The Importance Of Targeted Traffic
October 24, 2005 12:00 by anonymous

Targeted traffic (or the lack of it) is what determines the success or failure of any commercial website. A site can receive thousands of visitors per day and still fail if most of that traffic isn't targeted.

What is targeted traffic?

Have you ever clicked on a link or an ad only to discover that the site you land on has nothing to do with what you thought it would? Have you ever been redirected to another website that offers something you aren't interested in?

If so, your visit to those websites consisted of untargeted traffic because you simply weren't interested in the item(s) being sold on those sites. You got there expecting one thing but found something different. Or even worse, maybe you got there without even knowing you were going there.

Receiving targeted traffic simply means receiving visitors who are pre-qualified because they clicked on an ad or link that accurately describes your site and/or what it has to offer.

If someone clicks on your ad that explains how you sell top-quality green widgets, the chances are very high that she is actually interested in green widgets, perhaps even looking to buy one!

But if someone clicks on your link that describes green widgets only to discover that your site actually sells blue gadgets, you not only have just received an untargeted (and probably upset) visitor who has no intention of buying your product, you have also wasted valuable bandwidth and possibly advertising fees!

How to get targeted traffic to your website

Obtaining targeted traffic is simple, but it isn't easy. Here are a few great ways to do it:

  1. Exchange links with other websites that specialize in the same thing you offer. Many webmasters are reluctant to do this because they see it as linking to their competitors. Such an attitude is misguided and short-sighted.

    Why? Suppose you have a link for your green widgets site on another green widgets site. Anyone who clicks that link is obviously interested in green widgets and is very likely to buy. Traffic simply cannot get more targeted than this!

    But if you're like many webmasters, you're probably thinking "But I'll be sending my precious visitors to a competitor's website!".

    Yes, that's true. But your competitor will also be sending his precious visitors to your website! It all balances out in the end.

    In reality, it more than balances out because the on-theme inbound link to your website boosts your search engine rankings a bit, which in itself brings you even more targeted traffic from the search engines!

    In a nutshell, if done properly, exchanging links with your competitors will always results in a net increase in targeted website traffic and sales! Always!
     
  2. Buy advertising space on high-traffic, relevant websites and ezines. If you sell green widgets, a great place to advertise would be on a site or in a newsletter that reviews green widgets.
     
  3. Build an effective pay-per-click advertising campaign for your main keywords. And be sure to use relevant synonyms to bring in the most targeted traffic possible.
     
  4. Write articles that provide valuable information about the items you sell, then offer those articles to other webmasters for free to place on their site as long as they include your link in the article.

    For example, if you sell green widgets you can write an article explaining how to properly care for green widgets and offer to let other green widget sites publish it along with your link.
     
  5. Create an ebook about green widgets with your link on each page and give it away for free. You can even offer to let other webmasters give it away for free (as a bonus, for example)!

    These ebooks get passed down time and again, extending your website's reach and boosting its targeted traffic to ever higher levels.
Conclusion

Lots of targeted traffic is essential for the success of any commercial website. On the other hand, untargeted traffic is very expensive (in more ways than one) regardless of how cheap it is, and it does nothing for your bottom line.

If you'll spend your valuable time building a great website and getting lots of targeted traffic to it, you'll enjoy great success in your web-based enterprise!