Internet Marketing Business: How To Develop An Effective Website Traffic Plan

As discussed in a previous article, there are many traffic-generating tactics at ones disposal. These range from free to paid methods, short term and long-term in terms of timing and effectiveness. Examples of traffic generating methods discussed included:

---Pay-per-click advertising

---Article marketing

---Advertising in forums or groups via your signature file

---E-zine advertising

---Viral reports etc

In this article I will attempt to provide a strategy of how to create a customized traffic plan to help drive visitors to your website. But why do you need a strategy at all?

As part of the big picture when it comes to targeting your market, traffic is really the first step to conversion. It will not matter how good your offer or sales copy is if your visitors are untargeted. Secondly,you need to have a daily plan of action. There are many steps you will take each day to move your affiliate business forward, and the task of generating targeted traffic is no exception. Thirdly, many of the traffic-generating techniques learnt are cumulative in their effects and you will not see significant results unless you repeat and build upon these steps. An effective Traffic plan encompasses all of the following strategies:]

---Looking at short, medium and long-term strategies

---Seeing how all the pieces fit together and build on each other

---Factoring in you ability to leverage time and resources towards even more traffic when you start getting results

---Understanding that everything you do is cumulative and requires daily action for maximum results

In order to implement the above strategies, you need to ask specific questions from the following checklist in creating your plan.

1. What are the top three FREE traffic methods you want to use first?

2. What is the one PAID traffic methods you want to use first?

3. How much time will it take to implement these first four methods?

4. How much money will it take to implement the paid traffic methods?

5. How much time can you devote to traffic generation each day?

6. How much money do you have in your budget for traffic?

Once you have answered each question you will be able to formulate a realistic plan based on how much time and money you have available to invest in getting your business off the ground. The point of creating a strategy is not simply to list what sounds good but to organize your campaign so that you begin from your strengths rather than your weakness. If you do not have enough money in your budget,you would want to focus on all the free traffic methods first. Likewise if you have plenty of money, you can engage in paid adverting to get your momentum going. The key is to choose at least three to four methods up front that you can implement as soon as possible and arrange their execution relative to time and money versus your
return on investment.

In summary, create your traffic plan based on careful consideration of your available time, skills and resources. You should focus initially on what is going to give you the most leverage. Then use that leverage along the way to strengthen your weak spots. This way your affiliate marketing business will evolve and grow naturally over time.