Websites that provide original content, which is updated regularly, has always been a good strategy for seo. The announcement of Googles Panda Update, which penalizes link farms or low quality websites, creates an opportunity for quality sites and blogs, like yours, to move up the rankings!
One time tested and proven method for driving traffic to websites is the very much alive and active email newsletter. It may feel incongruous to use email to drive website traffic, after all, with an email, you may feel as if you are delivering the news right to their door, why the need to come to your house? In reality, pushing information out, pulls people back in to your site. Popular blogger, and Search Engine People contributor, Don Campbell reported that 1/3 of his sites traffic comes from his newsletter!
Lets explore
With an email service such as AWeber you can publish an excerpt of your blog to readers via email, with a link to the remainder of the article on your website. This is a great way to send readers deeper into your site, giving your internal pages exposure and credibility with the search engines.
The primarily free service, Mail Chimp, allows you to archive your newsletters, storing them on your website for long term reference and seo food. Mail Chimp also as an amazing feature called Pyow!, which makes it easy to create QR coupon codes and send them to your subscribers. Engaging your audience in this way helps insure your site wont be a One-Visit Wonder with readers or search engines.
Message Sherpa, is a unique blend of content management system / newsletter service. We all understand that CMS is a powerful collaboration platform. By using Message Sherpas CMS based platform everyone in your organization has the ability to post content directly into Team library. This is appealing for those of us who may not want to write every piece in the newsletter, or for franchise owners who share much of the same information, yet want to brand the newsletter with their local business details and specials. Message Sherpa also allows for the integration of YouTube videos within the newsletter.
Which brings me to another terrific reason for email newsletters " sending your readers to your social networks. A piece of communication in an inbox may gain you a Like on Facebook, or a Tweet, or views on YouTube, thus bolstering your connections, spreading your message, and yup " visits to your website! More likes, tweets, and views gives your site more credibility (which was also sited in the Panda update as a bonus chit for seo rankings)!
With all of the email services you have the ability to customize the newsletter content, import RSS feeds and segment your mailing list. Remember to customize your newsletter with the same color scheme and header as your website, building your brand identity.