Anyone who manages a website focuses all their attention on getting traffic to that website. While you won’t get anywhere with no traffic, you are not likely to get very far with junk traffic or untargeted traffic. There are plenty of people who may get to your website that have no business being there. Further, there are people who are looking to get as much as they can from you without paying a dime. These people are called freebie seekers.
Wouldn’t it be a much better approach finding people who want what you offer? These people will not only return to your website but will become a brand advocate. They will spread the word to friends and colleagues. But, this will only happen if you switch your focus to those people.
The first step in making sure you are targeting the right people is to make sure you are targeting the right subject. There’s nothing worse than looking for information about weight loss only to be shown how to make money in the stock market. While finance posts have their place, if the website does not specifically target that, you are wasting your visitors’ time. No one will advocate your brand when this occurs. Stay focused on what your blog is about.
It’s okay to deviate a bit from your topics on occasion, as long as the focus remains similar to your topic. For instance, if your website is about camping, you can talk about how to cook fish, as this is something campers may find themselves doing. But, don’t make the site entirely about cooking fish. It’s a camping site. Campers will come to your site if you stay on subject and only deviate on occasion or when it makes sense.
The next step towards targeting the right people is in knowing who they are and what they want. People will refer to this as a customer profile or avatar. You should come up with a couple of profiles of the type of people who would be interested in what you offer. Some will go so far as to find a picture and name the people. They print these profiles and retrieve them whenever they create content for their website.
Hit up forums and blogs that are related to your subject. This will give you plenty of material to help you figure out who you want to target and what topics people are looking for coverage on.
