WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
In this lesson you will learn how to
analyze Internet Traffic. You will be reminded that Internet traffic consists
of human beings with desires and interests and goals of their own. You will
learn how to get into the "flow" of Internet traffic using value and
ease of use, combined with effective traffic building strategies.
IT'S LIKE WATER
Think of what we know about early
humans and how they migrated and settled. Water is a basic human need. If early
man did not live close to water, then he had to bargain for it from others who
transported the water into his area. People who did not live close to water had
to have several vessels to store what water they could get their hands on. The
consequence was that people who settled far from any river or stream had to
spend a great deal of their time and resources trying to obtain and store water
-- and they never really had more than just enough to get by. On the other
hand, people who settled near a large river or stream could freely dip out all
the water they needed in abundance. When it came to water, positioning was
everything. Any map will show that large successful settlements are usually
close to free flowing water.
Analogies have been made between
money and water. It has been suggested that if you position yourself where
money freely flows, you will obtain a lot more of it with less effort than if
you position yourself in some remote location relative to the "money
stream". The analogy to water is equally useful when applied to Internet
traffic.
ANALYZING INTERNET TRAFFIC
MARKETING FORCES IN HARDWARE AND
SOFTWARE
Similar to how the forces of nature
and history determined where rivers flow across the earth's surface, the
history and forces of the Internet have shaped how Internet traffic flows
across the wires and ether. For the most part, people make their initial
connection to Cyberspace in one of two fashions: they either dial in from home
or work, or they connect through a network at work. In order to do this, they
have to have software that creates a TCP/IP socket. To view the World Wide Web,
they also need software called an Internet browser. That socket and that
browser are the first opportunities for anyone to get their attention in
Cyberspace. Some socket software allows for ads to be shown as the Internet
connection is established.
Browsers have three features that
control Internet traffic. Those three features are "Home Page",
"Favorites" or "Bookmarks," and "History." The
Home Page is all important. That is the first page you see when you open your
browser. You see this page over and over on a daily basis. Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) provide their subscribers software which sets the ISP's page
as the subscribers' home page and even sets some of their favorites. Even
though many subscribers may eventually change their home page, ISPs, by their
very nature, have a natural tap into much of the Internet's traffic. ISPs that
provide an expansive and encyclopedic digital environment along with their
access, such as AOL, really have a tap into the traffic. Software companies
that make browsers (and there are really only two players here - Microsoft and
Netscape) can have pre-set bookmarks and favorites. Operating systems can
control consumers' choices of an ISP by having software built into the
operating system. (Sometimes it seems like there is a battle for your attention
going on inside your computer when various software packages pop up and ask to
be made the "default" software.) The fairness of this type of
competition has been the subject of a major antitrust action by the Justice
Department against Microsoft.
The History feature of a browser, on
the other hand, just makes it more likely that you will return to a page once
you have been there before. This, in addition to the other features, makes it
more likely that pages with traffic will gain even more traffic.
Other types of software-based online
marketing include software that resides on your screen independent of a Web
browser and displays ads while you surf. You are paid or otherwise rewarded for
the time you spend using this software. An example is AllAdvantage.
THE ROLE OF CONSUMER CHOICE
Once a user gets beyond these
built-in features vying for his or her attention, it becomes more a matter of
choice. The Internet user can type in a URL and go to Web pages that have come
to the user's attention through word of mouth or some other media. From there,
the user is likely to follow links to other similar pages. As memories may
fail, typing errors may occur and links may be outdated; this process only
takes the user so far. The next thing a user looks for on the Web is a way to
directly find things of interest to him or her. Search engines fulfill that function
and have been the most popular sites on the Web. Yahoo! was the original Web
search engine and thus, by mere force of history, has been one of the most
popular sites on the Web. As a general rule, search engines and the large
digital environments of the media companies (such as AOL, Go.com, MSNBC, etc.)
maintain the top traffic rankings. Because search engines exist, the choice and
interests of the user are a strong factor, dispersing Internet traffic
according to demographics. That is, unlike the traditional broadcast media,
traffic branches off to different sites according to people's interests.
UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE
Stephani Richardson, the
administrator of the SFI Discussion Board and one of the most successful
affiliates in SFI, advises that you put yourself in the position of the persons
you are trying to recruit. Think from their perspective rather than your own.
This, of course, is excellent advice! People on the Web are looking for
content. They seek information applicable to themselves. To be a successful
Internet marketer, you must take time to think about how people use the
Internet.
When staring at their Web browser,
people have these choices: They can type in a URL that someone told them about,
they can read their home page and follow links from it, they can look at a page
in their history or in their favorites, they can go to one of the very popular
sites and follow links, or they can go to a search engine and follow links or
compose a search phrase.
In order to be the target of a link
or be listed in a search engine, you must have a Web presence.
TWO IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES FOR YOUR WEB PRESENCE: VALUE AND
FLOW
The first principle illuminating how
people use the Web is that it takes value for a Website to be
"sticky." A 1998 article in Science magazine stated that Web surfers
are constantly making a judgment about continuing to visit a Website or exiting
the site. Two factors come into play: the value of the current page and the
promise of value in future site pages. That is, even if the current page has a
low perceived value, if there is an indication that the quality of pages may
improve, users will stay on the site for another page or two more. But if there
is no value, they will leave the site very quickly. This is why we hear so
often that "content is king." When they leave for lack of value, they
are never coming back.
The second principle is that there
must be a balance between the difficulty of using a Website and the rewards the
user obtains from the Website. The term "flow" has been used to
describe what occurs when a user loses himself in a Website. Flow occurs when
the user becomes so absorbed that time and task temporarily become unimportant.
Whatever the user started out to do online gets temporarily forgotten while
they enjoy your site. When flow occurs, direction, inhibitions, and caution
give way to impulse, and the user is much more likely to join or buy something
promoted on the site. The site must be both interesting and easy to navigate
for this to occur.
Flow is also a concept that applies
to movement from one Website to another. Banners or textual links must be in
context and create a smooth transition from one site to another to be
effective. Otherwise, the flow is broken and interest is lost.
TRAFFIC BUILDING
Once you have planned a Website that
has value and creates flow, you need to direct traffic to your site. The four
important goals of traffic building are: 1) obtaining the right domain name, 2)
obtaining good publicity, 3) obtaining an effective portal presence, and 4)
utilizing and maintaining flow in the placement of your Internet ads. Ads, of
course, can be free, exchanged, or paid. All of these will be discussed in
detail in future lessons.
CONCLUSION
To be an effective Internet
marketer, you need to analyze and understand Internet traffic and, very
importantly, you must understand that the "traffic" consists of human
beings with feelings and interests and desires. You must understand that they
are looking for what they want to find - not what you want them to find. You
must understand that they will get there through their methods - not the
methods you may prefer for them to use. The old broadcast media methods of
controlling attention do not work so well on the Internet. It's a new game. You
must use valuable content and ease of use to create flow. You must properly
position your site within the flow of Internet traffic. Once you get this right
(and you will), you are on the road to becoming a very successful Internet
entrepreneur.
WHAT'S COMING NEXT
In previous lessons, we have
introduced you to Spam
and the exciting potential of Internet income. In this lesson, we introduced you to
Internet traffic patterns. With this foundation laid, our next lesson will
address some nuts and bolts to get you started right away with Internet
marketing. We will list the ten most common Internet marketing methods and give
you a brief overview of the first five. We will point you to resources to help
you get started immediately on this exciting and profitable venture.
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