These days, lots of people in network marketing and MLM want to know how to "drive traffic" to a website. Many networkers think that if they simply find a way to drive more traffic, they will get more leads or more sales.
So how do you drive traffic? What's the formula?
For the sake of this article, I'm going to be discussing the easiest and most direct way to drive traffic to a website: pay-per-click advertising.
PPC advertising means that you pay a fee every time someone clicks on one of your ads online. These are the "Sponsored Listings" that you see along the top and the right hand side of the page when you perform a search on a search engine.
DISCLAIMER: Because this advertising technique takes money, I don't recommend you start here if you're dead broke. Internet advertising is an advanced tool, and it shouldn't be used if you are having trouble keeping the light bill payed.
Anyway, Google, Yahoo, and MSN are the 3 most popular search engines out there, and for someone wanting to drive traffic, this is a pretty easy way to start.
So how do you get started? First, you want to analyze the competition. Look at the products that you market: what types of benefits do these products offer? What will your product do for me if I start consuming it? Will it help me lose weight, grow more hair, ease joint pain, protect my identity...what can your product do for a consumer? What kind of pain does it eliminate?
Do some searches online regarding those benefits. For example, if you are marketing skin care, do some searches for "stretch marks", or "anti-aging", or "wrinkle cream". If you are marketing a health beverage, do some searches for "energy drink", "antioxidant drink". If you are marketing, say, a benefits package, do some searches for "discount savings package", or "rebate programs".
Look at what other people are doing. Do some research. Get a feel for what your competition is doing.
Then go open a Google AdWords account, or an account with Yahoo or MSN. Just so you know, Google currently commands 63% of the search market. Yahoo has about 23%, MSN has about 10%. You can use any of these search engines to advertise, and they each have keyword analyzing tools. This tool can estimate where your ad will appear, based on your bid for specific keywords.
Now, you need to keep in mind that these tools are not super-accurate, and you may find that your ad will appear in a lower position than what is estimated.
You should also note that you don't necessarily want to be in the top position. When a person performs a search, if they are just out there "kicking tires", they will typically click on the first few links, and then perform another search. You don't want to be driving this type of traffic to a website. They will be on your site for about 20 seconds, and then hit the back arrow on their browser.
I typically aim to get my ad somewhere in the 4th - 10th position. I want to qualify my prospect a bit, and make sure that they are really looking for what I have to offer. By putting my ad in that position, I am able to avoid spending a lot of money on people that are just "looking", and more targeted for people that are serious about getting their problems solved.
When writing your ads for your sponsored searches, you want to be creative. Get people's attention, and let them know you have a solution to their problem.
When selecting keywords, you want to (again) think about your prospect. If you market a health juice, think about the type of person that is looking for your product. For example, if your health juice helps keep the heart running well, then use keywords like "atherosclerosis", "heart blockage", "heart attack prevention", "heart health program".
WARNING: DON'T TARGET ANYTHING TO DO WITH "BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY" KEYWORDS.
These types of keywords are very expensive. Last time I checked, the "business opportunity" keyword was running close to $5.00 a click. Spending that kind of dough per click doesn't make sense. You'll spend yourself right out of business.
Just so you know, you don't EVER want to spend more than $0.50 a click starting out, and over time, you be able to get that down to $0.25 per click. In one of my campaigns, my average cost per click is $0.17. As you get good, you should be able to do the same exact thing.
To review: Select a search engine, examine the competition, and open an account with that search engine's "sponsored search" section. Develop a campaign that has several ads that creatively entice the right prospect to your website. Use keywords that your prospect would use to be looking for your type of product solution, and don't bid more than $0.50 a click (preferably a lot lower).
Now here is a question: what kind of website are you driving traffic towards? If it's one of those company "replicated" websites, don't waste your time. Those websites do nothing to position you, or set you apart from the competition. I'll talk more later about website design (it's easier than you think), but for now, open up a search engine account (it's free, scrooge, stop worrying) and just explore the different tools available to advertisers.
