Secret #4 – News Spreads Fast

Creating news that references your website is a powerful way to increase traffic to your website. News items create inbound links to your site, which help with Search Engine Optimization, and they also create additional paths to your site via current articles that people read.

The most obvious way to create news that drives your website traffic up is to do something newsworthy and get on major newspapers, on TV and listed on the major news websites. This is not always easy to orchestrate, as most people would like that kind of attention.

What is more effective for most organizations trying to get noticed on the web is a long term web PR plan that involves a steady flow of the following items, which are all much easier to control and achieve.

1) Press Releases – Press releases are easily done through many services online. Some have a broader reach than others, some are free and some are expensive. When you right your press release, it must have a news slant, and it must have the same attention as any webpage as to why someone who does not know you would care and follow up with you.

2) Magazines – Most magazines today put many of their articles online as well as in print. If you are not able to break into a major magazine, try a trade magazine or an eMagazine in your industry.

3) Newspapers – Local Newspapers are often looking for local success stories and they frequently have online versions that can help increase traffic and visability.

4) Blogs – While Blogs are a less formal form of news, they have a wide reach and if people start blogging about you, it can spread quickly and have an enormous impact. It often is as simple as sending an email to a blogger with information they will find interesting and relevant.

5) Information Rich Websites – News sites with large readerships, like Slashdot, are so popular that getting mentioned on them can flood your website with so many visitors the site will probably slow down.

6) News Aggregators – With RSS and Community Driven News Websites, more and more tools exist on the web to get your newsworthy information noticed and drive traffic to your website and customers to your door.