5 Alternative Ways To Build Traffic Without PPC Ads

Like many hubaholics, I write for a living. Some of us even own or manage blogs, along with maintaining the content and marketing.

What I have found in working with several clients is that PPC Ads doesn’t provide the “holy grail” of online marketing for website owners. In fact, many website owners go broke or cash out after they have had a few months getting their bank accounts drained. It’s really sad because their websites are often very good and well designed and they sell a great product. Then what’s the problem, right?

Well, the problem (and blessing) is that many website owners find themselves in a competitive niche. When you are in a competitive niche, you will be up against people (companies, organizations, or teams of seasoned marketers) doing whatever it takes to get to number one on Google’s page rank.

Many times, the web publishers or e-commerce people haven’t done the very basics, before launching right into marketing. Then, they make the brutal mistake of paying $50-$150 a day on PPC Ads. Imagine doing this for a couple of months?

So, if you are a new website owner, what are the alternatives to PPC Ads? I decided to write down five alternatives that you should be doing. Even if you are a season “internet marketing guru,” I’ve even added a little spice to each one.

1. Article marketing is content marketing. When someone goes online looking for a solution to their problem (i.e. more information, product or services), they often go online to read about the problem or situation in general. For example, if someone has a leaky faucet, they might log on to Google, and type in “how to fix a leaky faucet.” What they will get is a variety of “how to” articles, videos, and even plumbing websites. Most likely they will try to read or watch a video. After watching the video, they might click on the link of the author. This is called article marketing.

Article marketing is important for two reasons. The first is that it build credibility. It shows people that you know what you are talking about. The second important reason is that it builds a direct “link” to your site. This allows the reader to have access to your website and it tells the search engine that your site has relevance. This lends greater weight for your website in the eyes of almighty Google.

Seasoned Marketer? Consider taking your articles and generating a newsletter round up in your email marketing campaigns.

1. Social marketing is great and horrible at the same time. Let me explain the greatness first. Social marketing allows you to reach out to people and develop an ongoing relationship with them. Social marketing, brings in a third-party (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon) to validate you and give you credibility. In addition, it allows you to respond to customer questions and allow your customers to really get to know who you are.

However, it is also a double edge sword. On of the lessons we learned on “Myspace” is that often these so-called “friends” are not relevant customers or friends at all. Consider the quote: You may have 20K friends liking you on Facebook, but how many will show up to help you move out of your apartment on Saturday? You get my drift, here? So, having 10,000 Facebook likes, might not always determine your customer base.

However, with that said, social marketing is effective because people spend tons of time on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Allowing you to bring in more customers, developing more relevant traffic, allowing people who really like your website to share with others, and it offers you a way to provide a sense of “freshness” to your site. In addition, adding a small button, or “logo” with Facebook, Twitter, etc, allows others to identify you as a “mainstream” site that won’t rip them off.

Seasoned Marketer? Have you tried OnlyWire.com to help you manage your social networks and save time?

1. You tube marketing is awesome, because 9 times out of ten, people will choose to watch a three minute video over reading ten pages of small text on your website. Adding video to your website using YouTube allows you to enrich your site with great video content – that doesn’t necessarily need to be expensive to produce (you can generate a video using your personal pocket camera or cell phone) and it allows people searching YouTube to find you “content” or video. Once they are watching their video, you can place a link for more information, you can annotate the video to direct viewers to your website.

If you are shy and don’t like to be in front of a camera, ask a friend to do it. Or pay someone to create a video for you. A small video would cost under $50. Over time, you can generate tens of thousands of views!

Seasoned marketer? Why not compile your videos and create a product or use it in your newsletters?

1. Building Links may be unfamiliar to you if you are a new website owner. If you learn quickly that building links, is one of the single most important things you can do “off” your page, then you will generate a lot of web traffic.

Here is the skinny: Google (as mysterious as it is) values links that point (or link) to your site. So, if you brother or sister has a website and published a blog with your website embedded in his site – that creates a link. A link is a way for people to from one website to another.

The more links you have, the more Google believes your site to be relevant. The more relevant your site is, the more likely Google is to boost your web ranking. When you increase your web ranking, you increase your traffic. When you increase your traffic, you increase your sales or conversions.

Seasoned Marketer? Have you considered Build My Rank to impress your clients and boost their traffic fast?

1. We all hate junk mail. We all hate junk e-mail or spam. However, many people are interested in getting updates from the sites that they like. You need to consider an email marketing campaign to increase your sales. Email marketing allows you to follow up with potential or current customers, provide coupons, or company news. Why not send a small email to your existing customers. In your email you can provide a solution to a common question, you can provide a coupon code, or you can provide pictures, videos, and company news.

To get people’s email, you need to have a “sign in” system on your website. Consider asking people to sign up for your newsletter. Provide them an incentive to sign up, like a free e-book, report, or gift. You can send emails with free services such as mailchimp.com.

I hope this helps. If you are a bit frustrated, hang in there. Don't give up. If you are persistent and give a few hours a week to developing better marketing, over time, it will all add up. Tenacity is the name of the game here. If you stick with it, you will soon find what works for you. You can do it!