering is great, and if people find out about it a lot of people will like the idea, but like I said earlier, the problem is I don't know how to get people to know about the site.

Please let me know what I can do to get the site known.

Thank you!

I forgot to add, I did read a lot of the stickies in this forum, along with other posts. I'm still looking for additional tips.

Thanks again!

 

[kfm24]

Start by posting your business to facebook and twitter

 

[avenue]

Start by posting your business to facebook and twitter

I have a Facebook account. I'll try posting more.

Thank you!

 

[Linda Buquet]

SEO is the best way to get free traffic. But I don't know how much control you have with Google sites.

But part of the game you can probably do there. Learn to do keyword research and find some longer tail phrases that are not too competitive. Then write articles about that topic with the phrase in the title. The top stickies in the niche forum will help you learn to do keyword research.

I'd also try to find some medium traffic telecommunications and TV forums and have a well crafted sig targeted for each.

 

[avenue]

SEO is the best way to get free traffic. But I don't know how much control you have with Google sites.

But part of the game you can probably do there. Learn to do keyword research and find some longer tail phrases that are not too competitive. Then write articles about that topic with the phrase in the title. The top stickies in the niche forum will help you learn to do keyword research.

I'd also try to find some medium traffic telecommunications and TV forums and have a well crafted sig targeted for each.

Thank you for the suggestions!!

 

[Sweet Tooth No. 3]

That's crazy, I've never heard of Google sites until just now.

But if you're looking for a free site that will produce results, I would suggest Hubpages.

I have a Hubpage that ranks in the top 3 for a pretty good web hosting term.

Comment on other pages. This will produce a link to your profile, that will link to all your hubs. This will increase your pagerank quickly.

On top of that, Hubpages is full of good people that like to follow good authors.

I love Hubpages.

You can either enable Adsense through them, or use affiliate links.

Can't believe I've never heard of Google Sites. Is it good for anything?

 

[avenue]

That's crazy, I've never heard of Google sites until just now.

But if you're looking for a free site that will produce results, I would suggest Hubpages.

I have a Hubpage that ranks in the top 3 for a pretty good web hosting term.

Comment on other pages. This will produce a link to your profile, that will link to all your hubs. This will increase your pagerank quickly.

On top of that, Hubpages is full of good people that like to follow good authors.

I love Hubpages.

You can either enable Adsense through them, or use affiliate links.

Can't believe I've never heard of Google Sites. Is it good for anything?

Thanks! I look into that.

Yes, Google Sites is great. There are a few annoyances, but I've figured out how to work around them. The main annoyance that I couldn't workaround was them not allowing Javascript. It can be very annoying.

I like Google Sites because the hosting is free through Google, it's built in for other Google products, such as Adsense, etc. I might need to switch eventually due to the lack of customization.

Thanks again for your suggestions. What I keep seeing is people saying to comment on other forum posts, blogs, etc. I just don't want people getting upset with me from doing that. I'll try my best though.

 

[FitGal]

You need to select a few keywords you can compete for that relate to your niche.
Then drive traffic to those keywords by diversifying your links. Use social bookmarking, article directories, web2.0 etc. Contextual blog links work great!
Blog posting can be hit or miss and must be used with care.

If you find Google sites restrictive, it is pretty cheap to set up your own domain and WP is so easy.

 

[avenue]

You need to select a few keywords you can compete for that relate to your niche.
Then drive traffic to those keywords by diversifying your links. Use social bookmarking, article directories, web2.0 etc. Contextual blog links work great!
Blog posting can be hit or miss and must be used with care.

If you find Google sites restrictive, it is pretty cheap to set up your own domain and WP is so easy.

I currently post articles on my website, but it's not really a blog. Each article is on a different page. If I set up Blogspot or Wordpress within my site is that better for SEO?

I signed up for Hubpages. I'm typing put an article and I plan to post it on there soon. Does anyone have any suggestions before I post it?

I'm reading a lot about backlinks, but I'm still not sure how to do it. Do I just post a comment to a Hubpage article with a link to mine?

Also, I'm not sure what Web 2.0 is.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Vendzilla]

One of the things you can do is to build a revelent resource or directory site and then get it listed , this site will build traffic faster than some and will allow you to place creatives to your main site where surfers will always have their eyes crossing over your ads so see listings.

 

[avenue]

One of the things you can do is to build a revelent resource or directory site and then get it listed , this site will build traffic faster than some and will allow you to place creatives to your main site where surfers will always have their eyes crossing over your ads so see listings.

Thank you!

 

[Sweet Tooth No. 3]

If I set up Blogspot or Wordpress within my site is that better for SEO?

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

I signed up for Hubpages. I'm typing put an article and I plan to post it on there soon. Does anyone have any suggestions before I post it?

Just post good content. Other Hubbers will see your hub and then vote it up, others will sign on to follow you. Put your keywords in the title tag and several times in the content.

I'm reading a lot about backlinks, but I'm still not sure how to do it. Do I just post a comment to a Hubpage article with a link to mine?

To increase the Pagerank to your Hubs, just comment on other hubs. You don't have to add a link. Your username will add a link to your profile page. Your profile page links to all of your hubs. Follow other Hubbers and they might follow you. Hubpages is really fun. I almost feel bad dropping links there

For backlinks directly to your posts, Google "Social Monkee". The free version may produce some results, and the paid version is well worth it. I just hope Google doesn't deindex their network soon.

For best results, use the longest description possible in their submissions.

But as FitGal said, having your own self hosted sites is best. That is the only way you will be able to add all of the customizations you want.

Also, I'm not sure what Web 2.0 is.

A web 2.0 is Hubpages, Squidoo, Blogspot, Wordpress.com etc...Basically, anywhere you can post content for free.


I'm just really surprised how quick I got that Hubpage ranked.

So it's official, Google loves Hubpages again.

 

[FitGal]

I currently post articles on my website, but it's not really a blog. Each article is on a different page. If I set up Blogspot or Wordpress within my site is that better for SEO?

I signed up for Hubpages. I'm typing put an article and I plan to post it on there soon. Does anyone have any suggestions before I post it?

I'm reading a lot about backlinks, but I'm still not sure how to do it. Do I just post a comment to a Hubpage article with a link to mine?

Also, I'm not sure what Web 2.0 is.

Thanks for your help!

Send me a PM and I will take a quick peek at what you have and what you need to do.

---------- Post added at 10:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 PM ----------

So it's official, Google loves Hubpages again.

And they love Squidoo again...very much so. To get a few backlinks, I put up some Squidoo lenses and they ranked and made some cash within a couple days.

Keep in mind, I always recommend working on your OWN sites first. But these web2.0 properties can be a good way to test the waters, make money (if you choose the right keywords) and diversify income streams.

 

[Sweet Tooth No. 3]

And they love Squidoo again...very much so. To get a few backlinks, I put up some Squidoo lenses and they ranked and made some cash within a couple days.

Keep in mind, I always recommend working on your OWN sites first. But these web2.0 properties can be a good way to test the waters, make money (if you choose the right keywords) and diversify income streams.

I love Squidoo also, they don't care if you drop links. And they are very upfront about it.

I haven't made any money from Squidoo, probably because I use the Amazon module. Do you add your affiliate links in the text body, or use the Amazon/eBay modules?

 

[avenue]

I'm not sure what you mean by this.



Just post good content. Other Hubbers will see your hub and then vote it up, others will sign on to follow you. Put your keywords in the title tag and several times in the content.



To increase the Pagerank to your Hubs, just comment on other hubs. You don't have to add a link. Your username will add a link to your profile page. Your profile page links to all of your hubs. Follow other Hubbers and they might follow you. Hubpages is really fun. I almost feel bad dropping links there

For backlinks directly to your posts, Google "Social Monkee". The free version may produce some results, and the paid version is well worth it. I just hope Google doesn't deindex their network soon.

For best results, use the longest description possible in their submissions.

But as FitGal said, having your own self hosted sites is best. That is the only way you will be able to add all of the customizations you want.



A web 2.0 is Hubpages, Squidoo, Blogspot, Wordpress.com etc...Basically, anywhere you can post content for free.


I'm just really surprised how quick I got that Hubpage ranked.

So it's official, Google loves Hubpages again.

Thank you!

I typed up an article and it was coming up on the first page on Google already! I'm wondering how I could post articles on my site instead of Hubpages and still get them on the first page so quickly. Does Hugpages have some type of priority or are they just really good with SEO?

Send me a PM and I will take a quick peek at what you have and what you need to do.

---------- Post added at 10:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 PM ----------



And they love Squidoo again...very much so. To get a few backlinks, I put up some Squidoo lenses and they ranked and made some cash within a couple days.

Keep in mind, I always recommend working on your OWN sites first. But these web2.0 properties can be a good way to test the waters, make money (if you choose the right keywords) and diversify income streams.

I sent the PM. Thank you!

I think I'll try out Squidoo. Did you make money through an affiliate program, or through AdSense?

I do want to post more articles on my own site, but it will seem like a waste if they don't show up on Google. I want to get them to show up on Google so I don't need to go to other sites such as Hubpages.

I love Squidoo also, they don't care if you drop links. And they are very upfront about it.

I haven't made any money from Squidoo, probably because I use the Amazon module. Do you add your affiliate links in the text body, or use the Amazon/eBay modules?

Do you use AdSense too, or just Amazon?

 

[greenback]

Ezine solo ads can get your sites in front of millions for a fraction of the cost of other advertising mediums.

 

[Sweet Tooth No. 3]

I guess the answer to your question really depends on what your goal is.

With regards to Hubpages. What kind of term is it showing up on the first page for? When I said I ranked my Hubpage quickly, I meant 3 weeks. I rarely rank anything on the first page in a few days.

In an earlier post I said "Google loves Hubpages again." This is what I meant. When the original Panda update came out, Hubpages was apparently labeled by Google as a content farm and they lost their rankings. But in a newer version of Panda (mid Oct. I think), Google started giving Hubpages love again. And they started showing up on page 1 in Google for some decent terms.

Nobody knows the reason for sure. But it is probably due to the fact that HP set in place some excellent guidelines to ensure quality content. Post junk, it gets flagged by members. If you want your backlinks to be followed (and counted by Google), you have to maintain a certain hub and author score. This is easy if you write good content.

What do you want to use HP's for?

A link from HP is a good link. My 4 month old HP subdomain is already PR 3 (with very little external linking). That's higher than my money sites. But you have to maintain author and hubscore to get the juice from this. If you comment on other hubs, the PR will flow through to your hubs, no need to add external links. It passes through your username/profile link.

But I think there is a lot more potential in Hubpages and similar sites. HP is very interactive. I went there basically just to drop links to my money sites, but I did write excellent content. People started following me (legit users), and tweeting my hubs.

If you really applied yourself, it appears that HP could be just as beneficial as utilizing social media such a FB and Twitter. It's just very interactive. Did you enable comments on your hub? Follow other quality hubbers, comment etc...

You said you want to get the same ranking results on your site as you did the HP. Do you mean your Google sites....site? I have no idea how those rank. This is the first I've heard about them.

You'd probably just be better off getting your own domain and hosting. Good hosting is 6 or 7 dollars a month. Just don't expect quick rankings in Google.

But what you want is traffic. Sure, set up your main site and get it seo'd. But to get the most traffic, get as wide of a footprint as possible on the web. This means all the social media outlets, Hubpages, and anywhere you can interact with readers.

Heck, SEO is moving in this direction anyway. If you're signed into Google, then your Google plus activity will affect the search results you see. And I'm sure that in the future, G will add even more signals it can glean from Google plus activity.

Google is now displaying pictures and G+ profiles next to the search results. There is a reason for this. Searchers will click results from authors they recognize and trust.

About Squidoo

On Squidoo, you can only monetize with the Amazon/eBay module or aff links, you can't use Adsense. On HP, you can enable Adsense, and use certain aff links.

But I found a problem with Squidoo yesterday. They are adding no index tags to certain lenses. This means that your lens will not show in search results and your links will not be crawled.

Lenses that don't get any traffic appear to be getting demoted to "work in progress" lenses. And this adds the no index tag. So once you publish a lens, have a plan to get some traffic to it. 2 visits a week appears to be enough. Maybe some posts in the squid forum would be enough.

Sorry to be so long winded, but hopefully you found a couple nuggets of useful info here.

Edit: Forget what I said earlier about Social Monkee, G appears to be really cracking down on this sort of thing.

 

[CoreyH]

twitter isnt too bad either =) classifieds as well like craigslist

 

[avenue]

Ezine solo ads can get your sites in front of millions for a fraction of the cost of other advertising mediums.

Thank you for your response.

I guess the answer to your question really depends on what your goal is.

With regards to Hubpages. What kind of term is it showing up on the first page for? When I said I ranked my Hubpage quickly, I meant 3 weeks. I rarely rank anything on the first page in a few days.

In an earlier post I said "Google loves Hubpages again." This is what I meant. When the original Panda update came out, Hubpages was apparently labeled by Google as a content farm and they lost their rankings. But in a newer version of Panda (mid Oct. I think), Google started giving Hubpages love again. And they started showing up on page 1 in Google for some decent terms.

Nobody knows the reason for sure. But it is probably due to the fact that HP set in place some excellent guidelines to ensure quality content. Post junk, it gets flagged by members. If you want your backlinks to be followed (and counted by Google), you have to maintain a certain hub and author score. This is easy if you write good content.

What do you want to use HP's for?

A link from HP is a good link. My 4 month old HP subdomain is already PR 3 (with very little external linking). That's higher than my money sites. But you have to maintain author and hubscore to get the juice from this. If you comment on other hubs, the PR will flow through to your hubs, no need to add external links. It passes through your username/profile link.

But I think there is a lot more potential in Hubpages and similar sites. HP is very interactive. I went there basically just to drop links to my money sites, but I did write excellent content. People started following me (legit users), and tweeting my hubs.

If you really applied yourself, it appears that HP could be just as beneficial as utilizing social media such a FB and Twitter. It's just very interactive. Did you enable comments on your hub? Follow other quality hubbers, comment etc...

You said you want to get the same ranking results on your site as you did the HP. Do you mean your Google sites....site? I have no idea how those rank. This is the first I've heard about them.

You'd probably just be better off getting your own domain and hosting. Good hosting is 6 or 7 dollars a month. Just don't expect quick rankings in Google.

But what you want is traffic. Sure, set up your main site and get it seo'd. But to get the most traffic, get as wide of a footprint as possible on the web. This means all the social media outlets, Hubpages, and anywhere you can interact with readers.

Heck, SEO is moving in this direction anyway. If you're signed into Google, then your Google plus activity will affect the search results you see. And I'm sure that in the future, G will add even more signals it can glean from Google plus activity.

Google is now displaying pictures and G+ profiles next to the search results. There is a reason for this. Searchers will click results from authors they recognize and trust.

About Squidoo

On Squidoo, you can only monetize with the Amazon/eBay module or aff links, you can't use Adsense. On HP, you can enable Adsense, and use certain aff links.

But I found a problem with Squidoo yesterday. They are adding no index tags to certain lenses. This means that your lens will not show in search results and your links will not be crawled.

Lenses that don't get any traffic appear to be getting demoted to "work in progress" lenses. And this adds the no index tag. So once you publish a lens, have a plan to get some traffic to it. 2 visits a week appears to be enough. Maybe some posts in the squid forum would be enough.

Sorry to be so long winded, but hopefully you found a couple nuggets of useful info here.

Edit: Forget what I said earlier about Social Monkee, G appears to be really cracking down on this sort of thing.

Thanks for all of the information. I really appreciate it. The term that came up on the first page was "cheapest unlimited everything cell phone plan" without the quotes. It was towards the bottom of the first page, but now it's not there at all. Actually, another listing from Hubpages comes up on the first page. I'm hoping my article will make it there sometime soon.

Thanks again for the information. I will be referring back to it to refresh my memory and to implement your suggestions.

twitter isnt too bad either =) classifieds as well like craigslist

Thank you.

I tried Craigslist and didn't really have results, but I can keep trying.

 

[Sweet Tooth No. 3]

@avenue

Sometimes, pages get an initial boost for certain terms in G, then they fall. Not sure why this happens.

Just build some links, and do other things to establish yourself in social media. I wouldn't mess with getting links from Craigslist.

If you have any other questions, just ask