Traffic Tidbits.

[Potatoe]

I think a thread where we drop in quick traffic tips would be useful for a lot of people to read through. I've seen threads like this on other forums for topics like SEO and I think they're great.



I'll start...

- Make sure you're tracking where your traffic is coming from and recognize which sources work the best... and that goes way beyond just looking at where the most hits come from. (@Ryuzki has covered this in-depth in the crash course.)



- Take the time to come up with great headlines. It makes a huge difference on Facebook and social media, but it's also really important in the SERPs. You don't need a higher ranking than your competitor to get more traffic if people literally cannot resist clicking to your article over theirs (Plus that will help your positions, too.) Look at what other people are using in your SERPs and absolutely come up with something that's "clickier". Even if you're doing long tail sniping stuff, you shouldn't be using bland headlines. Curiosity clicked the link.

Instead of: "10 Delicious Smoothie Recipes You Need To Taste"
Try something like: "10 Delicious Smoothie Recipes That Are Better Than {Booster Juice/Dr Oz's/Jamba Juice...whatever's the most popular.}"

 

[Potatoe]

Infographics can be a great way to attract links. Last night I couldn't fall asleep, so while I was up reading @Ryuzaki's Off-Page SEO masterpiece in the crash course, I was reminded about a useful tip in regards to making infographics.

Infographics can be a great strategy to attract links and traffic to your website. The stuff you're going to get from some of the bargain infographic services for $100 or $200 might not be up to par to get you featured on huge sites, so they work best as a "filler" or an "excuse" for a link from an infographic gallery. A really well-done infographic, however, is going to do so much more for you...

But you might not be in a position to drop a grand or two on one of those. A well-placed infographic that earns you amazing links will pay for itself many times over, but here's a really easy way to make your own infographics with a little bit of elbow grease, an afternoon, and a couple bucks.

When it comes to choosing a topic and doing your research for the content of your infographic, you're on your own. I'm just here to talk about how it looks.

I'm using DollarPhotoClub.com for this example since they have a solid selection and it's only a buck each, but they're obviously not the only game in town when it comes to stock images.

Just search "infographic" and you'll find a huge array of pre-made infographics and assets that you can use. You'll need Photoshop or Illustrator or GIMP (free) to edit these and make them your own, but it's a lot easier than starting from scratch - especially if you aren't great with image editing in the first place. You'll only need minimal graphic design skills and a bit of creativity to piece together these templates info something that looks more than passable.

You can also narrow it down by searching "health infographic", "money infographic", "dating infographic"... Be creative with your searches and you'll uncover some incredible assets on some of these stock sites.

The actual content and research that you put into your infographic are incredibly important, but if it looks cheap or sloppy, it won't really matter how amazing the information is, because people will be a lot more reluctant to share or feature it.

To get a little more mileage out of your hard work, you can also slice it up and turn it into a video to upload on video sharing sites.

TLDR: You can buy really nice infographic templates on stock photo sites.

 

[Tucky]

Looks like dollarphotoclub has been taken over by Adobe and is now closed to new members. But like you say, there's tons of great infographic elements out there on other sites like shutterstock and istock etc.