I want more visitors

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I want more visitors

So you want more customers but you're not sure of the best way to get them - or even exactly what ways there are to get them? Basically, new customers (visitors to your site) come from four different sources - each with it's own set of costs and benefits.

Search engine optimization - Search engine optimization (also known as SEO), has to do with finding the best way to optimize your site for search engines. There are a number of black hat methods (methods frowned upon by search engines), but also many methods that are perfectly acceptable. The general idea being as long as you are showing search engines the same content as users AND you are attempting to provide a better site and better information for users, then it's generally accepted. The templates and services we offer are ones allowed by search engines and recommended to help maximize benefit to users as well as search engines.
Online marketing - Online marketing occurs in a number of different forms.
- Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. This is the most common method of online marketing and includes but is not limited to advertising through Google and Yahoo. Pay per click advertising can quickly bring in traffic, but it's important to target the proper terms and monitor your expenses. It's very easy to quickly spend more money than is generated by your sales. The highest trafficked terms are frequently NOT the best performing terms.
- Affiliate Programs. Affiliate programs (managed through services like Commission Junction or Shareasale) pay other websites to advertise for your site. You control the program and what percentage of the sale you want to pay out for a customer they send to your site. Affiliate sales can bring in good business, but it's important to make sure you are truly getting a good value for your commission payout.
- Shopping Portals. This includes pay per click portals such as shopping.com, or you can list your products on portals that actually make the sale for you such as Buy.com. Once again, it's important to monitor to make sure you're getting the proper value. When managed properly, these are excellent sources of traffic and sales.

Offline marketing - Offline advertising includes anything from fliers in your shipments to magazine ads, radio ads, television ads, and more. Obviously there are many outlets for offline advertising. BUT, as many dot com's learned, it is much harder converting sales through offline than with online advertising. If you want to do offline advertising, start small and make sure it's worthwhile before spending too much.

Word of mouth - Word of mouth advertising is obviously one of the best methods of advertising. It's also the one you have least control over. Make sure to provide a good product, at a good value, and the best service you can - and every once in a while you may get blessed with an article (online or offline) that mentions your site. One of the most effective ways to boost this ad method is to actually ask your clients and associates to help. Most folks are happy to put in a good word for you when they just had a wonderful shopping experience.