Surfing the Web
By Ben Tyson
The average UK employee spends 57 minutes a day surfing the web while at work.
Surfing was first enjoyed by Polynesians in Tahiti and Hawaii as far back as 1500AD. The first printed recordings of surfing were made by Lieutenant James King in 1779. King took over the captaincy of the ship Discovery after Captain James Cook was killed on an expedition to Hawaii.
Since there was no written language at this time in Hawaii, King's journal entry serves as man's earliest written account of the Hawaiian sport.
So why, more than 200 years later, do we ‘surf’ the web? What links could there possibly be between using the internet and riding on top of a wave?
It all began with the radio
Radio scanners were introduced in the 1970s as a way of finding a good radio signal. The radio receiver would automatically tune or scan two or more discrete frequencies, stopping when it found a good working signal.
A similar method would be used, manually, with the television. In order to locate a decent television signal, you would have to twist and turn the dials until you were satisfied with the picture. This common process became known as ‘channel hopping’. In order to locate the desired signal, you would have to ‘hop’ between one channel and another until you were satisfied with the picture received.
The Beach Boys
In 1963, the Beach Boys recorded ‘Surfin’ USA‘. This was a massive hit worldwide, and vastly increased the popularity of the Hawaiian sport of surfing. The popularity of surfing in remote areas of Australia, California and Hawaii became well known and began to attract the interest of tourists.
Endless Summer
Following on from the success of Surfin’ USA – in 1966, Bruce Brown directed the most influential film of the surf-genre: Endless Summer.
Endless Summer centres around two surfers, Mike Hynson and Robert August, on a surf trip around the world. They travel to the coasts of Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and Hawaii. In the film, they introduce locals to the sport in an attempt to popularize surfing as fun and accessible to everyone.
The success and influence of the documentary was incredible. The popularity of surfing rose greatly, encouraging existing surfers to travel abroad, and introducing the thrill of the sport to a wider audience.
Popular Culture
Vans ~ The first time that ‘surfing’ had been applied to another activity was in April 1985 when Time magazine made reference to the culture of ‘Van surfing’. ‘Van surfing’ described the art of people who would stand on the top of Vans as they moved. The actions they were forced into, to remain on their feet, was similar to that of surfing.
Trains ~ The phrase would later be used when referring to a similar action. ‘Train surfing’ was a phrase introduced by The Wall Street Journal. ‘Train surfing’ had been seen many times in the movies, and was apparently a regular occurrence in South America as people rode on top of trains for a free ride.
Music ~ In 1989, The Toronto Globe and Mail introduced the term to the music industry. ‘Stage diving’ had become a popular tradition at concerts and festivals. The notion of someone being carried in midair by a crowd of people became known as ‘crowd surfing’ by the Toronto press.
Television ~ With the expansion of Cable and Satellite television, in 1986, The Wall Street Journal coined the phrase ‘channel surfing’. This was in direct reference to the well known ‘channel hopping’ term that had become widely popular in describing the act of scanning for a desired television channel.
The expansion of Cable and Satellite meant there were more channels, they were easier to find and more widely available. ‘Channel surfing’ described the notion of flicking through the channels with a television remote, as oppose to fiddling with the dials.
The Internet
With the creation of the internet, the term ‘internet surfing’ had occasionally been used, but not commonly.
‘Information surfing’ was a phrase used to describe the action of someone searching for information through books or papers, for example. Early internet users would search the internet for similar purposes (long before entertainment, social networking and advertising took over).
Prior to the 1990s, the internet was not widely popular and not widely accessible. However, in 1989, Tim Berners-Lee, a British engineer and computer-scientist, laid foundation to the World Wide Web. This created the internet as we know it today. The internet (the World Wide Web) increased in popularity as it became easier to use, faster to use, and most importantly, Personal Computers became widely available to the public.
‘Surfing the Web’ is a phrase we have all used, and will continue to use as the internet continues to expand.
But how did the infrequently used, unpopular term ‘internet surfing’ become the biggest world wide cliché of all?
A Librarian and a mouse pad
Jean Armour Polly was a university librarian in 1992, when she coined the phrase ‘Surfing the Internet’.
Polly was an early internet user, and wrote a series of articles, available online, on safe Internet services. In June 1992, Polly was writing a revolutionary paper about Requests and Comments and other technical writings about the Internet. On searching for a title, she describes:
In casting about for a title for the article, I weighed many possible metaphors. I wanted something that expressed the fun I had using the Internet, as well as hit on the skill, and yes, endurance necessary to use it well. I also needed something that would evoke a sense of randomness, chaos, and even danger. I wanted something fishy, net-like, nautical.
At that time I was using a mouse pad from the Apple Library in Cupertino, CA, famous for inventing and appropriating pithy sayings and printing them on sportswear and mouse pads (e.g., "A month in the Lab can save you an hour in the Library") The one I had pictured a surfer on a big wave. "Information Surfer" it said. "Eureka," I said, and had my metaphor.
‘Surfing the Internet’ was born. The paper was phenomenally successful. In 14 hours, the paper received an unprecedented 500 downloads.
This leads on to another interesting question: why were so many early internet users searching for ‘surfing’ online? They obviously had to search for the article in order to find it – but why ‘surfing’?
The surf-net connection
There are several top internet marketers today who are also top surfers. Frank Kern is a great example of this. Jason Moffat was one of the earliest internet marketers to hold such a great connection with online marketing and surfing.
Many people have compared making money online to surfing. Making a profit on the internet is not about ‘getting rich quick’; it is about taking time to get to know the market, learning to understand the users and where to find customers. Surfing is often described as hitting the wave perfectly. A top surfer will spend time getting to know the best waves, where to find them and how to hit them perfectly.
Both internet marketers and surfers have often spoken of addiction. In order to spend enough quality time learning to surf, travelling the world to find the best locations and putting your body on the line for the sake of adrenaline rushes, you have got to feel addicted to the sport. Thrill seeking and addiction have revolutionised the sport of surfing.
Very few top-internet-marketers claim to have access to a get-rich-quick scheme. (If you had access, would you tell anyone?) In order to be a successful online marketer, you have to hold this same level of addiction, and get the same thrill out of using the internet, working on the internet and spending time on the internet.
With the persistent online presence of Jason Moffat in the 1990s, surfing became a regular theme found on the internet. Moffat was one of the first users to own a variety of websites, optimizing his name wherever possible. Therefore, where ‘Jason Moffat’ could be found, so could ‘surfing’. Did this increase the popularity of surfing? Did this introduce pro surfers to the internet? Surely it must have lured pro surfers of the time to try out the internet. Online they could find like-minded surfers, share their ideas for locations and share their stories of travel-surfing.
Was this the true origin of ‘surfing the internet’? Do we now ‘surf’ the internet because surfing was so popular with early internet users?
Or maybe, by pure coincidence (or by memetics), two separate groups of people established the same terminology for the same thing, without ever even knowing it.
Friday, 29 January 2010
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Donating to Haiti, via effective Copywriting
We have all been deeply saddened by the horrifying events in Haiti. A series of massive earthquakes has taken the lives of thousands of Haitians. It has devastated and destroyed the lives of millions more.
Families being torn apart by disaster is something we see unfold on the News all too often. The Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, earthquakes in Pakistan and Italy, and now it’s Haiti’s turn to suffer and endure the wrath of mother nature.
All of these events have led to hugely generous donations from people all over the world. Appeals are made in newspapers, on television and by charities, all urging You to give generously to people in desperate need. While these have been successful campaigns to help raise funds for victims, there are still far too many people who are not actively lending their support.
This is not necessarily people who are unwilling to donate, but more likely people who are unaware of how they can donate. In today’s modern society of mobile phones and social media, the internet has become an increasingly popular way to appeal directly to everyone who has the ability to donate.
Many of the most popular websites on the internet have launched their own appeals for the cause. Facebook, Google and eBay, to name but a few, have all added ‘donation links’ to their Home Pages – making it easy to find, somewhat unavoidable in some cases.
A similar theme has been set up by the American Red Cross – donators simply text ‘HAITI’ to 20222 – and $10 is automatically added to their phone bill, going directly to the relief fund.
Adding donation links to popular websites is one thing, but how exactly does this make donating appealable to as many people as possible. Are the general rules of copywriting obeyed in the same format to a piece of sales copy? After all, it is the same basic concept – persuading a reader to part with their cash. Is the language different? How are key words and emotive words used to attract the attention of the wider audience?
Facebook
The most popular social networking site on the web, with around 321 million people registered worldwide. Their Haiti appeal is very open, thoughtful and most notable for me, personifying.
General emails and contact from Facebook are very generic, obviously sent out in bulk, with little emotion or personifying key words. This is of no detriment to Facebook – the whole point in the website is for its users to interact with each other, Facebook merely acts as the host.
The devastation in Haiti, however, has given Facebook reason to speak directly to each and every user. The appeal is not aimed to be a generic email which will blend in with all the others. It serves a different purpose, an important purpose, and it has to come across as speaking directly from the heart and to each user personally.
This is achieved by using power words such as: ‘destruction’, ‘death’, ‘outpouring’ and ‘thousands’. These words are unusual for Facebook, so stand out in peoples minds – it proves the sheer scale of the atrocity. It is basically saying: ‘something has to be done, and this is Your chance to help’.Google
In the early days of Google, there were very few words on the home Page: ‘Google’, ‘Search’ and ‘I feel lucky’. With the immense popularity of Google, this has inevitably changed. There is now Google mail, Google Ads, blogging options and a range of other services displayed on the Home Page.
However, there are still very few words, and the page is dominantly filled with white space, making any new or additional text stand out. There is currently a link under the main search box which states:
‘Information, resources, and ways you can help survivors of the Haiti earthquake.’
By clicking on this link you are taken to a donation page which is titled: ‘Crisis Response’.
While the actual copy is not as personable or emotive as the Facebook page, it is still very effective. There is a brief description reminding of the magnitude of the earthquake, and also a line in bold which reads:
‘Google will also donate $1 million’.
This being highlighted shows the enormity of what has happened, and the importance to give whatever you can to the relief funds.
The main selling point of the page is the two links where you can donate. There are two options to choose from: Oxfam or Unicef. You simply enter the amount in £’s that you want to donate, and click ‘donate’. Very simple, very effective and very clever.
The point in providing two charities to choose from is a clever tool in itself. Obviously, both will use your money to help in Haiti, but they will both be doing different things. A brief description of what the charities will be using your money for is supplied under the logo. Oxfam will be concentrating on providing shelter and clean water – Unicef will be concentrating on food and medical supplies, with particular emphasis on children.
The work being carried out by both charities is essential to the people of Haiti. While one is providing water, the other is providing food – people will realise that they must contribute to both charities to give the best support possible.
The charities are not working against each other – they are working with each other to do the best for the people of Haiti.
Clever marketing technique? Effective copywriting? Yes and yes.
Who benefits? The people of Haiti.
EBay
EBay takes quite a different approach. Whereas Google is very plain, simple and generous, eBay, in my opinion, attempts to use the donation link as a way to boost its own profits.
Is this unethical? Or is it just clever business?
EBay is encouraging people to donate up to 100% of their Sale profits to the Haiti fund. This encourages people to place products on eBay to raise funds for donation. It also persuades people to buy products so that their money can be donated, whilst getting something in return for themselves (the product purchased).
While this is great for the relief effort in Haiti – what it’s all about – for every item placed onto eBay, eBay makes a profit. Insertion fee, and then a final value fee.
There is the encouragement for people to use eBay more (as it helps people in Haiti), and at the same time, eBay itself is making a profit from the additional auctions.
I must stress, though, that eBay does supply a ‘Donate via PayPal’ link. EBay is also the only site out of the three to include emotive images. Images of the devastation – people can see what they are donating for. They do not have to read, actions often do speak louder than words.
The text they use, although shorter in length, is very similar to that of Facebook: ‘destruction’, ‘critical’ and ‘mass devastation’ are strong attempts to tug on the heartstrings of potential donators.
Conclusion
So, has clever copywriting been involved in the making of the various donation links? Each has clearly been well thought through. How they layout the page, how they format their sentences and how they use emotive language has all been done carefully.
Each has applied a different technique to really draw in the donator. Facebook concentrated on appearing personal to the user through terms such as: ‘Dear friends’ and pronouns such as ‘we’ and ‘you’. The main invigorator, however, is the use of terms to describe what is going on in Haiti: ‘death’ and ‘destruction’.
Google appears very simple and easy to use and understand. This will have broader appeal to a wider, larger audience. In showing that Google themselves are donating $1 million, it shows just how important it is to give as much as you can, as the people of Haiti are in desperate need.
EBay uses a mixture of emotive language and images, and also has various options on how you can donate. This is an attempt to attract a wider audience – donate through buying, selling or directly through PayPal – but also sees a good marketing opportunity.
All have used proven copywriting techniques, however, the focus is much more on what they are donating for, as oppose to the benefits that the donator will get in return. While this goes against the number one rule of sales copy – people only want to know what is in it for them – it has undoubtedly proved a successful way of obtaining donations to the people of Haiti.
Families being torn apart by disaster is something we see unfold on the News all too often. The Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, earthquakes in Pakistan and Italy, and now it’s Haiti’s turn to suffer and endure the wrath of mother nature.
All of these events have led to hugely generous donations from people all over the world. Appeals are made in newspapers, on television and by charities, all urging You to give generously to people in desperate need. While these have been successful campaigns to help raise funds for victims, there are still far too many people who are not actively lending their support.
This is not necessarily people who are unwilling to donate, but more likely people who are unaware of how they can donate. In today’s modern society of mobile phones and social media, the internet has become an increasingly popular way to appeal directly to everyone who has the ability to donate.
Many of the most popular websites on the internet have launched their own appeals for the cause. Facebook, Google and eBay, to name but a few, have all added ‘donation links’ to their Home Pages – making it easy to find, somewhat unavoidable in some cases.
A similar theme has been set up by the American Red Cross – donators simply text ‘HAITI’ to 20222 – and $10 is automatically added to their phone bill, going directly to the relief fund.
Adding donation links to popular websites is one thing, but how exactly does this make donating appealable to as many people as possible. Are the general rules of copywriting obeyed in the same format to a piece of sales copy? After all, it is the same basic concept – persuading a reader to part with their cash. Is the language different? How are key words and emotive words used to attract the attention of the wider audience?
The most popular social networking site on the web, with around 321 million people registered worldwide. Their Haiti appeal is very open, thoughtful and most notable for me, personifying.
General emails and contact from Facebook are very generic, obviously sent out in bulk, with little emotion or personifying key words. This is of no detriment to Facebook – the whole point in the website is for its users to interact with each other, Facebook merely acts as the host.
The devastation in Haiti, however, has given Facebook reason to speak directly to each and every user. The appeal is not aimed to be a generic email which will blend in with all the others. It serves a different purpose, an important purpose, and it has to come across as speaking directly from the heart and to each user personally.
This is achieved by using power words such as: ‘destruction’, ‘death’, ‘outpouring’ and ‘thousands’. These words are unusual for Facebook, so stand out in peoples minds – it proves the sheer scale of the atrocity. It is basically saying: ‘something has to be done, and this is Your chance to help’.Google
In the early days of Google, there were very few words on the home Page: ‘Google’, ‘Search’ and ‘I feel lucky’. With the immense popularity of Google, this has inevitably changed. There is now Google mail, Google Ads, blogging options and a range of other services displayed on the Home Page.
However, there are still very few words, and the page is dominantly filled with white space, making any new or additional text stand out. There is currently a link under the main search box which states:
‘Information, resources, and ways you can help survivors of the Haiti earthquake.’
By clicking on this link you are taken to a donation page which is titled: ‘Crisis Response’.
While the actual copy is not as personable or emotive as the Facebook page, it is still very effective. There is a brief description reminding of the magnitude of the earthquake, and also a line in bold which reads:
‘Google will also donate $1 million’.
This being highlighted shows the enormity of what has happened, and the importance to give whatever you can to the relief funds.
The main selling point of the page is the two links where you can donate. There are two options to choose from: Oxfam or Unicef. You simply enter the amount in £’s that you want to donate, and click ‘donate’. Very simple, very effective and very clever.
The point in providing two charities to choose from is a clever tool in itself. Obviously, both will use your money to help in Haiti, but they will both be doing different things. A brief description of what the charities will be using your money for is supplied under the logo. Oxfam will be concentrating on providing shelter and clean water – Unicef will be concentrating on food and medical supplies, with particular emphasis on children.
The work being carried out by both charities is essential to the people of Haiti. While one is providing water, the other is providing food – people will realise that they must contribute to both charities to give the best support possible.
The charities are not working against each other – they are working with each other to do the best for the people of Haiti.
Clever marketing technique? Effective copywriting? Yes and yes.
Who benefits? The people of Haiti.
EBay
EBay takes quite a different approach. Whereas Google is very plain, simple and generous, eBay, in my opinion, attempts to use the donation link as a way to boost its own profits.
Is this unethical? Or is it just clever business?
EBay is encouraging people to donate up to 100% of their Sale profits to the Haiti fund. This encourages people to place products on eBay to raise funds for donation. It also persuades people to buy products so that their money can be donated, whilst getting something in return for themselves (the product purchased).
While this is great for the relief effort in Haiti – what it’s all about – for every item placed onto eBay, eBay makes a profit. Insertion fee, and then a final value fee.
There is the encouragement for people to use eBay more (as it helps people in Haiti), and at the same time, eBay itself is making a profit from the additional auctions.
I must stress, though, that eBay does supply a ‘Donate via PayPal’ link. EBay is also the only site out of the three to include emotive images. Images of the devastation – people can see what they are donating for. They do not have to read, actions often do speak louder than words.
The text they use, although shorter in length, is very similar to that of Facebook: ‘destruction’, ‘critical’ and ‘mass devastation’ are strong attempts to tug on the heartstrings of potential donators.
Conclusion
So, has clever copywriting been involved in the making of the various donation links? Each has clearly been well thought through. How they layout the page, how they format their sentences and how they use emotive language has all been done carefully.
Each has applied a different technique to really draw in the donator. Facebook concentrated on appearing personal to the user through terms such as: ‘Dear friends’ and pronouns such as ‘we’ and ‘you’. The main invigorator, however, is the use of terms to describe what is going on in Haiti: ‘death’ and ‘destruction’.
Google appears very simple and easy to use and understand. This will have broader appeal to a wider, larger audience. In showing that Google themselves are donating $1 million, it shows just how important it is to give as much as you can, as the people of Haiti are in desperate need.
EBay uses a mixture of emotive language and images, and also has various options on how you can donate. This is an attempt to attract a wider audience – donate through buying, selling or directly through PayPal – but also sees a good marketing opportunity.
All have used proven copywriting techniques, however, the focus is much more on what they are donating for, as oppose to the benefits that the donator will get in return. While this goes against the number one rule of sales copy – people only want to know what is in it for them – it has undoubtedly proved a successful way of obtaining donations to the people of Haiti.
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Copywriting Techniques to Boost Traffic
Three…Two…One…
…Times up.
This is how long you have to attract a reader’s attention. The average person will take three seconds to look at your work, and then make a decision to read on, skim through, or ignore it.
As a copywriter, it is vital to draw in your reader’s attention as early as possible.
The secret is to keep your sentences short, sharp and snappy. Never open your article with a text-heavy paragraph. It puts-off your potential reader before they even think about reading.
One technique, used by many professional copywriters, is to keep opening paragraphs to just one or two lines, often just one or two words. For example:
Paragraph one: “Relax.”
Paragraph two: “Unwind.”
Paragraph three: “Chill out at one of our stunning health spas for only…”
Without even knowing it, you have gained the reader’s attention by creating curiosity in their mind, and now they are into the main body of your article.
In doing this, it is important to remember your audience. Don’t forget who you are writing for, and who you are trying to attract. You want to attract the right readers as early as possible:
“Fix your roof for only £20”.
This is only going to appeal to people who want their roof fixing – there is no point in waffling, trying to draw in people who don’t want their roof fixing. Likewise, you don’t want to risk losing the right customers by being too ambiguous – get straight to the point.
A simple way to draw in your audience is to ask questions. Make your reader think. Make your copy personal to them. Make them think that the article is about them:
“Are you fed up with your job?”
“Do you need some extra cash?”
“Do you need your roof fixing?”
This engages the reader and can immediately sift through the people you do and don’t want to attract. Using the “roof” example, people who need their roof fixing will automatically think “yes” to this question, and naturally read on, as there could well be a ‘Problem – Solution – Benefit’ scenario about to approach them. For example:
“Do you need your roof fixing? (Problem) Smiths Roofers will fix it for only £20 (Solution), keeping your house warm and damp-free. (Benefit)”
The key point to always remember is:
People are only interested in one thing – what is in it for them.
Make your reader aware that the copy is directed at them. Remember to keep asking questions to make the reader think. Use Action Words like: “Save, Earn and Feel.” This is telling them what can happen as a result of [for instance] buying the product on offer.
Keep using Key Words such as “You and Your” so they can furthermore see the article is aimed at them, and can be beneficial to them.
Whilst selling a product, providing entertainment, or supplying information is the point of the body copy – the whole point of your headline and opening paragraphs are to engage the reader and make them read on.
Following these easy copywriting secrets and techniques, you will be achieving results with your own quality, effective copy in no time.
…Times up.
This is how long you have to attract a reader’s attention. The average person will take three seconds to look at your work, and then make a decision to read on, skim through, or ignore it.
As a copywriter, it is vital to draw in your reader’s attention as early as possible.
The secret is to keep your sentences short, sharp and snappy. Never open your article with a text-heavy paragraph. It puts-off your potential reader before they even think about reading.
One technique, used by many professional copywriters, is to keep opening paragraphs to just one or two lines, often just one or two words. For example:
Paragraph one: “Relax.”
Paragraph two: “Unwind.”
Paragraph three: “Chill out at one of our stunning health spas for only…”
Without even knowing it, you have gained the reader’s attention by creating curiosity in their mind, and now they are into the main body of your article.
In doing this, it is important to remember your audience. Don’t forget who you are writing for, and who you are trying to attract. You want to attract the right readers as early as possible:
“Fix your roof for only £20”.
This is only going to appeal to people who want their roof fixing – there is no point in waffling, trying to draw in people who don’t want their roof fixing. Likewise, you don’t want to risk losing the right customers by being too ambiguous – get straight to the point.
A simple way to draw in your audience is to ask questions. Make your reader think. Make your copy personal to them. Make them think that the article is about them:
“Are you fed up with your job?”
“Do you need some extra cash?”
“Do you need your roof fixing?”
This engages the reader and can immediately sift through the people you do and don’t want to attract. Using the “roof” example, people who need their roof fixing will automatically think “yes” to this question, and naturally read on, as there could well be a ‘Problem – Solution – Benefit’ scenario about to approach them. For example:
“Do you need your roof fixing? (Problem) Smiths Roofers will fix it for only £20 (Solution), keeping your house warm and damp-free. (Benefit)”
The key point to always remember is:
People are only interested in one thing – what is in it for them.
Make your reader aware that the copy is directed at them. Remember to keep asking questions to make the reader think. Use Action Words like: “Save, Earn and Feel.” This is telling them what can happen as a result of [for instance] buying the product on offer.
Keep using Key Words such as “You and Your” so they can furthermore see the article is aimed at them, and can be beneficial to them.
Whilst selling a product, providing entertainment, or supplying information is the point of the body copy – the whole point of your headline and opening paragraphs are to engage the reader and make them read on.
Following these easy copywriting secrets and techniques, you will be achieving results with your own quality, effective copy in no time.
Getting Traffic to Your Blog or Site
How to Increase Traffic to Your Website
Boosting the number of visitors to your website is the most important way to expand your profile and business.
The internet is like a giant haystack, and your website is the needle that needs to be found. There are numerous simple methods you can use to achieve this.
Search Engines
The most effective way of gaining traffic to your website, is to be picked up by search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Ask.
Search engines use highly sophisticated Spiders that scan through the internet to find the most relevant websites available. The most important thing Spiders search for is Key Words.
Key Words are words or phrases relevant to the original search. So, for example, if somebody types: “Football in Brazil” into Google – Spiders will search for websites which includes as many relevant Key Words as possible, i.e. ‘football’, ‘brazil’, ‘soccer’, ‘Pele’.
The best thing you can do is jot down, before you write your article, a list of Key Words that need to be included in your copy, so that search engines have the best chance of finding Your website. Make sure you include as many Key Words as possible, but keep them all relevant and in context – Spiders are intelligent enough to spot someone trying to ‘cheat the system’.
Content
Above all else, the most important aspect of all – make sure you have good, quality content on your website. You can attract every internet user in the world to your website, but if the content is poor, they will not continue to read, they won’t come back, and your website becomes useless.
Your content must leave people wanting to revisit, wanting to buy your product/enjoy your writing, and best of all, go out and tell other people about your website.
If you do not have the nous for writing quality copy, you can hire a Copywriter to do this for you. They will know all the tricks of the trade, and optimise your chances of being picked up by search engines.
Social Networking
Networking, gaining contacts, and placing links on other websites is another valuable way to gain traffic. Millions of people use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter – make the most of this. It is such an Easy way to connect with potential visitors.
If, for instance, you have written an interesting article on tennis player Andy Murray – search for him on Twitter, and then follow everyone who is following him. Then, put a link to your website, explaining you have an interesting article about Andy Murray that is well worth reading. A similar method can easily be followed using Facebook, by searching for Groups about Andy Murray – and then becoming Friends with all the members – and placing a link to your website/article.
The internet is huge – make the most of it
You need to throw your name, article and website address around as many relevant places as possible. Again, using Andy Murray as an example, search on Google for forums, communities and websites about him – and place a link to your website on each. Offer to put links on your website for other people, in return that they do the same for you.
Make sure they come back
Once people have visited your website, the aim then is to make them visit again. To do this, you need to show people that your website is dynamic, as oppose to static. This basically means that people won’t keep visiting a website that never changes. Keep updating your pages, information and content – it will keep visitors aware of your online presence.
Offering Freebies, such as a newsletter, is a good way to keep people aware of your dynamic website.
“By signing up to my website, you will receive a free newsletter on Andy Murray every month.”
This means that once every month, people will be reminded that you are still active, and still producing new content that may be of interest to them. This also gives you an opportunity every month to reconnect with the people who you followed on Twitter, and the people you made Friends with on Facebook, as you tell them about your new article, or your latest newsletter.
Key Words are Key
Once your article is complete – check your list of Key Words. Have you included each one at least once? I cannot stress the importance of this enough.
And before you submit:
PROOF READ PROOF READ PROOF READ
Boosting the number of visitors to your website is the most important way to expand your profile and business.
The internet is like a giant haystack, and your website is the needle that needs to be found. There are numerous simple methods you can use to achieve this.
Search Engines
The most effective way of gaining traffic to your website, is to be picked up by search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Ask.
Search engines use highly sophisticated Spiders that scan through the internet to find the most relevant websites available. The most important thing Spiders search for is Key Words.
Key Words are words or phrases relevant to the original search. So, for example, if somebody types: “Football in Brazil” into Google – Spiders will search for websites which includes as many relevant Key Words as possible, i.e. ‘football’, ‘brazil’, ‘soccer’, ‘Pele’.
The best thing you can do is jot down, before you write your article, a list of Key Words that need to be included in your copy, so that search engines have the best chance of finding Your website. Make sure you include as many Key Words as possible, but keep them all relevant and in context – Spiders are intelligent enough to spot someone trying to ‘cheat the system’.
Content
Above all else, the most important aspect of all – make sure you have good, quality content on your website. You can attract every internet user in the world to your website, but if the content is poor, they will not continue to read, they won’t come back, and your website becomes useless.
Your content must leave people wanting to revisit, wanting to buy your product/enjoy your writing, and best of all, go out and tell other people about your website.
If you do not have the nous for writing quality copy, you can hire a Copywriter to do this for you. They will know all the tricks of the trade, and optimise your chances of being picked up by search engines.
Social Networking
Networking, gaining contacts, and placing links on other websites is another valuable way to gain traffic. Millions of people use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter – make the most of this. It is such an Easy way to connect with potential visitors.
If, for instance, you have written an interesting article on tennis player Andy Murray – search for him on Twitter, and then follow everyone who is following him. Then, put a link to your website, explaining you have an interesting article about Andy Murray that is well worth reading. A similar method can easily be followed using Facebook, by searching for Groups about Andy Murray – and then becoming Friends with all the members – and placing a link to your website/article.
The internet is huge – make the most of it
You need to throw your name, article and website address around as many relevant places as possible. Again, using Andy Murray as an example, search on Google for forums, communities and websites about him – and place a link to your website on each. Offer to put links on your website for other people, in return that they do the same for you.
Make sure they come back
Once people have visited your website, the aim then is to make them visit again. To do this, you need to show people that your website is dynamic, as oppose to static. This basically means that people won’t keep visiting a website that never changes. Keep updating your pages, information and content – it will keep visitors aware of your online presence.
Offering Freebies, such as a newsletter, is a good way to keep people aware of your dynamic website.
“By signing up to my website, you will receive a free newsletter on Andy Murray every month.”
This means that once every month, people will be reminded that you are still active, and still producing new content that may be of interest to them. This also gives you an opportunity every month to reconnect with the people who you followed on Twitter, and the people you made Friends with on Facebook, as you tell them about your new article, or your latest newsletter.
Key Words are Key
Once your article is complete – check your list of Key Words. Have you included each one at least once? I cannot stress the importance of this enough.
And before you submit:
PROOF READ PROOF READ PROOF READ
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
