Recently in this newsletter I shared a series on how to make sure your website is ready for traffic and converting your browsers into buyers. You can find all 7 parts at http://thesmallbusinessmuse.com/category/muses-brainstorm (just scroll down a bit to find the posts that start with “Making Your Website Work for You”).

Then I shared “10 Easy Ways to Get More Links to Your Website” and got a wonderful response from subscribers. If you missed it, you can read it on my blog at http://thesmallbusinessmuse.com/10-easy-ways-to-get-more-links-to-your-website/2008/07/29

So I’ve put together another list. This time, it’s 15 ways to get more traffic to your website. I’ll share five strategies in each of the next three newsletters.

Search Engine Optimization

Over 400 million searches are performed every day on the various search engines. 84.8% of web users find websites through search engines. Every day people are searching for the information, products, and services you offer! Are they finding you?

If you want to get some of that traffic, start learning about search engine optimization. It’s not rocket science, just takes some time and effort, and the results can really boost your traffic.

Here are three steps you can take to improve your search engines: (1) Use relevant titles on your pages, (2) include lots of valuable content on your website, (3) work to build incoming links to your website.

Download my free special report on Search Engine Optimization basics here: http://themusesguide.com/resources.html

Blogging

Have you started your own blog yet? It’s a great way to connect with your target market and the search engines love the fresh content.

WordPress is a fabulous free blog you can add to your own website — www.wordpress.org

Once you’re up and running, here are some tips to get your blog noticed:
* Exchange links with other blogs (using a blogroll)
* Make sure you have an RSS feed enabled
* Be sure that “pings” are turned on
* Install plugins to help your posts get into the social bookmarking site, my favorite is
http://sharethis.com/publisher?type=wpplugin
* Get listed in Blog Directories:
- www.blogcatalog.com
- www.bloghub.com
- www.blogflux.com

Social Networking

Websites like MySpace, Facebook, and Ryze that allow individuals to connect with others by sharing their interests, opinions, photographs, and whatever parts of their lives they choose. Take some time to explore a bit and see which sites are a good fit for you and reach your target market.

Social Bookmarking

A rapidly growing trend that allows you to recommend and share content with other users by essentially “voting” for the content and commenting in it.

The two biggest social bookmarking sites are Digg (http://www.digg.com) and Delicious (http://del.icio.us). You might also look at Technorati (http://www.technorati.com).

Make it easy for people to bookmark your websites by adding little icons that users can click to bookmark. With a WordPress blog, it’s easy and you can use this plugin: http://push.cx/sociable You can add Digg directly to your website with these tools: http://digg.com/tools or this free service: http://www.addthis.com

Review Products & Services

Take a few minutes to write honest testimonials for other small or home-based businesses and email them. They are likely to print them on their websites and be willing to include a link to you.

This is how I found my business coach–she shared a testimonial with an internet marketer and I saw it, followed a link to her website, and signed up!

Be sure to only review products or services you’re willing to be associated with. You can send reviews directly to the companies/professionals, or you can leave your reviews places like Amazon.com

Next week… 5 more ways to get traffic to your website!

Note from Michelle: I worked with Rebekah recently (she proofread of my newest ecourse) and can wholeheartedly recommend her services.

Remember the old days? When you were seeking information on a topic or looking for that perfect gift, you knew exactly where to go. The librarian went to grade school with you and the department store clerk coached your son’s Little League team. You knew you could trust their judgment and advice. Today, we are constantly bombarded with information and advertising from every corner. With the advancement of the Internet, that has never been more true. Anyone can put anything on the Internet…and they do!

When we are putting our own sites online, we know that we are trustworthy. But how can we show that to our website visitors? People today are being taught evaluation techniques to implement when reviewing websites. If we understand what they are looking for, we can be sure to provide them with that information. There are four specific keys to website evaluation: Authority, Accuracy, Currency, and Objectivity. Let’s look at each of these very briefly.

Authority
When designing and creating content for your website, make sure you include exactly who you are. You might be surprised at the number of websites that share information or attempt to sell a product and yet never clearly state who they are or who the parent company is.

Accuracy
Hire a proofreader. Seriously. Many people do not take the time to have their website proofread and the typos and grammar errors that are usually sprinkled throughout are the biggest credibility killers.

Currency
People like to know when certain information was published. If you are blogging, the date of the post is usually displayed. However, if you are writing articles for your website or elsewhere, including the date of the article is paramount to keeping you credible in the eyes of your visitor.

Objectivity
Presenting your information with a minimum of bias is not as easy as it sounds! Your desire should be for your visitor to recognize the value of your information—not because you spoke passionately, but because you took a step back and shared the whole picture.

This is just a small taste of what you can do to increase the credibility of your website—and you! If you are interested in learning more about this topic, I invite you to register for my free teleclass. We will be discussing these four keys and looking at even more ways you can increase your website’s credibility.

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Rebekah Jones is a Virtual Assistant and Business Trainer for Real Estate Agents. She provides simple strategies for streamlining business tasks, thereby giving Agents the freedom to grow their business. Are you ready to minimize your time behind the desk and get back out there to meet with potential clients? Then be sure to visit www.rjprofessionalservices.com for your free information!

As a business owner, you get to do something you’re passionate about every day. It’s fulfilling to be able to do work you love and make a real difference for people.

Have you ever really sat and thought about the impact your having – not only for your clients, but on the world?

Building a business is big work and it cannot be done alone. As an entrepreneur, you need help, and you need to be supported. For the month of August, I’ve teamed up with 12 other fabulous business-building professionals. These women are experts in their field, they relate to what you’re going through, and are eager to help you build a strong business.

We are offering tools and resources – free – that you can download and check out right now. Simply go to http://www.MindfulBusinessesPartner.com to meet these fantastic women and get the help you need.

Be sure you check it out soon – the page will only be active for the month of August. After that, the bonuses come down to make web space for another project.