Increased Web Site Traffic - Some Dos and Don'ts of Web 2.0

Increased web site traffic until recently covered a whole gamut of techniques that fell short of embracing the brave new world of social media. It was almost as if Web 2.0 was for 'play' whilst the serious 'work' of the internet would involve Pay per Click, Article marketing, safelisting etc.

Not any more. Web 2.0 is the 'golden fleece' of increased web site traffic. What makes it such a powerful way of influencing huge numbers of people is that it's not about 'pitching' others. It's about forming friendships and relationships which may or may not blossom into a business connection.

So what is Web 2.0? It is, to quote Victor Huge, 'an idea whose time has come'. The internet is no longer about webmasters creating content and surfers reading it. It has become interactive, whether it be blogs, 'vlogs' (video blogs), or Social Media sites. There never was a Web 1.0, but never mind about that!

A lot of people desperately seeking increased web site traffic use Web 2.0 or 'Social Media' sites as a kind of 'soap box' to blather on about their specific business opportunity, in the honest belief that people will have their 'guard down' as it's a Web 2.0 environment. This policy just doesn't work.

If you use MySpace, Facebook, or the 'new kid on the block' Twitter (growing currently at 40% a month!) to 'up front' pitch your opportunity, you'll just be sending large numbers of people to sleep instead of one at a time. That's technology for you!

A much better route to increased web site traffic is to make your 'profile' on the Web 2.0 site appealing and interesting and then just place some links to your business site for people to click on them should they want to. If you have a capture page you can divert them to, where you can collect e-mails, so much the better. You'll have the details of someone who liked your profile enough to seek you out. Big difference.

Sites like MySpace also allow 'commenting' to friends. Again, I see a whole bunch of people 'pitching' me and it's a big yawn to be honest. The comments I like are when people send an encouraging or upbeat statement or quotation that brightens up my day. I may well follow a link then, and if that person achieves increased web site traffic as a result then that's fine by me.

YouTube has enjoyed phenomenal success. Set up in February 2005, by the end of 2006 Google had bought it for $1.65 billion of stock. (Yes. 'Billion'!) Why would Google pay this? Traffic, traffic and more traffic. We all know what a part Social Media played in the last US election. Many people now successfully use video clips to create free quality content in return for e-mail capture. A win-win.

Social bookmarking is another 'buzz' phrase that many see as a key to increased web site traffic, and it can be. What you need is consistency and patience. But there is a great free tool that can automate this procedure at SocialMarker.com. They even give you a piece of html code that you can paste on to your site and create a button saying 'Bookmark Now', thus spreading a 'link on 49 of the best social bookmarking sites in under 15 minutes!'

If you consistently give value without always demanding a return, then people just seem to want to know more about you. Don't forget the story of the Sun and North Wind, who had a wager on removing a man's coat. However hard the North Wind blew, the man just buttoned his coat up more. The Sun merely shone sweetly. The man got hot. He removed his coat. Be a 'Sun' in Web 2.0, and increased web site traffic is the natural consequence.