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Congratulations!  You’ve started adding interesting content to your website.  Now, the question is what to do to get people to read it.  We call the process of directing visitors to a website “generating traffic.”

Just like the foot traffic in a shopping mall, the website visitors are called traffic.  Getting visitors to your website to read the content and use the links provided is the purpose of a website.

Let me explain what I mean.

Years ago, I created a website.  Over time, the website received more and more visitors.  In general, getting the visitors to my website increased each month.  However, I didn’t do anything once the visitors arrived at the website.

I offered them information at no cost.  I didn’t have a way to ask for donations or otherwise support the website’s development.  In addition, I didn’t have a way to let the visitors join my “community” by having an email list or a Facebook group.  In fact, the only thing on the website were a few, informational pages that I wrote.

When someone wanted specific information (specifically the information published), it was available if someone could find it.  If they didn’t find it, there were not resources to help my visitors locate what they were looking for.

As such, the website was not a service to anyone looking for related information that had not been published.  Those visitors were not receiving any help to find what they were looking for.

Because of this, the website did not have a purpose.  Without a purpose and without people to help, the website was not meaningful.

How Do I Generate Traffic To My Website

That’s an excellent question. You may not like when I answer that with a question.  What’s the service or benefits that your website provides?  Who does it serve?  What problems are you solving?

Let me explain it another way that may help clarify what I’m talking about.  Let’s use Facebook as an example.

1. What is the service or benefit that Facebook provides? Facebook provides a place where people can share experiences and information about themselves, their lives and their views and opinions.
2. What problems does it solve? Facebook is adding value to the internet by solving many problems.  One well-recognized problem is how to share photos with family and friends that are not local. In addition, Facebook helps solve the problem of meeting new people through their groups and being able to interact with the friends of friends. Facebook also reconnects people who had shared past experiences that lost contact.
3. With those problems in mind, who does Facebook serve?

• Families that don’t live near each other.
• Busy professionals.
• International companies that are looking for people who travel to go fishing.
• Local community groups who need to make an announcement or reminder about an upcoming group activity.

Do you see how one website is solving multiple problems for multiple people?  This is how they generate traffic. In other words, traffic happens when a website is adding value to the visitor by solving problems for people.

Recipe for Success For Generating Visitors and Traffic To Your Website

Ingredients:

1. Problems.
2. Solutions.
3. Content.
4. Links.
5. Time.

Instructions:

1. Think of a problem that someone may have.  For example, first-time parents often want to raise children in a different way than they were raised.  The problem is that they don’t know another way to raise children.
2. Consider what solutions may exist to the problem. There are multiple places a person can go to learn different parenting techniques.  There are community classes, friends who are also parents, books, magazine, and professionals such as therapists who can help advise and guide our first-time parents to their own parenting methods.
3. Now that we have a problem to address and possible solutions, it’s time to tell the world about it.  Write, write, write.  Create the content that will provide the solutions to our first-time parents.  Use terms and phrases that they may use a search engine to find information about what they are looking for.  For example, first-time parents may search for techniques about how to handle temper tantrums.  Write specific information about what solution solves that specific problem.
4. Let people know about it by creating links that direct first-time parents to the content with the solutions.  I use Facebook and Twitter because they are useful in making the information available to multiple people both in and out of my circle of friends.
5. Give it time.  A website usually doesn’t make a big splash overnight.  The only type of websites that do that are usually well-funded and heavily advertised.  And even then, “overnight” usually takes at least a year to develop a stead stream of ongoing visitors.  Expect to be in it for the long haul.

Keep in mind the example of building a home.  The company that builds a home hires employees, purchases permits and parts and invests both time and money into the homes they develop.  Most companies expect not to break even within the first 3-5 years of operations because that is the cycle of businesses.

Just like a fire does not begin to burn until the wood is added, a business does not begin to produce until the systems and processes and products are produced.

Having expectations that your website is going to change the world once you click the publish button isn’t realistic for many business owners.  Speaking as someone who has generated regular, ongoing traffic, have professional and realistic expectations of your website.  Then work smart enough to go beyond your expectations.

Please feel free to reach me via Facebook or Twitter.

Until next time, please use the comments below to tell me how your solutions provide service and value to those in need.