Attracting more traffic is what leads to higher sales, so increased traffic is good, right? Well...only if it's the kind of traffic that's fairly likely to buy your work! There are two common mistakes that people make (I've made them both!) when they first get started trying to promote their website: joining Free For All sites (FFA) and expecting to make sales by posting on discussion boards. We can now add posting comments to blogs in this category too.
Some FFA sites are free to join, others will cost you. All are useless. Your site will be posted to hundreds or thousands of useless non-indexed sites, your email will be deluged with spam offers for body part enhancement, and your life will become a living hell for awhile until you fall back off the radar.
Posting to discussion boards and blogs is a great way to introduce yourself to the bead and jewelry community, and those of us who write or manage them LOVE to have your input...we really really do. But just remember that you're kind of preaching to the choir, so to speak. Most of the folks who hang out on forum boards are beadmakers and jewelers themselves, not the most likely crowd to buy your jewelry. But they are GREAT places to meet and network with people in the business, to build your reputation, and to learn. They are also wonderful places to share your knowledge with others, simply because it's a nice thing to do, and others are willing to do that for you!
So, to attract good quality traffic, definitely become part of the community, get involved in blogging, discussion boards, and other social media. Write articles. Teach. Put your website and blog URL on every email you send and every piece of paper you hand out. Make sure you've got good keywords in the descriptive text on your site. Trade links with others (but don't become a link farm!).
In most cases, save your money.
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