How to Get Website Traffic

[Lorri Ely]

"How do I get website traffic?" Oh boy, this is a loaded question. Everyone in the world, it seems, has a website. But how come only some of them become popular? What makes one website take off when another one just sits there lingering with no visitors? This can be SO frustrating!  So what is the secret? Is it a good website design? Is it just a lucky domain name? Is it what you put on the pages? 

Well--website "optimization", as it is sometimes called, is actually somewhat of a scientific process. And, believe it or not, it isn't so much how your website LOOKS although that is important from a professional image point of view) but what CONTENT is on the site. Anyone can create a website, and a vast majority of them don't get a lot of traffic (website visitors). But, you absolutely CAN create a website that works, you just need to understand it, and have a plan.

I could write an entire course on this subject alone. In fact, there are tons of books published on this subject that you can read (Search Engine Optimization for Dummies, is one example). And there are companies that will charge you thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars, consulting to teach you how to make a well-performing website.  So, do you have to be rich or a technical person to get website traffic?  No.  Since I am too busy to write a book on this subject myself (at least right now, anyway :-), I will give you some helpful tips and then refer you to other articles and books to get you started.  If you have questions about any of this, go ahead and post them here and I will do my best to help everyone out.

First, we'll assume you are starting with a nice looking website that doesn't look too amateurish. Especially since you are selling jewelry, you should have something that is nice and appealing to look at. You can usually accomplish this simply by using a readily available website template.  If you are brand new and have no idea whatsoever on how to make a website, or how to use a template, I will publish a whole different article on that subject alone. We'll focus this one on "how do I get website traffic for my jewelry business".

First, think about this:  How do you find something on the web?  You probably go to a search engine like Google or Yahoo and you type in a word or a search phrase, and click "Search".  The search engines then use some very complex algorithms to try to figure out which sites are the best ones and most popular, and those are the ones that turn up in the first results page, or first couple of pages, of all the millions of ther sites on the web.  The thing to understand here is that the web, and search engines, are mostly about WORDS.  These are called keywords, or keyword searches.  You want your website to be at the top of the list!  Or at least, as close to the top as you can get it :-)  This is EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE and of course it seems like everyone on the planet with a website is striving to be #1 in Google.  You don't have to be #1, you just have to be where people can find you.

Do I really know how this works?  Indeed I do, and I can demonstrate this.  My other website is about my hometown city of Portland Oregon.  Go to Google right now, and type in the words "Portland Blog" and click Search.  Somewhere on the very first page of search results, you will find my other social networking website, "PortlandNeighborhood's 'Net" at  http://community.portlandneighborhood.com/.  Or, go to Google and search for "Lorri Ely Jewelry".  Again, my own website appears right there on the top of the page.
Let's try another one. My own neighborhood in Portland, is the Eliot neighborhood.  Go try "Portland Eliot Neighborhood".  Wow, my website (www.portlandneighborhood.com) is the very first listing.  In fact, my website www.portlandneighborhood.com
is in the Top 1% of websites in the world.  So how on earth did I get my websites on the very first page of Google's search engine results?  The secret is all in the words... 

I don't mean to oversimplify this, because it actually does take some time and effort to get a website in the top of search engines.  But, it is something that ANYONE can do, once they understand how it all works.  

Five Tips to Get Website Traffic

#1 TIP:  Write a lot of content about your jewelry. 

Because you are selling jewelry, most likely, you probably have only written a short description about what you are selling, and that is about all there is on a sales website.  The problem is that these websites (sales) don't have a lot of "content" (words) on them, so there is not a lot for the search engines to know to differentiate your site from the millions of other ones out there.   If there are ten jewelry websites that all say the same word "crystal necklace", on them, how does Google know which one to give back in search results? You want to use as many words as possible, including your own name, or business name, as possible on your website.  But what do you do if that doesn't really make sense for your jewelry sales website?  See my next tip...

#2 TIP: Start a Blog  

The best and easiest possible way to create a lot of content quickly, is to write a blog.  On your blog, you have links back to your jewelry sales website.  Every couple of days or so, post a blog article, and in that article should be some reference to your jewelry with a link back to your own jewelry sales website. In fact, because the web is all about people searching for "words", you should use as many words as possible that talk about your jewelry. Keep it easy to read, and useful, of course. You don't want to write an entire article that just says "jewelry, buy my jewelry, I make jewelry". :-) You can start a blog right now, and usually for free using www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com, or www.typepad.com.  If you don't have a blog, go get one, and start writing.  Remember, every place you can, create LINKS back to your main jewelry sales website from your blog.  Here's an example: "Today I was inspired by the lovely autumn colors of nature, and I made this great citrine and green crystal bracelet.  You can buy this bracelet right now at www.insertnameofyourjewelrywebsitehere.com.  Also, use as many specific words and phrases about yourself, your business, and your jewelry as possible.  If you make handcrafted lampwork glass jewelry in Portland Oregon, be sure to mention (as an example), "My name is Lorri Ely and here in in my Portland Oregon lampwork glass jewelry studio, I've been making these beautiful autumn lampwork bracelets, now for sale on my website at www.mywebsite.com.."   

#3 TIP: Fresh Content 

You have to keep writing and making new content to keep your website fresh and interesting to the search engines.  Try to set aside a little bit of time each week to keep adding new articles to your blog.  If you stop writing content, pretty soon the search engines will think your site is stagnant and will not rate you as highly as other sites with fresh content. 

#4 TIP: Networking your Website

Get the word out!  Join jewelry or craft social networks (like this one), join beading forums, and tell all your friends and everyone you know with a website ABOUT YOUR WEBSITE, and ask them to link back to your website.  When you post comments on jewelry forums, or ask questions, be sure to include a signature line with your name, tagline, and A LINK BACK TO YOUR WEBSITE.  Upload your jewelry photos and share information about your website every single place you can, but especially on-line.  And always mention your name, and a link back to your website.  Why?  Because the more incoming links you have to your website, the more the search engines will view your site as relevant.  This is why I suggested that folks with websites or Etsy shop pages ADD THEMSELVES to the Shop page here on my site.  Because my website is fairly popular, and is getting more traffic all the time, by having MY SITE link back to YOUR SITE, you just made your own site look more appealing to search engines.  Take advantage of all the free publicity you can get!  I've built this website as a tool that we can ALL use to help each other out, and to promote not only my own site, but yours as well.  It's sort of one way to put some good karma out in the world, just as my Portland website is a way for me to share good things about my city and give something back to my community at the same time.

#5 TIP: Educate yourself about Building a Website that Works

Ready to take the next step and learn more?  If you are really serious about wanting to build a website that performs...whether it is about jewelry or about another hobby or interest of yours, then I can suggest several things to read that will get you started.

Here is a free course on how to write for the net.

If you want to use the SAME EXACT WEBSITE HOSTING SERVICE that I have used to create my successful websites PortlandNeighborhood.com and Making-Jewelry.com, to make your own successful website, you will want to understand the "secret formula" of how to build a website using keywords and content. Read this comprehensive action guide to get started.

There is a lot more to say on this topic, indeed you could write a whole book about it.  But, hopefully this will give you some ideas to get started.  As always, feel free to post your questions and comments!  Good luck!

[Ketra Lewis]

Thank this was great information. I am going to implement some of these tips.

[Patti Ann McAlister]

Great article, thanks Lorri!

[Bev]

Lori, thanks for a great article. I appreciated your specifics on content, not just saying "have great content"
Bev
www.bevsjewelry.blogspot.com

[Lorri Ely]

Bev, you've got it! You have a jewelry blog, AND you used a LINK to your blog in your reply posting to my article right here. This is exactly what I mean. Now, everyone go visit Bev's blog right now! :-) Great blog, Bev! www.bevsjewelry.blogspot.com
Bev said:

Lori, thanks for a great article. I appreciated your specifics on content, not just saying "have great content"
Bev
www.bevsjewelry.blogspot.com

[Chris]

Thanks Lorri. Your advice is good to know and if anyone wants to have a peek at my stuff, just visit http://www.crimblecats.co.uk !!!
Chris

[Claire]

Lorri,
Thanks for this great info! Your info was easy to understand. Sometimes I feel I'm getting lost with all this computer info...rss, blogs...oh brother!!!

My goal this week will be to improve my "words" and get a blog going.

Claire
www.tobemejewelry.com

[Lorri Ely]

It is easy to be so overwhelmed with the amount of information out there. I get overwhelmed myself sometimes, and I have been doing this for a while! :-)
Claire said:

Lorri,
Thanks for this great info! Your info was easy to understand. Sometimes I feel I'm getting lost with all this computer info...rss, blogs...oh brother!!!

My goal this week will be to improve my "words" and get a blog going.

Claire
www.tobemejewelry.com

[Lorri Ely]

Thank you, and I really like your crimblecats website! I like the hammered bangle bracelet...I need to dust off my metal smith supplies! :-)

Chris said:

Thanks Lorri. Your advice is good to know and if anyone wants to have a peek at my stuff, just visit http://www.crimblecats.co.uk !!!
Chris