Image by AK Foto

Every now and then you come across a blog post which grabs your attention. One which makes you think ‘what a great idea’, usually quickly followed by the thought ‘why didn’t I think about that?’

Here are three of those types of posts… posts which contain true originality, yet such simple ideas. I discovered two of them after they went hot on Sphinn, with the other one published on BlogStorm, a blog I follow regularly (incidentally it also went hot on Sphinn).

1) Generating Traffic through URL Search

First up is the most recent of the three - the ingenious idea of using URL search to drive thousands of visitors to your site.

When looking through your blog’s statistics you’ll often notice that people visit your blog through the keyword www.yourdomainname.com. A surprising number of people, mainly novice internet users, do this and as can you can imagine very popular sites receive a lot of visitors this way.

Over at BlogStorm they targeted the search phrase ‘www.direct.gov.uk/taxdisc’ using this web page and it currently brings in over 2,000 visitors a day.

If you’re selling CPM advertising this could be an excellent way of dramatically increasingly your page views in a short space of time. However, it’s probably best used to bring in targeted traffic from competitors or complementary sites.

What’s great about this idea is that anyone can do it. Domain names typed out in full have very little competition and often it’s possible to actually outrank smaller sites. Having tried this out I’ve found that the Google AdWords Keyword Tool is the best way to find frequently searched for domain names to target, but you can also try out Google Suggest.

2) Identifying & Investing in Parked Domains

Next up is a very clever way of using the Google content network to identify domain names worth puchasing.

Using Google Adwords you can advertise on up to 3 channels:

• The Google Search Network - the most familiar option
• Search Partners Network - search partners and Google’s “trusted partners”
• The Google Content Network - websites which run Google AdSense

This idea focuses on the Google Content Network. Simply set up conversion tracking, go to the “Placement Performance Report” and take a look at where your conversions are coming from.

Google, as its so good at, gives such detailed information that you can see which domain names are converting the most visitors into sales.

How does this help? Within those domain names will be a number of parked domains. These domains receive traffic through mistypes or links around the web, perhaps from a previous existence.

Simply use the Placement Performance Report to identify which parked domains are converting well, assess how cost effective it would be to purchase the domain, and make the owner an offer. Owners of parked domains are almost always willing to sell at the right price.

The effect of purchasing a few high conversion domain names can be dramatic. Not only do you know that these are high converting sites, but after purchasing them your site is no longer competing with all the other sites that were advertising via AdSense. Your conversion rate should soar even further and the links that the domain has across the web will help to enhance your organic search engines rankings.

It’s a great idea and illustrates how the different areas of online marketing work work together… PPC and conversion analysis leads to cost-effectiveness and SEO benefits.

3) Using Customers as a Source of Links

Where can you get links from? Many extremely helpful lists have been published - 101 ideas from Aaron Wall and another 50 link building ideas here - but one avenue has always been missing… until SEOmoz’s “headsmacking” tip about putting link requests in order confirmation emails.

If you could pick the characteristics of someone who would be likely to link to you they would:

• Think that your site is useful
• Actually use your site themselves
• Have had previous communication with you
• Be interested in the same things as you

Your customers have all those characteristics! They’ve purchased from you, have probably contacted you in some way, and have a keen interest in what you do. In many ways they are the perfect source of links

Therefore why not ask for a link in your order confirmation emails? Sure, not every customer is going to add your link but some may… and as the example on SEOmoz says - “Every link helps!”

But you don’t have to stop at order confirmation forms. Other ideas include:

- Incentives - you could offer customers 10% off their next order if they add your link to their site or blog. Or go one step further and offer an even greater discount for those that review your site.

- Email Newsletter - stuck for what to write about in your next newsletter? Why not ask for a link in your newsletter, perhaps straight after you’ve discussed your site’s latest news and developments.

- Mutual Benefit - you could offer to give everyone who writes a review of your site a mention on your blog. It does reduce the effectiveness of the links by effectively making them reciprocal links but if you have your company blog on a different domain name this idea could be worth considering.

- Competitions - offer a prize for the best review or simply reward one customer each month who has a link pointing towards your site.

When you dig a little deeper there’s a huge amount of potential when it comes to involving your customers in the link building process.

There you have it. Three blog post blockbusters… incredibly simple yet highly original and creative ideas. What great blog posts have you read recently? Feel free to give them a mention in the comments below…

_____

Don’t miss a post in 2008, subscribe to receive PiggyBankPie’s articles by Email. Using an RSS reader? Subscribe to our Full RSS Feed.

Related Posts:

Marketing on Facebook

10 Paid To Blog Programs at a Glance

Ever Stumbled Your Own Post?