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Build it and They Will Come - What a Joke!

by ClassifiedsNC
9 replies
"Build it and they will come", the famous line from the movie Field of Dreams. Building a website is probably the easy part, but gaining traffic can be a nightmare. Here is the scenario. You have built this great niche site, but no one knows about. This has happen to me. I recently launched a classifieds website aim at servicing my home town and a few surrounding counties. Nothing big, I didn't want to have to compete with the big guys; I am trying to give our communities a local place to sell their used items. Sounded like a great idea.
#build #joke
  • Profile picture of the author karadawn
    Well, first of all, have you done ANY advertising at all? To just put up a site and leave it isn't going to get you anywhere. You have to actually put some work into it.

    Second, I don't know how big your "local" area is. I know around my area if I did something like that it would flop big time. Especially when there's such a thing as Craigslist. I don't even think Yahoo's classifieds get much love these days, but then again, I'm not a classified junky.
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  • Profile picture of the author Emperor
    Its all ways the marketing, promotion that works and brings in visitors, it does not matter how crappy the content is. This is my personal and successful experience
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  • Profile picture of the author mailco
    I agree with Emperor, it's all about marketing even if it is crappy
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  • Profile picture of the author Fox30
    That was only in Field of Dreams....keyword being "DREAMS"
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  • Profile picture of the author InternetMarketingIQ
    Don't just build it. Figure out a business plan then build it. And BRAND it. I have a site that is now about 10 years old. It's a very good TLD and people use the web domain to search for it because it's now an established brand within it's niche.

    Classifies are like dating sites, a tough niche because people go the the BRANDs first. Local Newspapers, and Local TV Stations websites. And EBay and Craigs. So how do you get your site in their "mindspace".

    Advertise locally and BRAND.

    Google is rewarding local search big time now.
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    Internet Marketing IQâ„¢
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    • Profile picture of the author Traffic_Is_King
      Remember you have 2 kinds of traffic. Paid and organic. I would start off with organic ( natural non-paid search) and test your pages. Get started with article marketing. Very easy to do. You can post your articles on Ezinearticles. They have great positioning with Google. They are an authority Google recognizes so you need to take advantage of that. Re-direct the traffic from your resource box to your classfied website. Make sure the content is good or no one is clicking anything.

      Then optimize your web pages for local search. Check your title tags and h1 tags on your pages to make sure they are optimized for the local areas you want to hit. Don't do paid search until your site is fully optimized and you have an idea of what your conversions are ( how long it takes for people to sign up and use your service ). Testing is key. Use Google's web optimizer to test different pages on your site.

      Pretty websites doesn't mean anything anymore. Functional websites is king! People need to know where they are going when they get to your site so make sure your navigation is seamless. Since your trying to attract local customers you might want to consider offline marketing with postcards and direct them to your site. No one does postcards anymore and I found that this can increase your conversions. When was the last time you got a Craigslist postcard directing you to their website? Try it and see.

      The key though is to test , test, and test. I hated this because I thought it took time. But the web is a more complex tangled place now with a lot of people on it. You need to know who is coming in, how they came in , what they liked, and why they left.

      I have seen websites in the toughest niches do great because they test and track conversions. Get into the habit of doing this and you will come out on top. Hope this helps
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      [WARRIORS LISTEN!] If You Have Over +250 Sales Of Your WSO Product Definitely Read This!
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  • Profile picture of the author OmarKhan
    Banned
    Marketing is a huge part.

    I have seen people, who have had amazing landing pages and an amazing product on their site..make little to no money simply because they don't do proper marketing.

    Before promoting any product or site, I think an individual should have a decent amount of knowledge in SEO, Keywords, and general ways to gain maximum traffic.

    On the other hand, I have seen SEO masterminds build revenue for a site that you would think was made by a child.

    It is all about marketing. The internet is an amazing marketplace but competition is fierce. Learning unique and efficient ways to market online is KEY.
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