Please answer by 2PM CST: Basketball academy website. How do I drive local traffic?

by guillopuyol

Posted: 15 years ago 12 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Hello,

I have a friend who just set up a website for his boss' basketball academy. (http://bigbasketballacademy.com/) He had originally asked me to create the site for him, but due to scheduling issues I couldn't do it.

Now he needs help in driving traffic to it and making it pull business, I have a feeling that the look and feel of the site may hinder it's ability to perform. Am I being too critical?

As far as traffic goes, he really needs local traffic, so I am thinking of suggesting the following:

1) Fill up the site with relevant content
2) Submit a press release to local newspapers and magazines
3) Maybe even do some local AdWords advertising (depending upon budget)

I really need suggestions on how to drive local traffic, and also your input as far as the look of the site, how much can I charge for these services?

-G

PS: I have a phone call appointment at 2PM CST, so if you can please help with a reply that will definately help a lot.

PS: I haven't looked at the back end of his site, but It looks like it is some sort of WYSIWYG interface... hopefully has option to enter code.

#academy #basketball #drive #local #local business #local traffic #site analysis #traffic #website

wlowrey

15 years ago

Wow...hmm, quite a situation.

Ok - the animated GIFs are killing me. This isn't the 90's anymore. Lets move past those.

Traffic problems - all of this is in a frame from BallCharts.com - and I am guessing it will be hard to create links to internal pages. This makes it difficult to control a good bit of the traffic promotion. He needs targeted traffic to the areas of interest to people.

He needs to lose the visitor counter also.

OK - sorry - I didn't mean to be so critical. Lets figure out some traffic.

How about some linkbait or competitions to get people interested?

Linkbait ideas - 10 Steps To Being Chosen Last On the Playground (negative gets people's interest) Each item would be a negative thing to do - then a paragraph about how to do it right.

Top 10 Worst Players Of All Time

Local Competition - Enter for a local 3 v 3 street-ball competition - winner gets bragging rights, maybe some sweatshirts - get some local sponsors in the area, etc. (maybe a video clip online - since he has a place for videos)

Video Competition (this gets people promoting your site for you) - have them submit their best 30s on the court - judges should be a local coach, maybe a teacher, a parent, etc - 3-5 judges for this one. Have people submit video to YouTube and enter it on the site. The bigger the prize, the more videos you may get.

That is just a a few ideas that might get things going. As for how much to charge for this - you gotta figure out how much of this you are going to have to do on your own. It can be time-consuming, but the rewards can be long lasting in terms of traffic.

Good luck!

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1 reply

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guillopuyol

15 years ago

Wow...hmm, quite a situation.

Yeah, I know... the main problem is that I feel like I'm trying to promote something that is broken from the get go...

Ok - the animated GIFs are killing me. This isn't the 90's anymore. Lets move past those.

Part of the look and feel I was referring to...

Traffic problems - all of this is in a frame from BallCharts.com - and I am guessing it will be hard to create links to internal pages. This makes it difficult to control a good bit of the traffic promotion. He needs targeted traffic to the areas of interest to people.

This makes me want to scratch the whole site and create a brand new one... I just don't think they have the budget (and I can't work for free...)

He needs to lose the visitor counter also.

Not only does it look bad, but it tracks hits not uniques... pretty useless stuff.

OK - sorry - I didn't mean to be so critical. Lets figure out some traffic.

Please, don't appologize. I need critical thinking here.

How about some linkbait or competitions to get people interested?

Linkbait ideas - 10 Steps To Being Chosen Last On the Playground (negative gets people's interest) Each item would be a negative thing to do - then a paragraph about how to do it right.

Top 10 Worst Players Of All Time

Do you suggest adding these as content or submiting articles? please explain. Maybe content and then bookmark???

Local Competition - Enter for a local 3 v 3 street-ball competition - winner gets bragging rights, maybe some sweatshirts - get some local sponsors in the area, etc. (maybe a video clip online - since he has a place for videos)

This is a great idea... great targeted traffic from this one!

Video Competition (this gets people promoting your site for you) - have them submit their best 30s on the court - judges should be a local coach, maybe a teacher, a parent, etc - 3-5 judges for this one. Have people submit video to YouTube and enter it on the site. The bigger the prize, the more videos you may get.

How do you suggest the competition gets promoted? Should he have the students do videos or maybe a newspaper ad?

That is just a a few ideas that might get things going. As for how much to charge for this - you gotta figure out how much of this you are going to have to do on your own. It can be time-consuming, but the rewards can be long lasting in terms of traffic.

What to charge... this is a tough one I need insight on. I don't want to under-sell my services, but I don't want to scare his boss away either.

Good luck!

Thank you... same to you!

-G

Thanks
2 replies

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Alan Petersen

15 years ago

I agree having a site in a frame is an SEO killer. Note when you click on on the navigation all you see is the main URL. They should be using SEO friendly links for their pages like /basketball-academy-schedule. etc. Instead they have it all stuffed in a frame.

Unless they're not interested in organic traffic from the search engines they need to deal with that.

They should also add an optin form so they can start building their list.

Good luck.

Thanks
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guillopuyol

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Alan Petersen

Thanks for the input Alan,

The site is ok if all they wanted to do is inform their current students and their parents. But I see a lot of problems actually getting any organic traffic with it. I agree that as far as SEO goes, they are in trouble.

The type of promotion wlowrey talked about is good and would create buzz, but the problems with the site is that once the buzz dies down, traffic will plummet. All the SEO issues need to be fixed to get the site to stick.

-G

Thanks

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wlowrey 15 years ago

In terms of the linkbait, you will get the best bang for your buck if the links are articles on your own site. That way, you are building backlinks to your site (or at least the hope is that you do).

Article Submissions are fine and can help drive traffic for particular keywords - but you are not looking for just anyone to come, you need local traffic - which is already going to be small. So, take the big areas and try and score lots of traffic. It can help increase your pagerank and likelihood of showing up for organic searches in the area.

As for the video competition - getting the word out...hmm..Best bet would be to get a couple of guys together and make a viral video - have them show off and talk crap about everyone else. Post it on YouTube, share it with friends/family/competitions - post about it on a few blogs somewhere. With the post - say something like: I saw this video and wanted to see what people can put together - can you do better than these guys?

Something along those lines. Then, they link to your page with the competition details. You can get them to promote it further by having 'viral' points they can earn for random drawings (video games, etc). Give them 15 point for a youtube video, 2 points per person that they email to with your competition link (include you in the email so you can see how many they sent it to), 5 points for following you on twitter/facebook, something like that. Then, do a drawing for prizes (if you can get the money for it).

As for the expense - I am a bad person to ask. I always under charge (like giving away all of these ideas for free!). Maybe someone else has some suggestions on fees?
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- guillopuyol 15 years ago
  
  Thank you for your input wlowrey... really valuable stuff.
  
  Any more ideas warriors?
  
  Thanks
  
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Teenage Genius

15 years ago

Maybe it would be a good idea to do some offline advertising for this type of website aswell.

Stick up posters in local sportcentres and youth clubs. That sort of thing.

Thanks
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guillopuyol

15 years ago

Originally Posted by StevenBird

Maybe it would be a good idea to do some offline advertising for this type of website aswell.

Stick up posters in local sportcentres and youth clubs. That sort of thing.

I agree, but I believe "you never have a second chance to cause a first impression", and the impression this site will cause I'm afraid will not be a good one.

-G

Thanks

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Kurt

15 years ago

As posted above, ditch the entire site.

You want us to come up with suggestions, but we really need more info...

Who are your experts? Their qualifications?

What age group is the academy focused on?

What's your advertising/marketing budget?

Instead of a press release, you need to think of ways to create events so that you can send as many press releases as possible.

For example, depending on budget, can you hold a 3 on 3 tourny? Send a press release.

How about a skills competition? Send a press release.

An over 40 league? Send a press release.

A dunk contest? Send a press relese.

Consecutive free throw contest? Send a press release.

Woman's 3 on 3. Send a press release.

Can you JV with a local pizza joint (other businesses) to promote the above?

I wouldn't worry too much about linking/SEO, unless you want customers nationally.

Do you have a local sports talk show?

Can you offer scholarships to your camp for special kids...(get good grades, volunteer, etc) Send a press release.

Do you have access to school bulletin boards, PTA meetings, local basketball coaches, etc?

Can you rent/donate the gym for other purposes, like for a Thanksgiving dinner, concert from local bands, sr. volleyball etc?

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guillopuyol

15 years ago

Kurt,

Thank you for such detailed response.

Originally Posted by Kurt

As posted above, ditch the entire site.

I am all for that... now I just have to convince my client.

Originally Posted by Kurt

You want us to come up with suggestions, but we really need more info...

Who are your experts? Their qualifications?

What age group is the academy focused on?

What's your advertising/marketing budget?

This is trully something that came up this morning, so I don't have that information myself. I just want to have enough ammo for the phone call.

Originally Posted by Kurt

Instead of a press release, you need to think of ways to create events so that you can send as many press releases as possible.

This is great! Given the fact that Katy is rather small, I am sure the newspapers and magazines will love this type of story.

Originally Posted by Kurt

Can you JV with a local pizza joint (other businesses) to promote the above?

It is win-win if I JV with small mom & pop places... that will also give them exposure.

Originally Posted by Kurt

I wouldn't worry too much about linking/SEO, unless you want customers nationally.

I was actually going to target keywords such as "basketball academy in Katy" and so on.

Originally Posted by Kurt

Do you have a local sports talk show?

Can you offer scholarships to your camp for special kids...(get good grades, volunteer, etc) Send a press release.

Do you have access to school bulletin boards, PTA meetings, local basketball coaches, etc?

Can you rent/donate the gym for other purposes, like for a Thanksgiving dinner, concert from local bands, sr. volleyball etc?

These are all viable solutions, I am sure at least one could be implemented.

Again, thank you so much for your input.

-G

Thanks
1 reply

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julclark 15 years ago

"basketball camp" and "basketball league" plus the city or state could be good keywords assuming that they have them. Also, if there is an associated basketball equipment store, fitness room, after school program, etc., you could target keywords for those.

Offline ads would be helpful. You might be able to distribute ads at schools (I know I've seen similar things come home from my kids' schools), in a local parenting magazine, or get a list of parents for direct mail ads.
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Premium Web Content 15 years ago

Hi Guill.

Who will enroll for a basketball camp? Alas, your audience will be primarily composed of kids and young adults, and occasional metrosexual yuppies who want to keep themselves fit and looking good.

What is popular amongst the members of this demographic?

MySpace!

Create a MySpace account for the basketball camp. Then create a group about the local basketball scene. Search for profiles of people belonging to the demographic you're looking for: male/12 to 30 years old/your postal code/miles away from your postal code. Then send them invites to your created group.

Once you have enough members, you can send out info about the basketball camp.

This can potentially start a word-of-mouth campaign for the clinic you're setting up.

Hope this helped.

- Johnny
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Please answer by 2PM CST: Basketball academy website. How do I drive local traffic?

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