In a survey by CommerecNet/Nielson (July, 1997), WWW surfers were asked what method led them to most of the Web sites they visited. 71% used search engines; 9.8% asked friends and relatives; 8.5% used newspapers and magazines; 8.1% arrived from browsing or surfing around; 3.6% used TV and 3.3% used printed Internet directories. This is a generality and probably not accurate for Canine or Equine Web Sites. Let's take a look at some of these traditional and non traditional ways of getting traffic to your web site.

You may have heard the terms "traffic" or "hits"; this simply refers to the number of people that visit your web site. Most of you with web sites want to do what ever you can to increase your traffic because you want the maxim amount of exposure for your sale or breeding animals. In my personal experience there are several ways I find that helps increase your traffic, with simple things like making sure that you have the URL to your web site in your signature file for your e-mail. Also include the name of your farm or some short line indicating your have Dogs or Horses. If you are on any mailing lists besides your breeds, many people become curious and go visit you site. One of the women I know is on a cooking list and has had a large number of people visit her site because of her e-mail signature and then return to comment on the list, asking questions about the breed. If you don't belong to any news groups or lists I would suggest joining one where you have an interest or hobby, to get additional exposure from a new group of people.

Links, Links, Links, you can't have enough!!! I accidentally ran across a web site last week that belongs to one of the better-known breeders in the US. I had no idea this site existed and this is my business. One of the things I noticed about the site was that they only had links to a couple canine organizations with no links to any other breeders. There was no visible traffic counters on their pages so I have no idea what kind of traffic they get. I asked some of my doggie friends if they were aware of this web site; none were.

I believe that it is important to have our sites linked to other canine or equine sites. This gives all of us additional exposure to people that have an interest in our breed. It also gives us the opportunity to visit other dog related web sites and get to know other doggie or horsie people on the Internet. Always visit a site and if you want to link, write to the site owner and tell them you would like reciprocal links. After all, if you are going to have a link to their site, you want a link back to your site. Why advertise somebody else if they are not willing to support you in return?

Lets not stop with just canine or equine related sites but broaden our audience buy branching out with links to other types of sites also. The idea again is EXPOSURE. Here are some ideas as to the types of sites or groups you can have reciprocal links with: Hobbies, women in business, other animal related sites, specific business sites, educational sites, children sites, etc. I think that gives you a few ideas, and I'm sure once you start thinking about your other interests you can add many new ideas for reciprocal links to your site.

People love anything that is free. You could offer a free information packet about your breed or perhaps a monthly/quarterly (e-mail or snail mail) news letter with educational canine or equine information. Turn your imagination loose and see what types of giveaways you can think up. Some people have been very successful running a contest with an X number of winners. You could send Winner 1 a breed cap or t-shirt and then maybe some small items for other winners. A contest can be run monthly, quarterly or just about any time frame you desire. You can e-mail people notification that they won or you could post it on your web site which would require return visits to see if they had won. This tactic could be useful if you are updating the animals on your site on a regular basis.

Make sure to have your e-mail and web site address on all of your printed material such as business cards, stationary, flyers and in your printed advertising (such as magazines). With the large numbers of dogs and horses currently on the market, people are looking for new ways to attract a new market for their animals. Traditionally most people hand out business cards & brochures at shows, auctions and functions that are related to their breed. But what about those people that don't have the slightest idea what your breed is or that they are affordable?

Something I learned from a business seminar many years ago was how to use a business card. One of the suggestions was to leave your business card when paying for a meal in a restaurant. In those days there was no e-mail or web sites, just business information on the cards. Today with the WWW those cards can open up a whole new world to people unaware of our breed.

Lets go one step further: What do you think would happen if you toss your business card in the envelope when you pay a bill? Somebody opens those bills and I'll bet they are not used to seeing a animal business card with a web site they can visit. It's free advertising and who know what could happen! I remember Donald Trump wrote in one of his books something to the effect that you could have the greatest product or idea in the world but if nobody knows about it, it has no value.

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