Increase Traffic With 7 Forgotten Marketing Channels

Increase Traffic With 7 Forgotten Marketing Channels

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If you want to maximize your Adsense revenue, you’ve got to offer more than just articles. Make no mistake – article marketing is a good idea. It’s a darned good idea – an almost flawless idea. But like any other website, your Adsense website needs to utilize additional marketing channels that continue to stream traffic towards your website. 

There are literally hundreds of ways to do that, but the easiest way (and equally as affective as article marketing) is through freeware distribution.

Freeware Distribution as a Marketing Strategy

Freeware distribution is a marketing strategy used by software developers since the dawn of the net. In fact, the sole purpose of freeware (software that is free to use and share with others at no cost) is to broaden awareness of the *other* products and/or services for sale.

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Sometimes these other products and/or services are listed in a freeware product’s help file or archived documentation files (“file_id.diz”, “readme.txt”, etc.), but most important for the Adsense website owner – these products and/or services are listed on a freeware product’s website.

When a user downloads a freeware program – presumably yours – that user places himself or herself in a unique sales position for you in two very important ways:

• (a) the user is encouraged to revisit your Adsense website for support, updates, fixes, patches, or for more information about other software you offer
• (b) the user shares the program with others who are then also encouraged to visit your Adsense website

Through the use of a very simple freeware product, users are constantly encouraged not only to revisit your Adsense website, but to bring even more visitors at the same time! The key to succeeding with Adsense is to bring floods of traffic to your website, and as long as every page on your website (including pages for software support, updates, fixes, patches, or for more information) features Adsense ads, you’ve accomplished over half the battle.

Let’s talk about the other half.

Freeware Marketing Channels

Article marketing affords us the opportunity to catch search engine queries but it’s important – no – it’s imperative that you acknowledge one more avenue of traffic. Essentially, search engines are directories – but so are

(1) freeware library websites,
(2) shareware library websites,
(3) Compuserve file libraries,
(4) AOL file libraries,
(5) Usenet binary newsgroups,
(6) bulletin boards (bbs’s – yes, they’re still around!), and
(7) ftp site s!

That’s seven unique directories of marketing channels people use everyday to download and use freeware! With your very own freeware, you can reach beyond search engines and distribute your program(s) through these channels to increase your exposure by at least 500+ times. That because there are that many websites that will:

a. list your freeware
b. point to your website and
c. index your freeware description page in the major search engines like Yahoo, MSN, and Google
d. encourage others to list your freeware on their websites (at this point, the marketing channel just continues on and on and on.)

As you can see, your free software allows you to take advantage of some of the most widely used marketing channels already in existence. Search engines are important – but they’re really only *part* of the larger scope. Perhaps you didn’t think that these other marketing channels were a viable choice because you didn’t have anything to distribute through them. Without your own freeware product – you were right. Now think of the potential you have with your own freeware.

Emphasizing Focus with Freeware

Don’t have your own software program? Not a problem. Not a programmer? Not a problem. You don’t need to learn alien code to distribute your very own freeware. Instead, you can simply brand existing software with your logo – with links to your website – and with any other information that you think your visitors will need to visit your Adsense website.

Or you can hire someone to write original software for you. If you’re familiar with outsourcing, then you know that having your very own freeware written for you is a simple matter of hitting a website like rentacoder.com and posting a bid request. Within 24 hours, you’ll have at least 11 programmers to choose from.

Is the focus of your website a major concern? It could be. But a lot of freeware is applicable for any website! For example, you could offer your very own:

- address book
– alarm and reminder
– bookmark manager
– calculator
– calendar
– clipboard management tool
– diary
– encryption tool
– html editor
– phone dialer
– quiz
– task manager
– and more – you’re only limited by your imagination!

If you want to get a little specific, then you could certainly tailor your freeware to focus on the main idea of your Adsense website. For example, if you run an aerobics cardio Adsense website, then you could offer an exercise diary as freeware. If you run a photography Adsense website, then you could offer an image viewer as freeware. Whatever you decided to offer, the most important function of your software is to bring concurrent traffic to your Adsense website, and freeware will do that for you.

Marketing Opportunities in Documentation

To be successful in this advertising medium, you want to make sure that your freeware features your logo and includes plenty of documentation that not only explains how to use the software, but also points to your Adsense website. Your documentation should include things like:

- your contact info
– the software’s history of development
– a catalog of other products available on your Adsense website
– a disclaimer
– a distribution policy that encourages free sharing
– frequently asked questions
– how to obtain the latest versions of this product
– installation instructions
– a freeware license policy
– system requirements
– support policy (how you intend to support use of the software)
– troubleshooting
– uninstall instructions

Although that may seem like a lot of information to provide, you must remember that extensive documentation indicates your seriousness, dedication, support, and professional appearance. You’re also reminded that each piece of documentation that you provide provides the space and opportunity you need to promote your Adsense website.

External Resources:

1. Convert!: Designing Web Sites to Increase Traffic and Conversion
2. Finally! the Secret to Non-Stop Free Targeted Website Traffic
3. Increase Your Web Traffic in a Weekend