Are you trying to figure out how to drive traffic to your site? Read this article to learn more about getting visitors to your website.
You have a great idea and the perfect business plan. You’ve built your website but no one is coming!
With almost 200 million active websites on the internet, you’ve got to do more than build your website. You need an action plan for driving serious traffic to your site.
How to drive traffic to your site?
There are proven ways of generating website traffic and many of them are free! Read on for tips to increase traffic to your website.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
You’ve heard this before and it bears repeating, SEO is key when it comes to internet searches. If you don’t understand SEO basics, you’re missing out.
Search engines like Google “crawl” your website’s content looking for relevant information. Optimizing your website ranks you higher on Google’s list of sites for your niche or industry.
Use keywords across your site relating to your business. What words do people use when searching for your type of site?
Use these words throughout the site in a natural manner, avoiding obvious overuse of the words. Google has free tools that help you find the best keywords for your website content.
Use title tags, meta descriptions, alt-text for all your images. These all help with generating website traffic.
Start a Blog
If you don’t have a blog, it’s time to start one. Posting regular content keeps your website fresh and updated.
Use your blog to give your visitors valuable, relevant content. Are you a plumber? Write a blog post about unclogging a sink or toilet.
Users appreciate free valuable information. Offering this type of information establishes your authority and develops trust with your audience. When it’s time to hire a plumber, they’ll think of you first.
No matter what your niche, find topics that interest your audience and draw their attention. Use keywords throughout your posts but don’t overuse them.
Looking for post ideas?
Head over to Reddit or Quora and see what questions people have about your industry. Write posts that answer those questions.
Mobile-Friendly
About 80% of adults use smartphones. If your site doesn’t look good on a mobile device, you’re missing out on a lot of potential website traffic.
Make sure your site looks good and is easy to use from a smartphone. If a smartphone user lands on your website and can’t use it, they’ll go somewhere else.
Use Social Media
Which social media platforms do your potential clients use? Make sure you’re on those platforms!
Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are powerful platforms for generating website traffic. Did you write and post to your blog today? Make sure you post links to your social media platforms.
Don’t forget LinkedIn when posting links to your website and blog.
Use relevant hashtags in all your social media posts. This drives traffic to your social media posts which drives traffic to your website.
Free Offers
Free offers and giveaways are a great way to drive traffic to your website. Write a short ebook and offer a free download in exchange for the visitor’s email address.
Free offers help you build a big email list which leads us to the next point…
Don’t Forget Email Marketing
Once you’ve built an email list, it’s time for some email marketing. A weekly or monthly newsletter is a good start.
Send coupons, announce sales, and hold contests through your newsletter. Always link back to your blog and end with a call to action, such as, “visit the site for more information.”
The newsletter is another place to offer potential clients valuable information and establish yourself as an authority.
Engage with Your Audience
Visit Facebook pages where potential customers post and comment. By commenting on other social media posts and answering questions, you’ll increase traffic to your site.
Be sure and engage in a natural and sincere manner and avoid posting a link to your site in your comments. If people like your comments, they’ll seek out your site. Choose quality over quantity when leaving comments.
Paid Advertising
You can advertise a free giveaway for low cost on platforms like Facebook. For as little as a few dollars a week, this is a good investment.
Do you design posters? Do a free poster giveaway and link to a landing page on your website. Then run a small ad for the giveaway.
This is an effective way of driving traffic to your website. Once on the landing page, offer a giveaway entry in exchange for an email address. This builds your list of potential clients and helps with email marketing.
Google My Business
List your business for free with Google My Business. Make sure you fill out the entire form. This helps potential customers find your business through an organic online search.
YouTube Video Tutorials
Include video tutorials in some of your blog posts. If you’re funny, the videos might even go viral!
YouTube does more than host videos, it’s a popular search engine. Create useful videos that link back to your website content.
Update Old Content
Look back at old content that drove a lot of traffic. Did you have a popular blog post that brought a lot of traffic? Update the content and repost it to the blog.
Don’t post the same content over and over but do update some of the most popular posts.
Free Online Courses
Free online courses are popular and valuable for potential customers. Include links within the course to products or services on your website.
A free course establishes authority and trust which helps drive traffic to your site.
Now You Know How to Drive Traffic to Your Site
Now that you know how to drive traffic to your site, it’s time to do it! Driving traffic to your site takes persistence and consistency but it’s not hard.
The key is establishing yourself as a trusted authority in your industry or niche. Use good SEO practices across your site and post regular, valuable blog content.
Use social media platforms, free offers, and email marketing through newsletters. Go out and find your target audience and engage with them on social media.
Get your message out through video tutorials and free online courses. You can do this!
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