How Not to Generate Traffic

It’s just as important for a webmaster to know what not to do in his quest for traffic as it is to know what to do. At best, certain traffic generation methods are nothing more than a waste of time. At worst, they could actually be counterproductive. Here are some of the things that are rarely worth the effort:
• One of the worst things you can do for your site is employ questionable SEO tactics. This is commonly known as black hat SEO. It involves using tactics that promote keywords that are unrelated to the site’s topics or goals, or using tactics that go against the search engines’ terms of service.

Black hat SEO has become largely ineffective due to the search engines’ attempts to thwart it. Some techniques may yield a short-term benefit, but in the long run they can be detrimental. Search engines can penalize or even ban your entire site due to use of unethical search engine optimization tactics. If you are in doubt as to whether a specific technique is acceptable, check each search engine’s webmaster guidelines.

• Link farms are less prevalent than they once were, but they do still exist. These are sites that link to other sites for pay or reciprocal links without regard for their value or relevance. Getting your link placed on such a site can result in a penalty in your search engine positions, and at best it will have no lasting effect. The links on most such sites also rarely result in
click-throughs.

• Traffic exchanges and autosurf programs can boost traffic to your site, but it is not usually targeted traffic. The other members are using it for the same reason you are: To get traffic to their own sites. They are rarely interested in what anyone else has to offer, and in some programs they do not even have to view the pages to earn credits for traffic to their sites. What good is traffic if it doesn’t result in someone who might be interested viewing your site?

• Spamming is not only an unacceptable traffic generation technique, it can also get you in big trouble. As Internet users become savvier, and spam filtering software more ophisticated, spamming has become less effective. Spam laws can also result in fines or possibly imprisonment, so it’s just not worth it. Building an opt-in list and providing a clear and easy
way to unsubscribe will allow you to promote your website and gain the trust of your readers.

It is much more productive to use legitimate, proven traffic generation methods than to spend your precious time on tactics such as these. It’s also important to investigate anyone that you pay for traffic to ensure that it doesn’t come from such sources. If it does, they will not be the only ones that pay the price. Related Posts :