Getting traffic can be very simple and fast if you pay for it. You can buy adverts on your niche-related websites or use more sophisticated tools like Google AdWords (Google Pay-Per-Click Solution) and Facebook ads (a similar product from Facebook), to name two of the most famous ones.
Now, I am aware that not everyone has a massive marketing budget. Paying your way through advertisements, therefore, may not be an option. So, I want you to focus on some free traffic-driving techniques that you can use to drive traffic either to your websites or the merchant’s website.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
If your site or contents are well-positioned on Google among the organic results, you can get a lot of free traffic. According to Hamza Salim Khraim, PhD, “Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an Internet marketing strategy that used widely for improving the volume and quality of customer traffic to a company website through search engines.” However, SEO is a long-term process, and that means that you cannot and should not expect fast results. It can take weeks or even months to get a decent position, and it requires a lot of effort from you.
Forum Marketing
A fast and effective way to get traffic is through forum marketing. All you have to do is find forums that are already on Google in your niche (e.g., category keywords, secondary keywords, brand keywords, and other buying keywords). You can start writing valuable replies and comments and embed your affiliate links inside the post or in your forum signature. Consumers use social media, such as online communities, to generate content and to network with other users,” M. Nick Hajli, Ph.D. pointed out.
Blog Commenting
Blogs often offer the possibility to comment on posts. If you find popular blogs with posts related to the product you are promoting, you can add your comments with your affiliate links (or links to your site). However, make sure that it adds value to the content, it is natural, and you do not send SPAM.
Facebook Posts
You can post or add your comments also on niche-related Facebook fan pages or groups with your affiliate links or the link to your website. “As a social networking site, Facebook provides people with the tools and opportunity to be of international communities that share opinions and contents and communicate directly with one another or to other large communities,” Church S. Akpan, PhD and co-author wrote.
Twitter Posts
You can find tweets that talk about a product of a category of products related to your niche. Try to help people in their decision-making process by posting tweets with a link to your site or your affiliate link. However, with tweets, it is difficult to add a lot of value in 160 characters, so sending the users to your website where they can get more valuable information before buying is more recommended.
YouTube Videos
You can create YouTube videos with information about your products or categories. Then post your affiliate link in your profile or the video description.
Yahoo! Answers
Yahoo! Answers is a popular community of people with a lot of questions and answers. You can find niche-related items there, and then you can add your replies with your affiliate link.
Article Directories
Article directories are third-party websites where you can write and publish your articles. It is another good source of free traffic that you can mainly use if you do not have a website yourself.
You should be able to measure where your best traffic comes from. If you do that, you can start trying different techniques before moving on to those channels that bring more traffic and convert better.