Okay, guys, its hard-core traffic time.
We’re going to peel back all the layers, and get down to the naked truth about how to get more of it.
And not just any old traffic – I’m talking about traffic that converts.
Because let’s face it – if you just want to get traffic, it’s not that hard.
But relevant, targeted traffic – also known as “real live people who are interested in what you have to offer” – is a little harder to come by.
So let’s talk about how to get that traffic.
It starts by getting naked… 
Nothing Gets Attention Like SEXY
If you want traffic, the first thing you’ve got to do is get attention.
If no one sees you, or knows about you, then they’re not going to be able to get to your website and start consuming your content, right?
Of course – you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t know that.
You also already know that the first steps to getting attention online are your headlines.
Whether for an email, a blog post, a tweet or an ad – your headline is your first impression, and it’s got to be good.
More than that – it’s got to be sexy.
I don’t necessarily mean “about sex”, but definitely sexy.
Sexy, in this context, means something that resonates strongly with your ideal reader.
Something that affects them powerfully enough and in such a way that they just HAVE to click on your link and read your content.
Making Headlines Sexy
So how do you make headlines sexy?
Sean D’Souza has a great checklist that you can use as a starting point for tweaking your headlines:
- make sure it’s question-based (rather than answer-based),
- make sure it’s problem-focused (rather than solution-focused),
- and make sure that it evokes curiosity.
But that’s not enough, is it?
I mean, sure, you want to ask questions about problems that evoke curiosity, but what should you focus on?
The answer is in Mark Hughes’ Six Buttons of Buzz (which I’ve mentioned on this blog in a previous post).
Let’s explore what each of these buttons are and how to use them:
- The Taboo (sex, lies, bathroom humor) – This is anything that goes a little beyond what people are generally comfortable with, and almost always generates interest and conversation. “Santorum Surges From Behind.” Google “Santorum” and read the first result, if you dare.
- The Unusual – “Six Headed Snake Found in Montreal!” You’d click it. You know you would.
- The Outrageous – Anything shocking that doesn’t fit into the taboo category. Think of the last news story that really surprised, but didn’t offend you. “Youth Today Expect a Lower Quality of Life than Their Parents.”
- The Hilarious – Humor is different for everyone, but when you read something funny you know it.
- The Remarkable – If it makes you say: Wow! Amazing! Fascinating! It’s remarkable. “Scientists Discover Signs of Life on Mars.”
- Secrets (both kept and revealed) – “12 Real Estate Secrets your Agent DOESN’T want you to know!” There’s an irresistible desire to know what someone doesn’t want you to know, isn’t there?
If you hit these buttons, your headline will be truly sexy in the most important sense of the word.
But being sexy, unfortunately, isn’t enough.
If a headline is just sexy, like: “12 Real Estate Secrets your Agent DOESN’T want you to know!”, but doesn’t deliver on what it promises – only ten secrets, the secrets are basic, general knowledge, then your reader is going to be pissed off at you.
They’ll leave and never come back.
No, your work has to be more than just sexy…
Naked Is More Than Just Sexy
Naked is sexy, of course, but it’s also desirable.
It’s something that you want to keep looking at and thinking about for an extended period of time.
Think of the headline as the first impression, or the opening line of a conversation.
No matter how good that line might be, there’s still the rest of the conversation that has to be good, too!
That’s where writing truly awesome content comes into the picture.
If you’ve promised a spectacular post through your headline, people will take a look.
But if the content is amazing, they’ll do more than just look.
They’ll read, stay, and immerse themselves in your work.
And hopefully, they’ll do even more than that.
They’ll also click, consume content and hopefully, begin a real conversation that can lead to so much more…
Then You Make Your Move
No matter how good your headlines and content are, you won’t get a conversion without making your move, which means asking them to take the action that you want them to take!
Yup, that’s right.
Without an explicit call to action and offer, nothing is going to happen, no matter how much desire you created!
Exactly what action you request is important too.
It has to be on par, value wise, with what you’re offering in exchange for that action.
But that’s fine, because once you deliver on your promise, you can ask them for another commitment, and this time you can ask for a little bit more.
You’ve already started this process of commitment and reward.
- By writing a great headline, you’re implicitly asking for the action of clicking on it.
- Then you reward that action by providing an amazing piece of content.
- Then you continue the cycle and ramp it up.
If you want someone to subscribe to your mailing list, that’s a pretty big commitment, so you’ve got to promise something hugely valuable in exchange, and you’ve got to be able to deliver on that promise.
This cycle never ends, and the more you work through it, the bigger and better your conversions will be.
Want an example?
Here’s a real live one for you:
- I wrote a headline that grabbed your curiosity and interest – a headline that you found sexy.
- You clicked on the link, and read my post, which I hope you’ve enjoyed and found valuable.
- Now, I want to kick our relationship up a notch, so I’m inviting you to download my brand new Naked Marketing Manifesto, which teaches all of these steps in detail – all for free, without even having to opt-in to get it.
- Once you download the manifesto, you’ll see that it’s awesome, and that I’ve got all kinds of bonuses in store for you.
- And the cycle continues…
The key, of course, is to deliver spectacular value at every turn.
If you do that and make it sexy, then the rest will take care of itself.
What do you think? Does this make sense to you?
Leave a comment and let me know!
Danny Iny
Danny Iny (@DannyIny) is the co-founder of Firepole Marketing, the “Freddy Krueger of Blogging”, and the co-author (with Guy Kawasaki, Brian Clark, and many others) of Engagement from Scratch! (available on Amazon, or as a free download). The latest and greatest thing you can get from him (for free, of course) is his Naked Marketing Manifesto, about marketing that really works!
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