As part of the Austin WordPress Beginner's Meetup, this presentation will help new bloggers and website owners come up with actionable ideas for driving traffic to their websites including: Google Analytics, Social Media, SEO, PPC, Newsletters and more. While there are some references to WordPress specific plugins & services, these ideas could apply to any web platform.

1. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website
Rich Plakas
@RichP on Twitter
www.RichPlakas.com

2. A Little Bit About Me
★ IT Background going back to the days of DOS & Novell
★ Began “messing” with WordPress in 2007.
★ Switched my focus from IT to WordPress in 2011
★ I was tired of doing Windoze Updates & changing Printer
Toners :-)
★ Joined the Austin WordPress Meetup Group In 2012.
★ I love BBQ & Craft Beer.
★ I run the 26th highest rated beer blog globally:
www.CraftBeerAustin.com

3. A Little Bit About Me
I run a WordPress Agency called Connected Systems.
We help businesses with all aspects of their Digital Assets
including:
★ SEO/SEM
★ Analytics and Website Optimization
★ Pay-per-Click Ads(Google Adwords & Facebook Ads)
★ Social Media
★ Ecommerce (WooCommerce)
★ Email Newsletters
★ Lead Generation

4. Tracking Traffic

5. Tracking Traffic
https://analytics.google.com/
Google Analytics!

6. Tracking Traffic
Google Analytics!

7. Tracking Traffic
See “The WordPress Beginner's Guide To Google Analytics (with a side of Google Webmaster Tools)”
http://www.slideshare.net/richplakas/the-word-press-beginners-guide-to-google-analytics

8. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Your First Task:
Identify your target audience.
i.e.
Austin Area Males & Females 25-45 who drink
Craft Beer & Eat BBQ
Where do these people spend time online?

9. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Best Sources of Traffic:

10. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Possible Sources of Traffic:
Social Media (Facebook,Twitter,Linkedin, Youtube)
Organic Search (SEO -Google - Bing)
PPC Paid Ads (Google Ads, Facebook Ads)
Email Newsletters
Direct Mail
Guest Blogging
TV/Radio

11. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Possible Source of Traffic:
Social Media

12. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Possible Source of Traffic:
Social Media
- Facebook - Google+ - LinkedIN - Instagram - Pinterest - SnapChat - Y
You do NOT need to invest in every available social media platform.
You will probably only have time to manage 2 or 3 social platforms yourself.
Find the platforms where your target audience spends time & invest in those!
Social Media success is about conversations - talk with your customers aka
BE SOCIAL!

13. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Possible Source of Traffic:
Social Media
Website Forums
Facebook Groups
Google+ Communities
Make sure to adhere to each Groups’s Rules and Guidelines.
Most website forums user profiles have a field for your website, use it!
AKA Don’t Be Spammy!

14. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Due to the popularity of Facebook and the fact that many people are connected to it 24/7,
many online forums have moved to Facebook Groups.
This group has 1745 Members
Group Rules & Etiquette
are usually posted in the
“Pinned Post’

15. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Your Tasks:
Identify 3 Social Media platforms where your
target audience spends time.
Join at least 1 Facebook Group or Google+
Community where your target audience
spends time.
Setup Social Sharing on your Website(Jetpack
and SumoMe plugins do this.

16. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site

17. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Let’s discuss some of your best
Social Media platforms for driving
traffic to your website.

18. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Organic Search- SEO
• Search Engine Optimization
• “I want to be on page 1 of a google.com search”
• It’s all about the “Content” (gone are the days of
keyword “stuffing” meta tags)
• Google/Bing like RELEVANT Content that is
Updated Regularly(such as a “blog”)
• SEO takes work!

19. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Organic Search- SEO
See previous slides to:
The WordPress Beginner's Guide To SEO
http://www.slideshare.net/richplakas/the-word-press-beginners-guide-to-seo

20. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Organic Search- SEO
Your Tasks:
Install the Yoast SEO WordPress Plugin
https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/
Read Yoast’s Plugin Guide:
https://yoast.com/wordpress-seo/
Remember SEO is about good relevant content.
Do you have that on your site?

21. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Paid Ads - Proceed with Caution!
Google Adwords
Facebook Ads(Boost Post)
Instagram Ads
Twitter Ads
Linkedin Ads
These are some of the most common online paid ad platforms.

22. Paid Ads - Proceed with Caution!

23. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Paid Ads - Proceed with Caution!
f you don’t know what you are doing, hire a professional.
ou risk wasting a lot of money by venturing into Paid Ads
Start with Small Budgets such as $5/day.

24. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
It’s creepy but Facebook knows a lot about it’s users…a lot!
Target your Ads to specific demographics:
Male vs Female
Age Groups
Zip Codes
Income Levels
Interests

25. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Paid Ads - Proceed with Caution!

26. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
When you get up in the
morning and grab your
smartphone, what is usually
the first things you check?

27. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
When you get up in the
morning and grab your
smartphone, what is usually
the first things you check?

28. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Email Newsletters

29. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Email Newsletters

30. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Email Newsletters
Your Tasks:
Find an email newsletter service that works for you and sign up for a free
account.
Read “How I Grew WP Site Care’s Email List by 1,075%” by Rob Neu
http://robneu.com/grow-email-list/
Install a plugin like SumoMe that enables the Popup to capture emails from
visitors.
They call it their List Builder.
We usually set the popup time between 45-60 seconds.
https://sumome.com/app/list-builder

31. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Email Newsletters

32. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Email Newsletters
If you are using a WordPress based Mailing List plugin such as MailPoet(vs a
service such as MailChimp), you will want(need) to invest in a service such as
SendGrid to avoid having emails sent from your server flagged as Spam.
https://wordpress.org/plugins/wysija-newsletters/
https://sendgrid.com/
http://mailchimp.com/
https://www.constantcontact.com/
Here’s a list of 13 Newsletter/Mailing List Services: http://blog.capterra.com/top-10-
mailchimp-alternatives-small-business-email-marketing/

33. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Guest Blogging
If you an expert in your field, but just
starting out a blog, Guest Blogging is a
great way to drive traffic to your
website!
SEO Bonus: New backlink to your
website from a higher authority website.

34. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Guest Blogging
Your Tasks:
Identify 3 sites you could guest blog on
and contact them all with possible blog
topics.

35. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Direct Mail
Often forgotten, Direct Mail can be
successful in driving traffic for local
businesses and/or in Trade Magazines.
Do any of your competitors advertise
in local mailings and/or in Trade
Magazines?

36. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Radio, TV and other Media
wing the TV/Radio Stations where your target au
Also, follow the Local Reporters.
en…Be Social & Contribute when it’s appropria

37. KEYETV.COM We Are Austin

38. Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site
Radio, TV and other Media
HARO
Help A Reporter Out
arting a free account today. Reporters need expert sources for th
ailored to your industry knowledge. Send unlimited pitches to ov
https://www.helpareporter.com/

39. Rich Plakas
@RichP on Twitter
www.RichPlakas.com
Q&A
https://www.connectedsystems.us/
Actionable Ideas for Driving Traffic to Your Website Site