Robert Brady Group - Increase Traffic to your Web-site


TalkingTraffic.com: Ethical and proven ways to increase traffic to your web-site.

Robert Brady But first...

Why should you listen to me?

My name is Robert Brady. I run two web-portals:
The ed-u.com Education Directory and The Highstreetcentral.com Shopping Directory.

The Highstreetcentral.com Shopping Directory was established as a web directory in October 1995 and is now one of the World's largest, covering a huge range of subjects. It links to millions of sites, services and products and has over 800 advertisers showing over 10 million ads monthly. It has also reached the top .01% of the World's most visited sites, reaching up to a quarter of a million visitors (not hits) per month.

The ed-u.com Education Directory, which is much younger (February 2000), and which I have only started to promote comparatively recently, already attracts tens of thousands of visitors per month.

As both of my web-sites almost exclusively rely on the search engines and web directories, I have made it my business to educate myself in their requirements. I'm not a techie and I steer clear of things complicated as much as possible. If I can achieve these figures, then so can you.

ed-u.com and UK Government backed internet marketing workshops

The UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has launched a major campaign to get the UK online. Under this initiative, I have been invited to give a series of talks on e-business, traffic building and best practice to invited audiences. This web-site is my seminar material.

So what are you trying to sell me?

 All the traffic building information on the web-site is totally free. The site is fully supported by advertising revenue. Please click here for advice about purchasing over the internet.

Most of my site's processes are automated, which enables me to concentrate on the consultancy and venture side of my business.

I provide marketing and e-commerce optimisation advice for several websites, including multinational and international corporations, and have been successful in creating substantial and sustainable business for many companies. I currently help to generate millions of pounds worth of internet leads per day for dozens of businesses.

And the good news is...

The future of e-business is still shining bright...

 Whilst the failures of many high-profile dot com companies continue to populate the media's headlines (according to a recent report, two thirds of these companies actually received more publicity after they crashed), there are still thousands of online businesses quietly turning a profit or successfully complimenting their existing bricks and mortar operations.

In fact, many hybrids of the old and new economy are doing particularly well. They find that they can create efficiencies and often streamline their procurement systems, therefore relieving supply chain pressures within their existing frameworks.

Research, development and design processes can all be streamlined by using the net as a remote central project depository to enable different departments (even if these departments are in different countries) to share files.

Remember that the internet is not just about making money, it's also about saving it.

100,000,000people@$2billion.com

There are very few companies who aren't already benefiting from the savings and efficiencies created by e-mail and many are using it to its full potential.

There are 10% more e-mail users than Web users and almost 3 billion e-mail messages are already being sent daily. Commercial spending on e-mail marketing is expected to double in the next year - hitting the $2.0 billion mark.

With nearly 100 million people using the internet, e-mail is an important and efficient addition to your marketing tool-box.

Unlike regular mail or telemarketing, you can communicate your message in a matter of seconds - and for a tiny fraction of the price. Match this with an average click-through rate to your web-site of 3% and response turnaround of less than 48 hours and it is not difficult to see the power e-mail commands as a business medium.

Don't click here, can't click there

Television, radio and print media all have a role to play for the well funded e-businesses that need to brand their companies fast, but how often do you find yourself memorizing or writing down a web address to visit it at a later date? How many web addresses are in your notebook or scribbled on a scrap of paper? How many have you visited? Ask yourself honestly: how many sites that you saw advertised in the real world have you actually been to?

Now ask yourself how many sites have you visited that you have seen promoted on the internet itself. For the majority of surfers, the difference will be enormous.

It is simply far easier to click on a link than having to memorize or note it for future use. Many businesses are waking up to this and last year a huge increase in web-based promotion helped lead towards a 75% increase in on-line business. Much of this activity has been concentrated around search engines and directories.

The more prudent companies haven't followed the disastrous carpet-bombing advertising model; they have steadily built up a loyal customer base using the zero or low cost techniques described throughout this site.

The internet is beginning to catch its breath

Imagine a long-distance race where a few sprint while others walk. In their haste, many of these sprinters have fallen by the wayside.

For the most part, e-business is simply the old economy with access to a new technology. Hype and hysteria equals cash burn, whilst measured optimism equals business reality.

Are you brand new to the world of e-commerce? Looking at the code behind a web-page

Some of the traffic-building advice on this site requires a little basic knowledge of the internet's de facto coding language: HTML (Hypertext Markup Language).

If you right click on a text area on this page with your mouse and press "view source", you will see the HTML code. Don't let it put you off; the coding for this site, which includes Javascript and stylesheets, is much too complicated for absolute beginners, so your next step should be to look at the codes of more simply designed sites - a very basic page can be created with just a few short lines of code.

Find a simple page that you like, save it to your hard disk with a file name something like "mytestpage.htm" and start altering the existing text. Open it in your web browser to see what happens.

The code for a basic web-page:

Think of a price...

 Taking just a few minutes to learn even just the basics of HTML, will help you understand the web techies when they discuss your site and to make sound commercial decisions as to how much to pay others to code your pages for you. I, as well as thousands of others, learned HTML just by studying other people's pages.

Thankfully, most of the HTML knowledge necessary for traffic-building is at the beginner's end of the learning scale and, nowadays, there are many easy to follow on-line tutorials.

Even the founder of the world's most successful computer sales web-site, Michael Dell, recognised the power of understanding the basics. He moved his desk into the web development office when he decided to take his company online.

HTML and web-site design help

If you bookmark (add to favorites) this web-site for future reference by right clicking here, and then visit the following HTML help sites, you will gain a better understanding of the advice on this site:

  • HTMLgoodies.com
  • W3.org HTML Markup Guide
  • Lycos Webmonkey
  • NetMechanic
  • Uploading your site
  • Good web design

    Moving targets

     When you are viewing the source of other webpages, it may occur to you to study the structure and keyword density of well ranked sites. This can sometimes be useful, but beware, some sites may have been indexed months ago and some maybe a few minutes ago.

    There is no way of knowing that the page you are looking at is the actual page that was indexed, as many webmasters update their pages regularly, sometimes daily.

    Some search engines also use load balancing. For instance the heavily trafficked AltaVista search engine spreads their site activity across multiple servers in order to prevent a single server from being overloaded during peak traffic periods. This has the effect of one minute finding one group of web-sites at the top of the list and then, just a little later, finding another.

    Given the predilection of search engine mathematicians to tweak their configurations regularly (incurable apparently!), it is very unlikely that you can make a true statistical analysis without knowledge of the indexing date.

    Search engine and directory submission advice...

    One thing that I've learnt over the years is that search engine and directory submission advice changes almost daily. Different criteria exist for all the major portals when it comes to listing or ranking your site. If that wasn't problem enough, they also change these criteria (search algorithms) on what seems to be a regular basis.

    These changes are, in part, a response to inappropriate practises that are being employed by some web-sites to obtain top rankings. Through the excessive repetition of key-words or key-phrases (sometimes known as keyword spam) and the misrepresentation of the content of their sites, a high rating within search results can sometimes be achieved without being relevant to the query.

    However, these web-sites might also achieve a not so attractive result; getting banned by the engines.

    Setting the right parameters

    Here you will find tried and trusted site manager hints and tips that will steer you in the right direction and help you to avoid falling foul of search engine rules. This site will acquaint you with the mainstream traffic building methods, which are less likely to change because of a seemingly arbitrary whim of a search engine or directory webmaster.

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    • STOP PRESS: UK Government Ecommerce Awards Winner!

    Robert Brady is responsible for the development and marketing of the website named as the best new ecommerce site in the UK for 2003!

    Stephen Timms the UK Minister of State for E-commerce said :

    "I am an enthusiastic supporter of compelling web content which can help drive our ambition of UK e-commerce leadership. I congratulate Robert Brady on his contribution to sites whose excellence has been recognised in the latest e-commerce awards."

    You are invited to a seminar and buffet lunch in Essex

    Please note that seminars are currently on hold due to other commitments.

    The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has launched a major campaign to get the UK online.

    Under this initiative Robert Brady, owner of TalkingTraffic.com, Highstreetcentral.com and ed-u.com has been invited to give a series of talks on e-business, traffic building and best practice.

    Hundreds of people have already attended these events and the first of a new series of talks was recently launched at the Foreign Press Association in Westminster.

    Consequently, the FPA event was commended in a speech to the Lord Mayor of London at the Mansion House, where over 200 guests attended a luncheon for the communications, publicity, advertising and media industry. The "Traffic Plus" seminars are currently taking place throughout Essex.

    The feedback from previous talks, where Robert revealed how anyone can also achieve dramatic rises in their web-site's traffic, was very encouraging:

  • "I was and still am, absolutely and utterly blown away by your knowledge, what you have achieved via the internet and the possibilities for other businesses.... I thank you for a highly informative and exciting talk, I came home amazed by the possibilities."
    Lorna Holmes
    Wagtails by Instinctively Cats and Dogs

  • "It really was an excellent seminar and the most useful I have attended on any Web based subject."
    Di Chapman
    Virtual Office Services

  • "I found what you said was excellent, as it put into context a lot of the snippets that I have picked up along the way, especially about the way search engines work. I noticed lots of nodding heads amongst the audience which is always a good thing."
    Mark Bannister
    The English National Opera

  • "That was absolutely excellent! I got a lot more out of it than I imagined."
    Sonia Ambrose
    Directconnections.co.uk

  • "I highly commend this seminar. It has already proven well worth while"
    Elton Hurrell - VB & Web Developer
    Merricks Solicitors

  • "That was really fascinating. I've been to many seminars and that was the best I've ever been to."
    Nick Briggs
    Sellandmove.com

  • "I'm gobsmacked, that was easily the most interesting seminar I've ever been to. I was truly fascinated by your knowledge!"
    Ian Vernon
    Creative Marketing Solutions

  • "Thank you for a powerful morning of tips and secrets on increasing web traffic. I think the mark of a good seminar is being able to hit the ground running with new things to try and different ways to arrive at solutions - Traffic Plus certainly got me going."
    Andrew C Westoby
    Seevic College

  • "Thank you very much indeed, the seminar was deemed a great success!"
    Margaret Frewer - Chairman
    The Publicity Club of London

  • "I enjoyed the participation and learning about the other delegates' sites. It will make me appraise my website and my whole way of doing business online. I'll be recommending your course to everyone I come across. Excellent all round."
    Karen Ainley
    Mosaic Publicity

  • "Had I not attended one of your seminars, I would not have the benefit of some very valuable knowledge. The internet is a complete minefield to most SMEs, and your passion, understanding and genuine concern for small to medium enterprises is both refreshing and rewarding. I would urge any SME who uses the internet in any shape or form to get themselves a meeting with Mr. Brady and his team."
    Gregory Baker
    Sofcomit IT Recruitment Solution Specialists

  • "An informative, inspiring and exciting talk by Robert Brady."
    Duncan Mansfield
    Mansfield Motors

  • "Absolutely brilliant!"
    David Anderson
    Global Films

    More

    So have a morning off and meet the many other people involved in e-business in the Essex area - you will be warmly welcomed.

    Please telephone Robert Brady to ask about "Traffic Plus", visit the Essex e-Commerce Centre, or email robert@talkingtraffic.com and type "Traffic Plus Seminar" in the subject line and we will let you know when the next event is scheduled.

    Contact Robert Brady:

     Green View
    Brook End Road North
    Chelmsford
    Essex, CM2 6NW
    Tel: 01245 465473
    Fax: 0870 1268111
    Map: Click here for map
    E-mail: robert@talkingtraffic.com
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