Here’s a practical post: 50 ways to get poker traffic to your poker website. Some of these you’ve probably already thought of. Some of them might be new to you. All of them work. And all of them are better than creating a single article then using some bogus software to rewrite it 1000 times, which is one of the looniest SEO strategies I’ve ever heard of. (I’ll write more about the folly of that approach very soon.)

Anyway, here are the 50 ways to get poker traffic to your poker site.

1. Post on forums and include your link in your sig (if that’s allowed). This is an old traffic getting trick, but it still works great. But don’t be a spammer. The trick to not being a spammer is to add value. Don’t post just to post; write thoughtful, informative posts that help other people. That’s the only reason someone would click on your link anyway; forum members don’t click on signature links of people who post crap like, “Me too.” constantly.
2. Post on forums about subjects you know your content ranks for. Suppose I have a site that ranks really well for “tight aggressive poker”. If I talk about that phrase in forum discussions and blog comments, then more people will search for that phrase in Google or Yahoo, and I’ll get more traffic. And if I mention the Google results or the Yahoo results for “tight aggressive poker”, then curious people will be even more likely to find my content by searching. This works great in forums which don’t allow you to use signature links.
3. Create query spaces and keyword phrases that no one else is targeting and create buzz around them. I don’t think very many people were targeting the phrase “poker seo” before Steve Badger and I launched our sites about the subject. But now the phrase gets a reasonable amount of traffic. I expect the phrase to continue to increase in popularity over time, especially as I continue to write about “poker seo” and other people do too.
4. Write more content. More content means you’ve got more opportunities to rank in the search engines. If you target 3 phrases per phrase, and you write 100 pages, then that’s 300 phrases you might rank for. But if you write 1000 pages with 3 phrases on each of them, then you’ve got 3000 opportunities. Who do you think is going to get more traffic in that situation? And that’s just a small part of why you should want to publish more content.
5. Get a better domain name. If your domain name is easier to remember, you’ll get more return traffic. And if it’s a type-in level quality domain, you’ll get traffic for no other reason than you have a great domain. Even good quality top level .org’s and .net’s can be traffic increasers.
6. Send out a weekly newsletter via email. People who read your newsletter will come to see your new content, especially if you mention that new content in your email. Getting return traffic is just as valuable as getting brand new traffic via search engine referrals.
7. Send out a weekly or monthly newsletter via regular mail. This will help you generate more return traffic too. And some customers don’t read your email newsletter, and they might read your paper newsletter.
8. Have a contest, and be sure that the potential winners are people who might send you traffic. I held a contest recently for poker writers to write a poker strategy article. Several high-profile people linked to the contest announcement, including Iggy. Getting a link to your contest from someone like Iggy WILL generate traffic. And your contest gives you an excuse to write and distribute a press release.
9. Host a real live poker tournament somewhere. Check to see what’s legal and what’s illegal where you live. But if you spend a little bit of money hosting a real live poker tournament, then you can generate some serious traffic from people who play in the tournament. Just be sure you have cool stuff like your domain name written on the tables, the chips, and the dealers’ t-shirts.
10. Target more keyword phrases per page. There’s no reason to target only 2 or 3 phrases per page. You could theoretically target 100 phrases or more on a given phrase. You just need to think really hard about how to phrase your content. “Texas holdem strategy” is a great phrase, but there’s no reason your page couldn’t also rank for “Texas holdem strategies”, and “Texas holdem tactics”. Heck, why not try to rank for “best Texas holdem strategy” and “worst Texas holdem strategy” too? A little bit of thought about adjectives should provide you with even more phrases: “new Texas holdem strategies”, “easy Texas holdem strategies”, “effective Texas holdem strategies”, “common Texas holdem strategies”, “strong Texas holdem strategies”, etc, etc.
11. Post comments on poker blogs. Even if they nofollow their comments, you can see traffic. Follow the same strategies I mentioned in the earlier step about participating in forums. Be helpful. Mention phrases that you know you rank for. Use your site’s name as your handle, or heck, use your own name, and make sure your website ranks well for your name.
12. Launch a minisite or a network of minisites designed to send traffic to your main site. I don’t believe in launching a site unless there’s a reason to launch it. But sometimes when I get interested in a subject, I find myself coming up with lots of ideas for content. I could launch a minisite or two in order to support this site, in fact. I could launch a site about poker linkbuilding strategies using social media, for examplel, and write 10 or 20 pages. I could then use that minisite to promote my main poker SEO site. If you have a Texas holdem website, you could launch a website about a smaller Texas holdem variation, like Pineapple holdem, in order to support your main site.
13. Write better quality content. If your content sucks, no one will ever return to your site, and that’s a real waste. And if your content sucks, no one who matters will talk about you or link to you either. That’s a lot of traffic to turn down. Sometimes writing better content just means being more detailed than anyone else has ever been on a particular subject. There have been some great articles written about how to play pocket aces preflop. But you could write a better article on that topic by being even more detailed and broad. Look at what other people have written, and comment on it in your article about pocket aces.
14. Trade links with sites who get lots of traffic. You can improve your SERP’s a little bit sometimes by trading links with low-traffic sites. In fact, if a site is new, you can help that site develope a traffic stream and a following. But nothing beats getting traffic from a site that gets a lot of traffic.
15. Make it easy to bookmark your site. There are scripts which you can use for this, and you can include a call to action on your pages about bookmarking your site. In fact, I’d like to ask you to bookmark this site now by hitting ctrl-D on your keyboard. And also, bookmark this site in Delicious too, if you don’t mind.
16. Have a content publishing schedule that’s consistent. People will check in with you every day or every week if they know there’s going to be something new and interesting to read on your site. I visit Michael Martinez’s two SEO blogs every single day during the week, because I know that for the most part there is always going to be something new and interesting to read there. You get bonus points here for telling people what your publishing schedule is. (That way they’ll know when to come back.)
17. Be controversial. You don’t have to try too hard to be controversial. If you’re opinionated, then a lot of times you’ll be controversial without even trying. Sometimes you can make a funny or outrageous claim too. If I wrote a lengthy post about why I’m a better poker player than Daniel Negreanu, it would be controversial. That would generate links and visitors.
18. Offer a free report. If the free report is good, then word will get around, and people will come to your site to get their copy of the free report. And if you include the phrase “free report” in your metatitle and metadescription, some people will click through to your SERP listings who might not otherwise click through.
19. Do more keyword research. I guarantee you’re not targeting enough long tail keyword phrases. Research, brainstorm, then research and brainstorm some more. But keep in mind that if you don’t create content around the keyword phrases you’ve researched, your efforts will have been for nought.
20. Get listed in some directories. Directory listings will still help your search engine rankings, if they’re good directories. I like JoeAnt, GoGuides, and Best of the Web, among others.
21. Distribute content to other websites. There are lots of ways to do this, but I prefer the contact a webmaster directly approach. Most new webmasters are really open to getting content from a respected and established expert, so those are often good places to start. And as the new webmasters grow their businesses, the links from their sites will become even more valuable. Other strategies, like submitting content to Ezinearticles, are less effective, but they still drive visitors.
22. Send traffic to new websites with good content. If you link to new websites with good content, they will be a lot more likely to link back than an old site like Poker Listings will. Your approach should be long-term, and if you can help 2 or 3 other webmasters become successful, the dividends you’ll receive longterm will be amazing.
23. Host a radio show. This is just one more way to make your website sticky and keep people coming back. And if you’re hosting a forum and/or blog, people will discuss what you talked about on the radio show. Just be sure to have a consistent on-air schedule.
24. Build a brand. You don’t have to become the next Coca-cola to have a brand. I have a brand name. It’s “Randy Ray”. I have friends (like Steve Badger and Jeremy Enke) who also have made their names into brands. And ranking for your own name in the SERP’s is usually pretty easy. And a brand name makes a great “handle” for participating in forum discussions and blog comments.
25. Review books on Amazon. See my last point. When you have a brand name, you can use it as your handle at Amazon and write reviews. If your book reviews are interesting, then people will search for you on the Internet. And if you’ve done a halfway decent job of SEO’ing your site, then you’ll get search engine traffic as a spillover.
26. Answer questions at Yahoo Answers. This strategy works the same as the reviewing books on Amazon strategy, or the participating in forums strategy. You will get visitors to your site if you answer people’s questins on Yahoo. I was able to get “best answer” 1 out of 3 times when I was answering questions there on a regular basis. You’ll also get lots of cool ideas for new content on your website by hanging around there.
27. Publish list-based content. People love to read lists. People love to link to lists. List based content is terrific for getting lots of visitors.
28. Write really long content. The more content on a page, the more phrases it can possibly rank for. It’s simple. Really long content has more words, and if you write well, then you’re going to use lots of different words on your page. And a lot of searchers use really long phrases that you’d never imagine. Your chances of catching some of that traffic double if you publish a 1000 word article instead of a 500 word article.
29. Use social media, especially delicious and Stumble. You’ll get traffic, but more importantly, lots of bloggers use these sources to find stuff to write about. And when people start writing about you, you’ll get more links and more traffic.
30. Use sexy photos. People like to look at sexy photos. They like to click on sexy ads. If they didn’t, there wouldn’t be so many of them on the Internet.
31. Make friends. Participating in communities is what the Internet is all about. Even if you don’t participate in forums, and even if you don’t comment on blogs, and even if you run the simplest, most basic website on earth, you can still make friends online. All you have to do is talk about people and what they’re doing. They’ll notice, and some of them will contact you. If you’re helpful and friendly, then they’ll become your friends.
32. Focus on a tiny niche in an obsessive way. Launching a one page website about Annie Duke isn’t going to get me a lot of attention. Even launching a ten page website about Annie Duke won’t generate a lot of attention. But if I write a 100 page website about Annie Duke, and I update it 5 days a week with fresh content, then people are going to notice. Heck, Annie Duke will probably notice. And when people notice your content, they start talking about you, and you get traffic.
33. Write about lots of different topics. This is the opposite of the tiny niche in an obsessive way, but it works too. Especially if you’re good at keyword research and SEO. Really, this shouldn’t even be a list item, since it’s basically just another way of saying, “Write more content.”
34. Have a fast-loading site. People won’t stick around and wait for your site to load. Search engines don’t like to index slow-loading pages either. And no one’s going to link to a site that was so slow loading that they hit the “back” key before the page loaded.
35. Host a forum. People will be able to communicate with you, and that will keep them coming back. And if people are having conversations with you on your forum, you’re publishing more content without even trying hard. Your users are generating content for you.
36. Host a blog. One of the easiest ways to have a consistent publishing schedule is to blog every day. And if you let people comment, they’ll have a reason to come back to your site every day, too. Because they’re involved in a conversation, and they want to read your answers to their content.
37. Network. Showing up at some of the poker webmaster events can generate link deals and cross-promotional deals which will generate traffic to your site. But you can network in other settings too. Join the Amateur Poker League and carry business cards with you to their events. Wear a hat with your website address when you play poker at the local cardroom. Just get around people and be yourself. People will want to find out more about your website if they know you and know you have a site.
38. Donate to charity. This can generate links and publicity for your site in multiple ways. You’ll get supporters and fans who link to you and visit your site.
39. Teach a class. Most areas have some kind of “Fun Ed” or community college type organization who are looking for people to teach classes to the community. If you’re good at poker, then conduct a monthly or weekly class on the subject. If you know how to make money as a poker affiliate, teach a class on that subject. Just be sure to use the opportunity to mention your website. And phrases that your website ranks for.
40. Write a book. You can self-publish a book and attract a whole other kind of audience. This is just one more way to build a brand and get people to notice you and talk about you.
41. Offer free poker coaching. Heck, it doesn’t even have to be free. Offering poker coaching is another visibility strategy that will help you build your brand.
42. Advertise. There are still places online which allow people to advertise their poker portals.
43. Be somebody. In other words, don’t be anonymous. Even if you use a pen name of some kind, you want to build an identity as an actual personality. Otherwise your site is just another generic poker site. And who’s going to link to or visit “just another generic poker site”?
44. Ask people to link to you and send you traffic. If you don’t ask them, they won’t do it. I’m asking you, right now, please. Won’t you link to my site about poker SEO? Please? I write as hard as I can, all the time, and all I ask in return is that you tell people about me…
45. Reply to emails. Obviously you don’t want to reply to all the spam you get, but if you get an email from a webmaster who has potential, then reply. And if a visitor to your site has a question, then take the opportunity to interact with her. Nothing trumps relationships on the Internet, and some of them get started with a single random email.
46. Give away free t-shirts. Shoemoney has an ongoing thing with his t-shirts. It’s a great branding strategy. And he posts pictures of people wearing his t-shirts. I’m sure a lot of them visit his site just to see their pictures get posted. (I’ll be launching PokerSEO.org t-shirts next month, so stay tuned.)
47. Have an opinion. Even if you’re wrong, you should express your opinions. People on the Internet who hate your opinions will still visit your site.
48. Write more content. I know I’m repeating myself here, but the fact is that there is no single better, more cost-effective way of getting poker traffic that writing content. Write, write, write. Write content until you can’t stand it anymore.
49. Hire people to write more content for you. It’s hard to find good poker writers to hire. Try anyway, if you can afford it. You can only generate 15,000 words a week on your own for so long. And if you’re writing much more than that, it might not be very good content.
50. Translate your content into other languages. If people love your content in English, then they’ll love it in French, German, and Italian too. And needless to say, having your content translated into other languages targets a whole new set of keyword phrases in the search engines. And a lot of times, even really competitive keyword phrases are less competitive in another language.

Some of those (all of them, probably) are old news to most of my readers, but maybe these 50 ways to get poker traffic will help someone somewhere get rich. If so, remember me.

I appreciate thoughtful comments, and I also appreciate it when people link to stuff ‘ve written.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 5th, 2009 at 1:58 am and is filed under Google, Poker Blog SEO, Poker Content, Poker Forum SEO, Poker Keyword Research, Poker Link Building, PPC, Uncategorized, Yahoo . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.