15 replies
  • SEO
  • |
Alright, so I need some advice on what to do next in getting traffic to come to my website. Here is the background:
  • Have had my website since late May of this year
  • I average 16 unique visitors on my website a day
  • My keyword is "backyard birding" which has 480 local monthly searches (according to Google AdWords)
  • Facebook fan page with 330+ fans
  • Twitter page with 300+ followers
Things I have done for SEO
  1. Created 5 blogs with relevant posts and anchored text leading to my website
  2. 1 Squidoo post linking to my website
  3. 1 EzineArticles post linking to my website
  4. 1 Hubpages post linking to my website
  5. 1 ArticleBase post linking to my website
  6. 1 GoArticles post linking to my website
  7. 100+ articles on my website with 8-10 specifically about my keyword "backyard birding"
I used seoMOZ's open site explorer program and it says that I have only 4-5 websites linking to me when I have all the web 2.0s and the blogs that I have linking to me.



So what should I do next in my SEO work? I really want to get more traffic and I've been doing a lot of work and getting no work. I feel like I'm doing something wrong over and over again and because of it I'm just wasting time.

I don't know what to do next and any help would be greatly appreciated

I'm ready to take action and get things done.

-Sam
#step
  • Profile picture of the author RogueOne
    #1 - counting on Google search for traffic is a mistake.

    Have you participated on forums and blogs in your niche. Maybe make some guest posts.
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    • Profile picture of the author sambrunson96
      Originally Posted by RogueOne View Post

      #1 - counting on Google search for traffic is a mistake.

      Have you participated on forums and blogs in your niche. Maybe make some guest posts.
      Yes, I do. And I get 1 person a day from Google, so I don't really rely on it.
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    • Profile picture of the author jbsmith
      That's a ridiculous statement!

      Perhaps you meant relying entirely on Google traffic is a mistake, I agree with that, but given that the vast majority of people looking for information and products still use Google, you can't ignore them.

      Regarding your site...here are a few comments that I hope help

      1. Who is your target market and what ultimately are you trying to do for them? When I get to your site it's a mix of targeting bird watchers, artists, photographers, etc...It seems like a jumbled set of interests you are trying to target - I would stick to targeting a very clear audience...perhaps just bird watchers - those who love and crave information on birds.

      2. I would re-visit the theme of your site - having that massive javascript section at the top marketing a page with drawings on it...what are you really trying to achieve there? Instead, I would move your blog content up on the page (so someone landing on that page will find interesting things to read about) and second, move your call to action (newsletter sign-up) near the top (nobody will find it right now at the bottom of your page). You also want to have a better call to action for your newsletter - it should be perhaps a 10-page report on attracting the top 5 most desired types of birds (just one example, you should know what your audience really wants more than I do - give it to them in return for signing up to your list)

      3. You should be aiming for a blog post a day - these can be tips, news about birds, an opinion, a personal experience, some of your own pictures, a fact, etc... The idea is to supply consistent content, make sure you bookmark that content back to your Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Digg, etc...accounts. This will help place you higher on Google's SERPS

      4. You need to find more than one keyword - you should have a list of dozens of keyword phrases that you optimize around - a few pieces of content around each keyword with some related keywords mixed in.

      5. Backlinkg via videos, article syndication, blog commenting, forum signatures, etc...try and backlink to specific content pages and not just your main page

      You should be able to get from 16 uniques to over 100 in a couple of weeks using these methods, we have done it many times across dozens of niches.

      Jeff


      Originally Posted by RogueOne View Post

      #1 - counting on Google search for traffic is a mistake.

      Have you participated on forums and blogs in your niche. Maybe make some guest posts.
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      • Profile picture of the author sambrunson96
        Originally Posted by jbsmith View Post

        That's a ridiculous statement!

        Perhaps you meant relying entirely on Google traffic is a mistake, I agree with that, but given that the vast majority of people looking for information and products still use Google, you can't ignore them.

        Regarding your site...here are a few comments that I hope help

        1. Who is your target market and what ultimately are you trying to do for them? When I get to your site it's a mix of targeting bird watchers, artists, photographers, etc...It seems like a jumbled set of interests you are trying to target - I would stick to targeting a very clear audience...perhaps just bird watchers - those who love and crave information on birds.

        2. I would re-visit the theme of your site - having that massive javascript section at the top marketing a page with drawings on it...what are you really trying to achieve there? Instead, I would move your blog content up on the page (so someone landing on that page will find interesting things to read about) and second, move your call to action (newsletter sign-up) near the top (nobody will find it right now at the bottom of your page). You also want to have a better call to action for your newsletter - it should be perhaps a 10-page report on attracting the top 5 most desired types of birds (just one example, you should know what your audience really wants more than I do - give it to them in return for signing up to your list)

        3. You should be aiming for a blog post a day - these can be tips, news about birds, an opinion, a personal experience, some of your own pictures, a fact, etc... The idea is to supply consistent content, make sure you bookmark that content back to your Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Digg, etc...accounts. This will help place you higher on Google's SERPS

        4. You need to find more than one keyword - you should have a list of dozens of keyword phrases that you optimize around - a few pieces of content around each keyword with some related keywords mixed in.

        5. Backlinkg via videos, article syndication, blog commenting, forum signatures, etc...try and backlink to specific content pages and not just your main page

        You should be able to get from 16 uniques to over 100 in a couple of weeks using these methods, we have done it many times across dozens of niches.

        Jeff
        Those are some great tips, Jeff, thanks!

        Questions and comments on your points:

        1. I target bird watchers, bird photographers, and bird artists; not any artist or photographer, I think that I should change the statement to make it more clear.

        2. I have spent a LOT of time with the theme and I want to keep it. What do you mean by the "massive javascript section at the top marketing a page with drawings on it" do yo mean the slider? Should I create more HQ stuff for it? Actually right now I'm beginning to realize that this theme might not work, but I have literally spend 12 hours trying to find a good theme and I STILL haven't been able to find a good one. Which would you recommend? I will definitely move my subscribe to my newsletter thing up on my sidebar and I'll create something like what you mentioned (that's a great idea, thanks! )

        3. I definitely agree with having more content. I would just think that it would be a little spammy on Facebook if I posted a link a day to a post (or am I wrong?). I'll work on having more than 1 post a week definitely.

        4. I will work on that list right after I finish this comment and then come up with post ideas

        5. Good ideas! I have 1 YouTube video up at the moment and working on a second one.

        -Sam
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      • Profile picture of the author RogueOne
        Originally Posted by jbsmith View Post

        That's a ridiculous statement!
        Not at all.

        Perhaps you meant relying entirely on Google traffic is a mistake
        Semantics

        the vast majority of people looking for information and products still use Google
        That doesn't mean your site will be in their index. Or maybe it is today, but won't be tomorrow, you'll never know.

        you can't ignore them
        And you can't count on them either.
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        Get Off The Warrior Forum Now & Don't Come Back If You Want To Succeed!
        All The Real Marketers Are Gone. There's Nothing Left But Weak, Sniveling Wanna-Bees!
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  • Profile picture of the author Baadier Sydow
    Have you investigated using videos at all. Have you looked at targeting smaller sub niches to increase your traffic?
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    • Profile picture of the author sambrunson96
      Originally Posted by Baadier Sydow View Post

      Have you investigated using videos at all. Have you looked at targeting smaller sub niches to increase your traffic?
      I've done 1 video on YouTube, and working on a second on at the moment.

      How many local monthly searches should I be going for?
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      • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
        Originally Posted by sambrunson96 View Post

        I've done 1 video on YouTube, and working on a second on at the moment.

        How many local monthly searches should I be going for?
        Forget about monthly searches, you're wasting your time.

        If you want to learn traffic strategies, go here and buy this.

        Traffic Grab Targeted Traffic by James Schramko

        It will be the best $59 you will ever spend in your life.
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        BS free SEO services, training and advice - SEO Point

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  • Profile picture of the author sambrunson96
    I don't want to have to use a program for SEO...
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  • Profile picture of the author Earning eMoney
    I would say that SEO still caries major portion of traffic about 80%, so we shouldn't ignore it.
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  • Profile picture of the author sambrunson96
    So what is the next thing I should do with SEO? More articles on Web 2.0s?
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  • Profile picture of the author copilu0
    Write more good content for your website, participate in forums discussions for your niche, make sure your website is well optimized, create more profiles for your website and most important now create free blogs with good content related to your website but also all those blogs should be stand alone...don't make them just to promote your website but make relevant posts on them.You can write about different areas from your website and give your website link as example from time to time.
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  • Profile picture of the author sarlat
    Your niche would be ideal for writing Kindle books. Advertise your site in your kindle book.
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  • Profile picture of the author sambrunson96
    What do you guys think of using this theme: http://demo.woothemes.com/?name=mainstream

    It seems a lot more organized and oriented to what kind of website I have...
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    I cant understand why when people ask for help, you offer it to them, and they ignore it and choose to struggle.

    *shakes head....
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    BS free SEO services, training and advice - SEO Point

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