If you’re like me you’ve asked yourself how to get more traffic to your website a thousand times already. I think I may have a solution to our problem or at least enough information to lead us in the right direction. So I’ve spent a lot of time talking about self-publishing your urban fiction and fiction in general. This post is going to discuss one of the most important components in an authors marketing campaign. If you want to be known as an author you MUST have a website for your readers to come to. This is so important if you want to sell books in today’s market.
On a side note please don’t accept or throw together a free or poorly done website for the sake of having one. This can actually work against you in sales. A poorly done website equates to poorly written work in the minds of your audience. Once you have an incredible website set up to take book orders you can then start working on getting traffic to that website. By now we all know that the key to increased online sales is web traffic. I found a few really good free web traffic generating sites because exposure means more sales potential. I’m starting with search engine rankings as they are the most important for now.
Google Search Engine Ranking
I’m not sure about you but I’ve heard that being on the first page of Google and other major search engines will generate more traffic. That sounds good but for a long time I simply thought publishing my online content would automatically land me a spot in the search engines. That is not necessarily true. For your website or even your blog (another book marketing strategy) to even begin ranking it must first be submitted to search engines. You can google search engine submission for a listing of the major search engines and their individual submission requirements. After your site is submitted it is then important to start creating content relevant to your book. occasionally use keywords in your content to help boost your ranking in the search engine. Remember it’s a numbers game, if you out rank a competitor your book gets more exposure. If no one can find your website then you will remain an unknown in the literary world.
Social Bookmarking Sites
Social bookmarking provides the world with a constant stream of information. It gives well-known and unknown authors an equal opportunity to reach their target audience. Some of the most popular social bookmarking sites include Digg, stumbleupon,delicious,Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. These are pretty good platforms if you know how to use them. A few of the increasingly popular sites for content based information is Technorati, However, to take it a step further article submission is another great way to generate more traffic to your website. The more articles submitted to search engines and article directories with back links to your website the more hits you receive.
Alexa Ranking
I never realized how important Alexa ranking was until I started my blog. Ranking high on Alexa means more popularity and Google pays attention. Sites that reach the top 100,000 page views on Alexa are able to leverage their website for more income streams like advertising. In a nut shell you want to rank high on Alexa because it provides legitimacy to your website and your product which is your book. There are a few places that promise to increase your ranking but for a fee. One of the best no charge ranking services I’ve found is http://members.upmyrank.com/refer.php?rid=21453 I’ve been using it for a while now and find that it helps drive more traffic to your website.
Traffic Exchanges
In my search for more website traffic I’ve come across a few traffic exchange programs. This form of web traffic allows its members to visit other members websites in exchange for them visiting yours. The site that drives traffic instantly to your website is http://traffup.net/free/?rf=415494458 I will be posting a complete list of the sites that I use in a later post. Not only do you get more traffic but you also run across a few more websites that can help you on your journey or even some pretty good content and music as well as products you may have never gotten the time to see before.
No matter what your sales goals are learning how to get more traffic to your website will help you in your quest to being a best-selling fiction author.
Urban Fiction News 