We would all like to be able to brag a bit and declare ‘what a flood of traffic our site is receiving…tons by the hour, in fact!’ It seems we all get caught up in the numbers game. I, for one, like to take frequent peeks on how the statistics are holding up. Usually disappointment settles in if I didn’t get a big increase from the last time I looked. It’s true, traffic matters…or I would not be looking quite so often.

Most website owners have long known that traffic is important. Without it, we will not get any sales. It’s also a fact that without a fairly large amount of traffic, you’re not going to profit much either. Statistics show that you usually only convert a small amount of sales for a certain ratio of visitors that you receive. Nevertheless, you must also realize that it’s not just about “numbers”. It’s about “targeted” visitors and what you do with those visitors once you get them to your site.

Here’s 3 quick tips on optimizing the traffic you already receive at your site:

1. Analyze your traffic. Make sure you have some way to track your traffic flow so that you can determine what kind of visitors you are receiving at your website and where they come from. What keywords did they use to find your site on the search engines? Bidding for general keywords, such as “biscuits” may bring you wasted traffic. For instance, if they’re searching for “dog biscuits” and you only offer “buttermilk biscuits” then, this visitor is not a true visitor that will convert sales and your money is wasted.

*Two ways to improve your advertising:

a. Carefully choose keywords that will target specific products and not general products. Also make sure to include specific keywords within your site that will target the right market.

b. Carefully choose targeted websites for your advertising campaigns. Advertising on “Mary’s Online Hotdog Stand” will not help you sell your jewelry (unless perhaps you sell “hotdog charms”). The key to choosing proper websites for advertising is to determine exactly who will be your targeted audience.

2. Find out where all your traffic is going. If you’re not converting any sales with the traffic you get, then analyze your site.

*Two possible places your traffic went once they came to your site:

a. They headed back out from where they came. Some possible reasons are, they got confused or frustrated by not being able to find what they were looking for, they were looking for something that you didn’t offer, they got bored quickly because there wasn’t any real content, or your website had too many moving objects and cheap looking graphics. Take time to analyze everything thoroughly. Engage the help of a few volunteers to get their perspective. Perhaps you’re not offering enough variety, your descriptions are not clear enough or your photos are not giving justice to your products. Small changes can sometimes make a real difference in your sales.

b. They left through a new link. Depending on the purpose of your site, this can be a bad thing or a good thing. Affiliate sites are meant to act as referral sites. They often lead the visitors to browse other resources that interests their visitors. Google adsense sites are meant to encourage clicks as well. But, if you’re trying to sell your own products or services, it’s a bad thing to lead them away from your site. Watch where you place your outgoing links. Limit the numbers of links on your homepage and choose carefully outgoing links that will lead to a possible “sale”.

3. Optimize your ppc traffic. Pay-per-click campaigns can lead you to an empty bank account real fast if you haven’t taken some time to educate yourself about using this method of advertising.

*There’s two easy ways to optimize your ppc traffic.

a. Make it super easy for your visitor to find what they want. Don’t make your visitors spend time hunting around your site. If you’ve bid on the keyword phrase, “chocolate truffles”, don’t send them to your homepage to see if they can play the online game of, “Hunt-down-the-truffles in 25 min.” More than likely they won’t play the game and you’ll be the real loser. Make it easy as possible by linking to the specific page for your keyword and you’ll have a better chance of getting a sale.

b. Add your mailing list signup form on each page. Remember to entice them in some way so they’ll signup. Everybody likes something free. Make sure to offer something related to your content; for example, “Get a Chance to Win the World’s Largest Chocolate Truffle When you Sign Up for our Newsletter.” This is a “must-do” priority for your website. Most of your visitors are not going to immediately buy from you unless they’re really desperate and you’ve only got one chocolate truffle left. Capture your own sales leads by gathering email addresses from all your visitors. Now, you will create an opportunity to get your products and services in front of your visitors over and over again. Your ppc clicks will also serve double duty in this manner.

To sum up the topic of website traffic, continue to learn methods that will help you increase traffic to your site and focus on keeping them once they’re there.