101 Steps to Increasing Web Traffic, an excellent overview in the Web Traffic Digest ezine of Web promotions including Web marketing, online advertising, email marketing, registration, announcements, Web publishing, public relations, linking campaigns reciprocal links, participation in newsgroups and mailing lists trends, Web tools, new Web technology

Web Traffic Digest

101 Steps to Increasing Web Traffic

(and Becoming Quite Good at It)

By Bob Elston

Author of Teach Yourself How to Successfully Promote a Web Site

and

If I see "Field of Dreams" alluded to one more time to describe the need for promoting a Web site (as in, "just because you build it, doesn’t mean they will come") I think I’m going to throw up. By now just about every Web-aware person knows that. Enough already. Let’s have a moratorium on that overused cliche.

What’s usually missing from these profound utterances is anything resembling a logical plan for implementation. Just how do you go about promoting your site so that "they will come?" Usually these "Field of Dreams" pundits only offer generalizations about the importance of registration, newsgroups, etc.

I hope to do something different. Instead of spouting cliches about the importance of promotions, I want to get into the nitty-gritty of Web site promotions. Here is a logical, step-by-step progression for promoting your Web site. Just follow the steps and before you know it, not only has traffic to your Web site increased dramatically but so has your knowledge of what it takes to promote a Web site.

(Call this the "short version". At Web Traffic Specialists we've developed an online course and a how-to guide that naturally goes into much more detail. )

Steps

Comments

1) A good place to start is to register your Web event, even if it’s just new content. Every time you add something significant to your site, reregister the entire site as well as the new page.

2) First, modify your site so that it will do well in search engine rankings. The best site for search engine information is http://www.searchenginewatch.com.

3) Assemble in advance data that search engines will require. Yahoo! and many minor search engines require extensive information. The major search engines don't. Be prepared to cut and paste information into input forms.

4) Prepare several descriptions of your site of varying length. Some search engines allow a description but the maximum number of words or characters is different. Yahoo! permits 200 characters.

5) Select an automatic registration service for the lesser important search engines. Hundreds of search engines out there aren’t worth visiting individually but probably worth hiring an automatic service or buying the software to register for you.

6) Manually register at 8 or 9 major search engines. Manual registration at the major search engines is too important to leave to automatic registration services.

7) Manually register at specialized search engines in your field. Many fields of interest have their own search engines and directories. Search for them using keywords associated with your target audiences.

8) Maintain a Registration Follow-Up Report that tracks listing and ranking in major search engines. Update this report at least monthly. If after a month your site still doesn’t appear in a search engine, reregister.

9) Before posting announcements, prepare a promotional, "mini-billboard" signature. Promote what you most want Net users to know about your site and/or product.

10) Prepare a "business-card" signature to notify others who you are and how to contact you. Use this signature for when you aren’t trying to promote something but want the reader to know about you and how to contact you.

11) Prepare to announce your Web event. Justification for posting announcements should be another incentive to regularly create new Web events.

12) Make the announcement’s subject line interesting enough that the reader wants more. Types of headlines that work are: newsworthy, topical, questions, free offer, etc..

13) Post the announcement in general forums.

Exercise 3-4 in Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists almost 30 general newsgroups where you can announce your Web event.

14) Conduct a search for all "announce" newsgroups for possible announcing. If the "announce" newsgroups is related in any way to your Web event, post an announcement in it.

15) Search through the newsgroups for others that would be suitable for your announcement. You may find hundreds of newsgroups where your announcement wouldn’t be considered inappropriate.

16) Find special interest newsgroups where your target audiences hang out. Search by keyword to find them. Also look for lists of discussion groups in directories that lists resources for your field.

17) Subscribe to those special interest newsgroups that look appropriate for your announcement. Avoid posting your announcement in newsgroups if it would be off-topic.

18) Retrieve and review discussion group headers to make sure your announcement and planned postings are appropriate. If the newsgroup looks appropriate for your announcement, also look for other types of postings you could make.

19) Customize your announcement for each newsgroup as much as possible. A little customization will often go a long ways toward making your message more acceptable to the group.

20) Keep track of newsgroups that you posted to and evaluate their effectiveness. This report will be important for future Web Traffic Plans.

21) Search out appropriate mailing lists for your announcements.

Mastering Web Traffic Techniques identifies several Web sites where you can search through thousands of mailing lists .

22) Follow the same steps for finding and posting to mailing lists (often called ‘listservs’) as you did for newsgroups. Mailing lists are often more effective for generating a favorable response than newsgroups.

23) Become a member of the mailing list for at least a week before posting your announcement. A mailing list moderator and/or members are sure to frown on your announcement if they consider it inappropriate or off-topic.

24) Classified ads are another Web traffic technique for some types of products and services. Hundreds of classified ad sites exist on the Web. If you find some with appropriate headings, consider placing an ad for your product or service.

25) Test results from a few selected qualified classified ad sites before spending much time with this traffic technique.

Some poor-quality classified sites may generate more junk email than sales, so be selective. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques offers guidelines for selecting a qualified classified ad site.

26) Follow good copywriting principles for your classified ad. Exercise 4-1 in Mastering Web Traffic Techniques covers what you need to know to write a good classified ad.

27) If classified ads look to be worthwhile, keep testing the ad’s individual components: subject line, description, offer, to improve effectiveness. Test different subject lines, body of the ad, and the closing call for action.

28) The next step in your Web Traffic Plan should be to place a multitude links to your site around the Internet. Begin an aggressive campaign to populate the Net with links to your site. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists over ten different kinds of links to your site that you want.

29) Search for "super directories" that provide pages of resources for your target audiences.

Nearly every field of interest has Web sites that compile a list of links relating to that field as a service to its visitors. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques list over 15 resources where you may find super directories for your target audiences.

30) Draft a friendly, informal request to the directory to add a link to your site. Establish a one-to-one relationship. Compliment the site owner on the site, and the service he or she is performing for the community.

31) Keep track of your email requests for a link to your site. You may need to follow up with a second request or future requests. Plus, these are important resources to keep track of.

32) Next look for compatible sites which might want to link to your site. Look in super directories and search engines for sites with products and services similar to yours but not direct competition.

33) Request that these sites add a link to your site. Again, try to establish a personal, one-to-one relationship.

34) Describe to compatible sites how their visitors will benefit by a link to your site. Don’t immediate offer a link to your site unless requested to do so.

35) Look for opportunities to form joint partnerships. Examples: cooperative advertising, joint promotions, shared content, sales associate programs, co-sponsored events.

36) Consider starting your own super directory if your field doesn’t have satisfactory ones. This is an excellent way to have a popular, site that is appreciated by your target audiences.

37) Begin assembling a valuable database that you can use over and over for your Web Traffic Plans. You can develop and implement focused traffic plans in a fraction of the time if you have resources to be used logically arranged in a meaningful database.

38) Learn to properly evaluate every site you visit so that you derive maximum benefit from what each site offers. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques includes a Site Evaluation Form to help you intelligently evaluate sites you visit.

39) Add valuable information learned from competitors to your database. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques includes nine things to look for at your competitors’ sites.

40) Add valuable information from discussion groups to your database. Discussion groups are frequented by experienced veterans of the Internet wars with much wisdom to impart.

41) Look for opportunities to convert information from discussion groups into valuable content at your site. Strive to keep adding valuable content to your site. It will keep visitors coming back. FAQs, white papers, and free reports constitute effective content.

42) Announce new content additions to your site in discussion groups. New content alone is worth periodically "mini-traffic plans" to increase traffic.

43) Visit sites dedicated to providing directories of Web promotion links. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists a number of promotion site to visit.

44) Study "cool" sites for ideas that might make your site a suitable nominee. You’ll often get refreshing, innovative ideas from "cool" site selections.

45) Nominate your site for "cool" site. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists sites which are a super directory of "cool" site contests.

46) Participating in discussion group is often the best way to increase traffic to your site.

"Discussion groups" is defined as newsgroups, mailing lists (listservs) and some Web sites where participants exchange information and ask questions.

47) Search by keywords for discussion groups where your target audiences hangout. Many of these you will have found when you were looking for places to post your announcement in a previous step.

48) Search super directories for references to discussion groups suitable for your participation. Often the links provided by super directories include direct links to discussions groups that visitors would be interested in.

49) Evaluate discussion groups before participating.

You will only have time to participate in a limited number. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists six criteria for picking the groups with the best potential.

50) Review each selected group’s headers for ideas for appropriate messages you could post. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists 11 possible types of postings that are considered proper "netiquette".

51) To improve the effectiveness of your postings, there are certain guidelines you should follow before posting. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists 11 guidelines to follow before posting a message to a discussion group.

52) Maintain a report of discussion group postings. Keep track of where you posted and what your posted.

53) Monitor the discussion groups for responses to your postings and opportunities to post again. You may be able to start a new discussion threads that allows you to post several new messages.

54) Evaluate the discussion groups for impact on your Web traffic. Focus future participation on those groups which were most responsive. Replace the least responsive groups with others having better potential.

55) Email can be used as an effective marketing too. Email techniques for increasing traffic is an excellent way to specifically target audiences with your message.

56) Email marketing opens up a whole new category of users who have access to email but not the Web. Email ads have a way of grabbing the recipient’s attention, something banner ads are often unable to do.

57) Begin compiling a mailing list for future email marketing campaigns. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques describes nine techniques for encouraging visitors to give you their email address so they can be contacted.

58) Decide whether to host your mailing list or contract somebody else to do it for you.

Several factors are involved in this decision: price of the mailing list software vs the cost of a hosting service, mailing software features desired, options offered by potential hosts, technical skills required.

59) Follow "Netiquette" guidelines or you risk angering email recipients. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists 12 important guidelines to follow.

60) Consider publishing a newsletter or ezine as part of your email marketing campaign. This is an effective way to generate interest in your site. It’s also a significant event that you can promote with a Web Traffic Plan.

61) Publish information in your newsletter that will encourage subscribers to visit your site. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists 12 possible topics for your newsletter.

62) Strive to improve the quality of your newsletter so that it will generate a more favorable response. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques includes 14 characteristics of a quality newsletter.

63) Consider autoresponders as an effective way to build a mailing list and automatically distribute information. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques includes 12 ways you can use an autoresponder in your email marketing campaign.

64) Consider renting somebody else’s mailing list if you don’t have time to build your own. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques provides a checklist of eight item for choosing a mailing list to rent.

65) Plan to approach the media for free publicity. Media attention is an effective way to dramatically boost traffic to your site.

66) By following guidelines for a successful media campaign you can dramatically improve the chances that you will attract media attention. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists six steps you can take to improve the effectiveness of your media campaign.

67) Make your site "media friendly" before launching your media campaign. Add a "media page" to your Web site for press releases, mention of media coverage received, background on your company or you.

68) Publish a press release as the first document for your media page. The media likes to see press releases. A good press release tells them most of what they want to know about your Web event.

69) Follow guidelines for writing a good press release. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists 11 guidelines that will help anybody write a good press release.

70) Decide on a media message that is newsworthy, factual and interesting. If you are having a hard time deciding what’s newsworthy, visit sites such as PR wire services that maintain a database of press releases.

71) Develop of list of media appropriate for your news releases. Start with media read by your target audiences. Add geographical media such as for your area. Check sites and references for more media.

72) Continue to build your media list over time. The larger, more targeted your list is, the more successful your media campaign will be.

73) Include only media who would be interested in your Web event. You will be wasting your time and an editor’s if you indiscriminately add media to your media list.

74) Try to include media names, contact persons, email addresses in your list. Other information could include: a URL, description of media contents, editorial calendar, submission deadlines.

75) Strive to establish a personalized, one-to-one communication with media contacts. A customized, personal approach works far better than press releases via bulk email. Use the contact’s name and name of the medium in your email.

76) Send a concise news releases encouraging the recipient to visit your site for more information. By keeping the news release short, the recipient is more likely to read it far enough to be intrigued. Don’t try to tell the contact everything in the email.

77) Make sure your news release is structured the way editors like to see them. It must have a catchy subject line, a lead that is immediately interesting, and information that supports the lead.

78) Prepare a report on your media contacts. Show media contacted, individuals, date, subject of the news release, follow-up date, and pertinent comments.

79) Monitor the results of your media campaign. Search the Internet for stories about your Web event. Some media won’t automatically notify you of coverage.

80) Add any media coverage received to your media page. Media is more likely to cover your events if other media have already done so.

81) Fine-tune your media campaign and try again. A media campaign is not a one-shot affair. Keep improving on the previous one, and try again and again.

82) Consider hiring a profession press release to distribute your release for you. If you’re not satisfied with your media campaign or impatient, consider hiring a press release distribution service.

83) Consider online advertising as a way to dramatically increase Web traffic. Start with a modest campaign to test effectiveness in advance until you gain experience and improve your technique.

84) Follow guidelines for an effective online advertising campaign. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques includes 12 guidelines for developing an effective campaign.

85) Consider banner ads for your advertising campaign. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques includes 10 guidelines for an effective banner ad.

86) Search for sites to host your banner ads. Look in search engines, super directories, and sites which publish a database of sites willing to accept ads. Register your site as wanting to advertise with banner ads.

87) Choose sites that cater to your target audiences. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques include six criteria for selecting a site to host your ads.

88) Consider purchasing keywords associated with your site at a search engine. Every time a Net user searches for those keywords, your banner ad appears with the user’s search results.

89) Decide how you want to pay for ad space. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques describes the different methods of paying and which might most suitable for you.

90) Track the effectiveness of your ads. Only if you know where your Web traffic is coming from are you able to judge the effectiveness of your ads and host sites.

91) Take advantage of free link exchanges as an inexpensive way to test your advertising campaign. Unless you have a sizeable ad budget set aside, it makes sense to test your ad campaign using free resources.

92) Consider preparing your site to host others’ banner ads. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists nine steps you can take to prepare your site.

93) Consider sponsoring content in mailing lists and newsletters as a way to advertise your site. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists five ways sponsoring content may be more effective than banner ads.

94) Search for mailing lists and newsletters for your target audiences. Search by keywords at sites that maintain a database of thousands of mailing lists, search for "mailing lists" or "newsletters" plus keywords for your field. Look in super directories where you requested a link.

95) Follow guidelines for improving the effectiveness of sponsored content advertising. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques describes six tips for improving the effectiveness of sponsored content.

96) Use traditional off-line advertising to advertise your Web site. Don’t neglect off-line advertising such as anything printed with your company name on it to publish your site’s URL.

97) Periodically schedule Web events to promote, such as adding new contents, new pages, new features. Resolve to maintain an active, expanding site as a way to ensure long-term increases in Web traffic.

98) Leverage success by creating new pages off your most popular pages. Determine to increase the number of pages that your visitors will want to access.

99) Continue to identify new target audiences and new niches for your site. Develop a new Web Traffic Plan each time you do because each has its own set of Net resources that should be approached.

100) Plan future directions you want your site to take. Have an idea where you want to go 6 months, one year, five years from now.

101) Strive to implement new Web events regularly Borrow ideas from others and rework them to fit your environment. We have a Web Event Ideas Generator in Mastering Web Traffic Techniques that will help stimulate your creative thought processes.

Now do you see what it takes to dramatically increase Web traffic by developing and implementing a Web Traffic Plan? It’s not difficult. It’s not rocket science but there’s a lot of steps involved.

If you need help with developing and implementing a Web Traffic Plan described here, our Mastering Web Traffic Techniques planning guide has 87 exercises, worksheets and guidelines to provide step-by-step assistance.

Final note: If you want to include the report as content at your site, please do, but we would appreciate credit and a link.

Home Page / Newsletter

Steps	Comments
1) A good place to start is to register your Web event, even if it’s just new content.	Every time you add something significant to your site, reregister the entire site as well as the new page.
2) First, modify your site so that it will do well in search engine rankings.	The best site for search engine information is http://www.searchenginewatch.com.
3) Assemble in advance data that search engines will require.	Yahoo! and many minor search engines require extensive information. The major search engines don't. Be prepared to cut and paste information into input forms.
4) Prepare several descriptions of your site of varying length.	Some search engines allow a description but the maximum number of words or characters is different. Yahoo! permits 200 characters.
5) Select an automatic registration service for the lesser important search engines.	Hundreds of search engines out there aren’t worth visiting individually but probably worth hiring an automatic service or buying the software to register for you.
6) Manually register at 8 or 9 major search engines.	Manual registration at the major search engines is too important to leave to automatic registration services.
7) Manually register at specialized search engines in your field.	Many fields of interest have their own search engines and directories. Search for them using keywords associated with your target audiences.
8) Maintain a Registration Follow-Up Report that tracks listing and ranking in major search engines.	Update this report at least monthly. If after a month your site still doesn’t appear in a search engine, reregister.
9) Before posting announcements, prepare a promotional, "mini-billboard" signature.	Promote what you most want Net users to know about your site and/or product.
10) Prepare a "business-card" signature to notify others who you are and how to contact you.	Use this signature for when you aren’t trying to promote something but want the reader to know about you and how to contact you.
11) Prepare to announce your Web event.	Justification for posting announcements should be another incentive to regularly create new Web events.
12) Make the announcement’s subject line interesting enough that the reader wants more.	Types of headlines that work are: newsworthy, topical, questions, free offer, etc..
13) Post the announcement in general forums.	Exercise 3-4 in Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists almost 30 general newsgroups where you can announce your Web event.
14) Conduct a search for all "announce" newsgroups for possible announcing.	If the "announce" newsgroups is related in any way to your Web event, post an announcement in it.
15) Search through the newsgroups for others that would be suitable for your announcement.	You may find hundreds of newsgroups where your announcement wouldn’t be considered inappropriate.
16) Find special interest newsgroups where your target audiences hang out.	Search by keyword to find them. Also look for lists of discussion groups in directories that lists resources for your field.
17) Subscribe to those special interest newsgroups that look appropriate for your announcement.	Avoid posting your announcement in newsgroups if it would be off-topic.
18) Retrieve and review discussion group headers to make sure your announcement and planned postings are appropriate.	If the newsgroup looks appropriate for your announcement, also look for other types of postings you could make.
19) Customize your announcement for each newsgroup as much as possible.	A little customization will often go a long ways toward making your message more acceptable to the group.
20) Keep track of newsgroups that you posted to and evaluate their effectiveness.	This report will be important for future Web Traffic Plans.
21) Search out appropriate mailing lists for your announcements.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques identifies several Web sites where you can search through thousands of mailing lists .
22) Follow the same steps for finding and posting to mailing lists (often called ‘listservs’) as you did for newsgroups.	Mailing lists are often more effective for generating a favorable response than newsgroups.
23) Become a member of the mailing list for at least a week before posting your announcement.	A mailing list moderator and/or members are sure to frown on your announcement if they consider it inappropriate or off-topic.
24) Classified ads are another Web traffic technique for some types of products and services.	Hundreds of classified ad sites exist on the Web. If you find some with appropriate headings, consider placing an ad for your product or service.
25) Test results from a few selected qualified classified ad sites before spending much time with this traffic technique.	Some poor-quality classified sites may generate more junk email than sales, so be selective. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques offers guidelines for selecting a qualified classified ad site.
26) Follow good copywriting principles for your classified ad.	Exercise 4-1 in Mastering Web Traffic Techniques covers what you need to know to write a good classified ad.
27) If classified ads look to be worthwhile, keep testing the ad’s individual components: subject line, description, offer, to improve effectiveness.	Test different subject lines, body of the ad, and the closing call for action.
28) The next step in your Web Traffic Plan should be to place a multitude links to your site around the Internet.	Begin an aggressive campaign to populate the Net with links to your site. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists over ten different kinds of links to your site that you want.
29) Search for "super directories" that provide pages of resources for your target audiences.	Nearly every field of interest has Web sites that compile a list of links relating to that field as a service to its visitors. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques list over 15 resources where you may find super directories for your target audiences.
30) Draft a friendly, informal request to the directory to add a link to your site.	Establish a one-to-one relationship. Compliment the site owner on the site, and the service he or she is performing for the community.
31) Keep track of your email requests for a link to your site.	You may need to follow up with a second request or future requests. Plus, these are important resources to keep track of.
32) Next look for compatible sites which might want to link to your site.	Look in super directories and search engines for sites with products and services similar to yours but not direct competition.
33) Request that these sites add a link to your site.	Again, try to establish a personal, one-to-one relationship.
34) Describe to compatible sites how their visitors will benefit by a link to your site.	Don’t immediate offer a link to your site unless requested to do so.
35) Look for opportunities to form joint partnerships.	Examples: cooperative advertising, joint promotions, shared content, sales associate programs, co-sponsored events.
36) Consider starting your own super directory if your field doesn’t have satisfactory ones.	This is an excellent way to have a popular, site that is appreciated by your target audiences.
37) Begin assembling a valuable database that you can use over and over for your Web Traffic Plans.	You can develop and implement focused traffic plans in a fraction of the time if you have resources to be used logically arranged in a meaningful database.
38) Learn to properly evaluate every site you visit so that you derive maximum benefit from what each site offers.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques includes a Site Evaluation Form to help you intelligently evaluate sites you visit.
39) Add valuable information learned from competitors to your database.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques includes nine things to look for at your competitors’ sites.
40) Add valuable information from discussion groups to your database.	Discussion groups are frequented by experienced veterans of the Internet wars with much wisdom to impart.
41) Look for opportunities to convert information from discussion groups into valuable content at your site.	Strive to keep adding valuable content to your site. It will keep visitors coming back. FAQs, white papers, and free reports constitute effective content.
42) Announce new content additions to your site in discussion groups.	New content alone is worth periodically "mini-traffic plans" to increase traffic.
43) Visit sites dedicated to providing directories of Web promotion links.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists a number of promotion site to visit.
44) Study "cool" sites for ideas that might make your site a suitable nominee.	You’ll often get refreshing, innovative ideas from "cool" site selections.
45) Nominate your site for "cool" site.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists sites which are a super directory of "cool" site contests.
46) Participating in discussion group is often the best way to increase traffic to your site.	"Discussion groups" is defined as newsgroups, mailing lists (listservs) and some Web sites where participants exchange information and ask questions.
47) Search by keywords for discussion groups where your target audiences hangout.	Many of these you will have found when you were looking for places to post your announcement in a previous step.
48) Search super directories for references to discussion groups suitable for your participation.	Often the links provided by super directories include direct links to discussions groups that visitors would be interested in.
49) Evaluate discussion groups before participating.	You will only have time to participate in a limited number. Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists six criteria for picking the groups with the best potential.
50) Review each selected group’s headers for ideas for appropriate messages you could post.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists 11 possible types of postings that are considered proper "netiquette".
51) To improve the effectiveness of your postings, there are certain guidelines you should follow before posting.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists 11 guidelines to follow before posting a message to a discussion group.
52) Maintain a report of discussion group postings.	Keep track of where you posted and what your posted.
53) Monitor the discussion groups for responses to your postings and opportunities to post again.	You may be able to start a new discussion threads that allows you to post several new messages.
54) Evaluate the discussion groups for impact on your Web traffic.	Focus future participation on those groups which were most responsive. Replace the least responsive groups with others having better potential.
55) Email can be used as an effective marketing too.	Email techniques for increasing traffic is an excellent way to specifically target audiences with your message.
56) Email marketing opens up a whole new category of users who have access to email but not the Web.	Email ads have a way of grabbing the recipient’s attention, something banner ads are often unable to do.
57) Begin compiling a mailing list for future email marketing campaigns.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques describes nine techniques for encouraging visitors to give you their email address so they can be contacted.
58) Decide whether to host your mailing list or contract somebody else to do it for you.	Several factors are involved in this decision: price of the mailing list software vs the cost of a hosting service, mailing software features desired, options offered by potential hosts, technical skills required.
59) Follow "Netiquette" guidelines or you risk angering email recipients.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists 12 important guidelines to follow.
60) Consider publishing a newsletter or ezine as part of your email marketing campaign.	This is an effective way to generate interest in your site. It’s also a significant event that you can promote with a Web Traffic Plan.
61) Publish information in your newsletter that will encourage subscribers to visit your site.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists 12 possible topics for your newsletter.
62) Strive to improve the quality of your newsletter so that it will generate a more favorable response.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques includes 14 characteristics of a quality newsletter.
63) Consider autoresponders as an effective way to build a mailing list and automatically distribute information.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques includes 12 ways you can use an autoresponder in your email marketing campaign.
64) Consider renting somebody else’s mailing list if you don’t have time to build your own.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques provides a checklist of eight item for choosing a mailing list to rent.
65) Plan to approach the media for free publicity.	Media attention is an effective way to dramatically boost traffic to your site.
66) By following guidelines for a successful media campaign you can dramatically improve the chances that you will attract media attention.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists six steps you can take to improve the effectiveness of your media campaign.
67) Make your site "media friendly" before launching your media campaign.	Add a "media page" to your Web site for press releases, mention of media coverage received, background on your company or you.
68) Publish a press release as the first document for your media page.	The media likes to see press releases. A good press release tells them most of what they want to know about your Web event.
69) Follow guidelines for writing a good press release.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists 11 guidelines that will help anybody write a good press release.
70) Decide on a media message that is newsworthy, factual and interesting.	If you are having a hard time deciding what’s newsworthy, visit sites such as PR wire services that maintain a database of press releases.
71) Develop of list of media appropriate for your news releases.	Start with media read by your target audiences. Add geographical media such as for your area. Check sites and references for more media.
72) Continue to build your media list over time.	The larger, more targeted your list is, the more successful your media campaign will be.
73) Include only media who would be interested in your Web event.	You will be wasting your time and an editor’s if you indiscriminately add media to your media list.
74) Try to include media names, contact persons, email addresses in your list.	Other information could include: a URL, description of media contents, editorial calendar, submission deadlines.
75) Strive to establish a personalized, one-to-one communication with media contacts.	A customized, personal approach works far better than press releases via bulk email. Use the contact’s name and name of the medium in your email.
76) Send a concise news releases encouraging the recipient to visit your site for more information.	By keeping the news release short, the recipient is more likely to read it far enough to be intrigued. Don’t try to tell the contact everything in the email.
77) Make sure your news release is structured the way editors like to see them.	It must have a catchy subject line, a lead that is immediately interesting, and information that supports the lead.
78) Prepare a report on your media contacts.	Show media contacted, individuals, date, subject of the news release, follow-up date, and pertinent comments.
79) Monitor the results of your media campaign.	Search the Internet for stories about your Web event. Some media won’t automatically notify you of coverage.
80) Add any media coverage received to your media page.	Media is more likely to cover your events if other media have already done so.
81) Fine-tune your media campaign and try again.	A media campaign is not a one-shot affair. Keep improving on the previous one, and try again and again.
82) Consider hiring a profession press release to distribute your release for you.	If you’re not satisfied with your media campaign or impatient, consider hiring a press release distribution service.
83) Consider online advertising as a way to dramatically increase Web traffic.	Start with a modest campaign to test effectiveness in advance until you gain experience and improve your technique.
84) Follow guidelines for an effective online advertising campaign.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques includes 12 guidelines for developing an effective campaign.
85) Consider banner ads for your advertising campaign.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques includes 10 guidelines for an effective banner ad.
86) Search for sites to host your banner ads.	Look in search engines, super directories, and sites which publish a database of sites willing to accept ads. Register your site as wanting to advertise with banner ads.
87) Choose sites that cater to your target audiences.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques include six criteria for selecting a site to host your ads.
88) Consider purchasing keywords associated with your site at a search engine.	Every time a Net user searches for those keywords, your banner ad appears with the user’s search results.
89) Decide how you want to pay for ad space.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques describes the different methods of paying and which might most suitable for you.
90) Track the effectiveness of your ads.	Only if you know where your Web traffic is coming from are you able to judge the effectiveness of your ads and host sites.
91) Take advantage of free link exchanges as an inexpensive way to test your advertising campaign.	Unless you have a sizeable ad budget set aside, it makes sense to test your ad campaign using free resources.
92) Consider preparing your site to host others’ banner ads.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists nine steps you can take to prepare your site.
93) Consider sponsoring content in mailing lists and newsletters as a way to advertise your site.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques lists five ways sponsoring content may be more effective than banner ads.
94) Search for mailing lists and newsletters for your target audiences.	Search by keywords at sites that maintain a database of thousands of mailing lists, search for "mailing lists" or "newsletters" plus keywords for your field. Look in super directories where you requested a link.
95) Follow guidelines for improving the effectiveness of sponsored content advertising.	Mastering Web Traffic Techniques describes six tips for improving the effectiveness of sponsored content.
96) Use traditional off-line advertising to advertise your Web site.	Don’t neglect off-line advertising such as anything printed with your company name on it to publish your site’s URL.
97) Periodically schedule Web events to promote, such as adding new contents, new pages, new features.	Resolve to maintain an active, expanding site as a way to ensure long-term increases in Web traffic.
98) Leverage success by creating new pages off your most popular pages.	Determine to increase the number of pages that your visitors will want to access.
99) Continue to identify new target audiences and new niches for your site.	Develop a new Web Traffic Plan each time you do because each has its own set of Net resources that should be approached.
100) Plan future directions you want your site to take.	Have an idea where you want to go 6 months, one year, five years from now.
101) Strive to implement new Web events regularly	Borrow ideas from others and rework them to fit your environment. We have a Web Event Ideas Generator in Mastering Web Traffic Techniques that will help stimulate your creative thought processes.