How to Increase Website Traffic and Why Links Matter

Editor's Note: I'd like to welcome my friend, author and business expert Stephanie Chandler who is a guest blogger today. Earlier this year, I wrote about her excellent Own Your Niche. Today you will read an excerpt from the book. If you hurry and click this link, you can get a FREE Ebook copy of Stephanie's book. It's a limited offer so do it today.

By Stephanie Chandler

Links within your website and pointing to your website from other sites can have an important impact on your overall optimization with the search engines.

Inbound Links

One of the criteria that the search engines use to rank website pages is the number of inbound links pointing to your website from other websites. More importantly, they look at how many links from high-traffic websites are pointing to your pages. If a popular website features a link to your site, it shows the search engines that your site is relevant.

Other important incoming links are from industry-related sites. When another site in a related industry features a link to your site, it helps Google see your site’s relevance. For example, a website that covers news about the spa industry would be an ideal link to have pointing to a salon and spa site.

Government sites (with a .gov extension) and education sites (with a .edu extension) also have high priority with the search engines. If you’re able to get incoming links from any of these sites, it can help your ranking.

The key to success here is to make sure your link is listed in as many places as possible.

Where to Promote Your Website Link:

• Update the free online profiles provided by any trade organizations that you belong to by including your website link.
• Ask colleagues and business partners to swap links with you. They can publish your link on a “Recommended Resources” or similar page on their site, and you can do the same in return.
• Publish articles and include your bio and website link. The more articles you push out across the internet, the more links you will have pointing back to your site. The same is true for guest blog posts.
• Engage in social media sites, including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
• Take advantage of every opportunity you can find to post your link online!
• Some services offer to add lots of inbound links to your site—beware! Adding dozens of links at once can be viewed by the search engines as spam, and many of these services are scams in their own right.
• It takes time to get your link out there, so always be on the lookout for opportunities to add links.

Anchored Links

An anchored link is a link to a web page that is embedded in text. For example, when “Click here for more information” is an active hyperlink to a web page, it is an anchored link.

Anchored links are a boon for SEO because they tell the search engines what content is found on the linked page. 

Because of this, links should incorporate keywords instead of the generic “Click here” example.

For example, a high-traffic site with a link embedded in the text to “Visit Happy Times Day Spa in Toledo, Ohio” would be an ideal anchored link.

The hardest part of this strategy is getting others to link back to your site in the first place, and then to do so with an anchored link. But because anchored links are so valuable, it’s worth your time to ask your link partners to do this whenever possible.

You can also weave anchored links throughout your own site to the different pages within your site. For example, from your primary services page, you could include a link that says, “Find out more about massage therapy services.” You can also incorporate anchored links on your home page in addition to your site navigation links.

The above is an excerpt from the book: Own Your Niche: Hype-Free Internet Marketing Tactics to Establish Authority in Your Field and Promote Your Service-Based Business by Stephanie Chandler.

A Resource For Author's Platform Building

The last time I wrote about platform, I received several vocal comments--especially from the fiction authors, who many times believe they don't need a platform. Yes, story is important but increasingly the better your platform, the more likely to sell your book.

In the last few days, I've read a new book from Stephanie Chandler called The Author's Guide to Building an Online Platform, Leveraging the Internet to Sell More Books. I just wrote a five star review for Amazon but wanted to also give you the insight from this review--then I have even more information from Stephanie Chandler. First my review:

Every writer has great dreams and aspirations of selling many copies of their published book. Stephanie Chandler gives you the real story about publishers. They can make beautiful well-crafted books but selling those books? That's a key responsibility for the author. THE AUTHOR'S GUIDE TO BUILDING AN ONLINE PLATFORM gives writers the critical tools to sell their books into the marketplace.

As Chandler writes at the bottom of the first page of Chapter 1: "The reality in the world of publishing is that without marketing, a book simply cannot be successful. And even if you have the biggest publishers on the planet behind you, it is unlikely that they will run your entire marketing campaign for you. You will still be required to do the majority of the work."

Publishers use the word "platform" a great deal and Chandler explains, "The formation of a platform is essential for publishing nonfiction and helpful for writers of fiction. A platform encompasses your ability to reach a broad audience before the book is even released."…"Authors of fiction and gift books aren't always required to have a platform first. But if you come to the table with one, your chances of getting published will be dramatically increased. Agents and publishers want authors who can sell books. Once you realize this and figure out how to demonstrate that you can do that, your future in publishing will be bright." (page 6)

In a no nonsense style, Chandler gives you the details to stand apart from the run of the mill book submission or published book author—because you will be motivated and informed to sell more books."

That was my review. Now I want to give you an article from Stephanie Chandler's website which will give you a bit of her writing style and a sample of the type of information in this book:

Create Passive Income Online: A Formula for Financial Freedom

By Stephanie Chandler

Passive income is money you make while you sleep. Real estate is the most traditional form of passive income, but the Internet has opened up opportunities for anyone who wants to generate revenue online. Following is a strategy you can follow to develop your own passive income business:

Create a Content-Rich Website.

Content really is king. Not only does it give your site visitors a reason to return to your site, but it gives the search engines plenty of reasons to index your pages. Load your website with articles, links and other resources. By offering free information, you can convert many of your visitors into paying customers.

Publish a Useful E-zine.

Online newsletters or e-zines are powerful tools for keeping your name in front of your customers. Pay attention to the e-zines you receive from other businesses. What do you like about them? What could you do better? Publish yours weekly or monthly and make sure it offers plenty of value. This is your chance to build a rapport with your readers while you soft-sell your products and services.

Develop Products to Sell.

Information products are powerful revenue generators. Product opportunities include books, e-books, special reports, teleseminars, workbooks, tips booklets, mp3 files and virtually and form in which you deliver information. Use your expertise to develop products that your site visitors need. Electronic products are ideal passive-income earners since once the product is created; it can continue to sell for years with little effort on your part.

Write Persuasive Ad Copy.

Once you create a quality product, you need to convince customers to get out their credit cards. Offer a list of product features, testimonials from others who have enjoyed the product, and appeal to your buyer's emotions. The key to successful ad copy is to identify the buyer's need and show them how your product will fill that need.

Automate Your Online Business.

The key to passive income is to minimize the amount of work involved. Instead of manually responding to every sale that you make or every inquiry you receive through your website, you can automate these tasks. Add a shopping cart solution to your site such as www.1shoppingcart.com, a comprehensive shopping cart solution or www.payloadz.com, a service that automates electronic file delivery.

Implement Affiliate Programs.

You can sell other people's products and services directly through your website and earn a percentage from every sale. Find products and services that compliment the content on your site. Popular affiliate programs include those offered by Amazon.com, Google Adsense (www.google.com), and Commission Junction (www.cj.com). Your shopping cart service provider may also allow you to implement your own affiliate program so that you can empower others to sell your products and services. You can also create affiliate programs through services such as Click Bank (www.clickbank.com) or Pay Dot Com (https://paydotcom.com/).

Market Your Business.

Drive traffic to your site by spreading your website link across the Internet. Some strategies to employ include swapping links with other businesses, publishing articles online through services like www.ideamarketers.com and www.ezinearticles.com, submitting press releases through www.prweb.com, and purchasing classified ads in industry publications. Try to do one to three tasks every day to market your business and soon your website traffic will begin to explode.

Continue the Product Development Cycle.

Be on the lookout for new product opportunities. Pay attention to what questions your customers are asking so you can create products that they need. Each new product should help increase your bottom line by generating new income streams and new reasons to advertise your business. Keep in mind that customers who liked your previous products will be more likely to purchase new products from you for years to come.

About the Author:

Stephanie Chandler is the author of several business and marketing books including FROM ENTREPRENEUR TO INFOPRENEUR: MAKE MONEY WITH BOOKS, E-BOOKS AND INFORMATION PRODUCTS. She is the founder of www.businessinfoguide.com, a directory of resources for entrepreneurs and www.thebusinessgrowthconnection.com, a marketing company specializing in electronic newsletters.

You may recognize that I've been writing about a number of these elements through these entries on The Writing Life. Stephanie Chandler pulls this information into a worthy resource that I recommend: The Author's Guide to Building an Online Platform.

Find Your Own Way

For many years I've been listening to writers as they pitch their ideas and manuscripts. As I've written about in these entries in the past, each one believes they have hit on a "hole" in the marketplace with their idea and it's bound for the bestseller list. I admire their enthusiasm then often I look at bit closer at what they are actually doing to make that idea a bestseller. It's one of the places that the process has broken down for them. They have created something--a manuscript, a book proposal, a novel. In the next breath they tell me they have no visibility in the marketplace. It's normally where the conversation breaks down in my view because the writer begins to tell me they have no interest in marketing or they have no money or they have been focused on writing their book or _________ (you fill in the blank).

If there was a one, two, three point formula, then the publishers would have figured it out a long time ago since they have to create a financially viable business to keep their doors open. It is not an exact science and each person has to find their own way toward success (however they define success).

Some writers are stuck in research mode. You know if you are one of these folks. You've read every book, purchased almost every product and attended almost every writers conference. Your commitment to learning and acquiring information is admirable and applauded but you have not put your shoulder to the wheel and written or submitted your work or marketed your work. These writers plan on launching a website but have only gotten as far as purchasing the domain. These writers are thinking about a newsletter but haven't launched one. The key is to get moving into the marketplace and find your own way.

In the last few days, I completed reading Stephanie Chandler's excellent book, From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur, Make Money with Books, eBooks, and Information Products. She points to some different resources than I've used in the past and has solid information. I liked her focus as she says in the preface, "My goal is always to exceed my customer expectations and this strategy has served me well in every business endeavor." I identified with this goal because it's also been my intention as I've created products or magazine articles or my teaching at writers' conferences (like this coming week at the Florida Writers Association). It was good to read Chandler's line, "There is an eager market of buyers out there. My goal is to show you how to develop and market your own products. One of the greatest advantages of selling information products is that they can essentially become passive income--money you make while you sleep. Once the work is done and you’ve created a high-quality product, and you’ve automated the product sales and delivery process, your primary role will be to continue marketing your products. That's where the real fun begins."

Here's several basics that Chandler highlights for the reader saying, "There is no single secret to success, though there are many tips to help you along the way…

Everyone is an expert at something: Whatever your expertise, whether it's fly fishing, yoga, parenting, knitting, sales or customer service, you have something to teach others who know less than you do.

The Internet is a powerful venue for reaching customers: Learn to maximize your reach in order to run an efficient and profitable business.

Marketing is an investment in your business: Rare is the business that succeeds without marketing. Try a variety of strategies and repeat the ones that work best.

Don't be afraid to ask questions: Nobody has all the answers and most people are willing to help. Just ask!

Invest in other people’s information products: Not only will you have the chance to learn something new, but you can evaluate the content and begin to understand the formula for success. It's also good karma to support people whose work you admire.

Persevere: My favorite word in the English language. There will be days when you feel as if you are spinning your wheels for nothing. But eventually, with enough effort, something magical happens. It all starts to come together.

Never stop learning: I don't care what industry you are in. Things change. Rules change. People change. Stay on top of your area of expertise. Learn about new technology. Remember how much fun it can be to learn something new and how rewarding it is to succeed." (page xi to xii) I recommend From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur. Read it and you will be sure to learn something.

I love what Armand Morin says repeatedly about success: "Success leaves traces." If you want to succeed in publishing, then you need to continually work at finding your own way.