Contests

I briefly mention contests a little earlier in this chapter. I bring them up here
because contests are a great way to bring traffic to your Web site. Everyone
loves a good contest, especially when the prizes are neat.
Deciding what the prizes are for your contest is very important. Think of
what appeals to people who would be interested in your site. I mention earlier
in the chapter that if your site’s about music, giving away copies of War
and Peace just won’t cut it because such a contest wouldn’t target the specific
people that you want to see your site.
When you’re considering the prizes that you should give away, consider what
type of prize would draw the kind of person that would be interested in your
site. If the purpose of the contest is to draw visitors to your site, the wrong
prizes won’t help you at all.
Devising the type of contest to have is the next step. What is it people need
to do to get the prize? One thing that many Web site owners do is require
that users register for a newsletter, and then the winner is drawn from those
who signed up for the newsletter. Bloggers often run contests where visitors
are required to leave a comment on the blog.
After you create your contest, all you have to do is get the word out.
Announce the contest on your Web site, blog, and any mailing lists that you
have. Tell your friends and ask them to tell their friends. If the contest’s
good, word gets around quickly.
You’ll see a spike in the amount of traffic that you have to your site during
the contest period, but if you conduct it right, an overall increase will remain
after the contest is over. Take the time to design your contest to meet the
specific goal of creating traffic (especially return traffic) to your site, and
you’ll see the benefits of this strategy the first time you try it.