If you thought SEO is the only way to increase traffic to your website, think again!
Mr. Smart is setting up a new online business, and his innovative thinking has a plan to go online and market his products. He hires a professional agency to build an excellent e-commerce website for his store. The website is launched with colorful flyers, adverts, and some social media buzz. So far, so good!
After 15 days, Mr. Smart realizes his sales have not picked up, nor does his investment materialize for any good. He pulls his hair to know what’s gone wrong and finds out the main reason for poor sales is limited traffic at his website.
Mr. Smart knows his products are world-class and offered at a competitive price. But he doesn’t know how to drive potential customers to his website?
Suppose you are like Mr. Smart, then we have a bag of solutions for you. This detailed post will tell you not five, not ten, but twenty-seven verified ways to increase traffic to your website.
By the time this post finishes, you will outsmart even the search engine to pull your website’s potential traffic.
Know the Source of Website Traffic
Now suppose you want to earn money; you must know from where money will come. Similarly, if you want traffic to your website, you must know the source.
To earn money, either you’ll seek employment or do a business; to get traffic at your website, you can advertise or do up your SEO nuts and bolts to become more visible. But that’s not all; there are innumerable things that come in the way before you reach your milestone.
Now before we begin to understand how things work and what is to be done, let’s do a SWOT analysis. SWOT means understanding your Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
To stand out in the competition, you need to know where organic website traffic will come to your site.
Before we begin, try to answer these four questions
Q1. Who is my Target Audience?
Q2. Who are my competitors?
Q3. What problems my target audience are facing to reach me?
Q4. How can I solve it?
Here is some more information, to begin with
Website traffic is categorized into four sources:
- Direct – by typing URL or undefined source.
- Organic search – by entering a specific keyword.
- Referral – by URL of other sites.
- Campaign – Paid search and social media.
Ways to Increase Traffic at Your Website
Now you have a fair idea of the traffic source; next, you must know how to track it. If you are not following the traffic on your website, you will never know which areas to target.
Another important thing is knowing if paid advertisements are working for you or not. Google charges you as per the number of clicks on ads. If you are paying $100 for 100 clicks on advertisements that materialize only $10 in sales, you’ve wasted money and effort.
Check your Site Speed
The first action you must take is to check your site speed. If your site is taking longer than required, people will move out. People are impatient, and if they don’t get a solution in a click, they will jump out.
The best way to check website speed is by logging with mobile data. If it works, speed is good enough, else check the bounce rate and optimize your website by removing large files and third-party plugins.
Browser Cache and CDN will Increase speed
CDNs or Content Delivery Networks are great tools to speed up your page delivery.
Use MaxCON or Amazon AWS along with browser cache tools like WP Super Cache and W3 Total Cache to increase your page loading speed.
Check your Site Response
You must know that 80% of your potential website traffic will be through mobile phones. If your website is not optimized for all devices, you are driving out potential customers. Suitability and easy access on all ranges of devices is a must to start with any website.
Mobile Usability Optimization
Ensure your website is highly optimized for mobile users if you want to increase traffic. Google Page Insight Tool is used to check the suitability of mobile along with the given guidelines.
It will be great to make your content and posts ready as per AMP specifications. Remember, mobile device usage is more impactful than any other device.
Good SEO is Essential
Unless you are not clear about how search bots work, you can not fix the problem. Learn the basics of SEO! Understanding the intricacies of SEO will make you familiar with the rules of engagement and give you some SEO literacy.
The right SEO plan and implementation will surely help in getting website traffic.
Pro Tips
- Have an SEO friendly title.
- Do your keyword research (we will see longtail keyword next).
- Write a correct and optimal meta description.
- Use alt text for images.
- Create internal links.
Target Long Tail Keywords
Trends show that people are searching for more specific phrases on the Internet. Long Tail keywords are precise and more likely to put you upfront in a search result.
Long Tail keywords take a significant chunk of web search. Targeting these phrases in SEO and paid promotions will yield good results.
Create Meaningful Content
Content is the King!
All your SEO boils down to meaningful content. People are looking for answers on the Internet; give them the solution.
These days, people go to Netflix to escape loneliness, and to solve their queries, they ask Google. Even the Google search engine exists to answer people. If you have a solution, search engines will divert traffic to your site. Write content keeping the queries of the audience in mind.
Evergreen Content Wins Over Topical
Topical content has a limited life span; Evergreen content will be relevant after years of publication.
Contents like sports score cards or breaking news lose their relevance quickly. Articles that are knowledge-based, informative, or DIY guides will build a steady stream of traffic to your website. Evergreen articles will help prove your authority, attract links and provide a lasting result.Eye Catchy Titles Wins
Blogs and page titles decide if a visitor will stay or leave!
Titles are the first thing a person sees. If your headline is not compelling, even the most brilliant article will go unread. To get more insight on good working titles, use a title generator or headlines analyzer apps. Analysis shows that listicle content forms and titles with numbers prove to be winners.
Do a Research on your Competition
In Sun Tzu’s Art of War, one of the critical principles of victory is to know about your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.
In SWOT analysis, we have seen that threat is a crucial analyzer. Your competitor is your primary threat, gauge his techniques and know his weaknesses. Doing your performance analysis and tackling weak points is key to success.
Find out what people want to know, their fears, and the route they will take so you can place yourself in the way. Let your content speak for itself, include graphics and statistics.
Pro Tip – Subscribe to your competitor’s e-mail list. This tactic will help you know your competitor’s methods and strategies to get the target audience.
Use Social Media
If you thought sharing is enough on social media, let me tell you it is not even close. Take active participation in discussions and get involved with online community activities.
Social media is a powerful tool because celebrities and impact makers hire an entire social media management team to manage their accounts. You don’t need a social media manager yet, but you can follow relevant groups and hashtags for the time being.
Pro Tip – Use social media for discussion and interaction. If you force your product to broadcast, it may piss off people. Insert your product and content with guile.
Answer on Quora
Quora has a domain authority of 93, which means people have faith, and they refer to Quora for their queries. This channel can prove to be a great medium to drive traffic to your website.
Answer relevant queries on Quora and link the keywords on your site or content. A point of caution, do it wisely and don’t spam it up. Spamming will only put a query on your credibility.
YouTube Videos Can Help
YouTube is a great platform to get organic traffic free of cost. One of the more significant reasons is people are shifting to viewing content-based videos than reading them.
Adding an instructional YouTube video will get you traffic; tutorials and information-based videos are much popular on YouTube. Always leave a link in the description of your site and vice versa.
Advertising
Advertising can quickly generate visibility for your website. It also achieves in getting your website upfront to the target audience.
Advertising will only help if you have identified your market potential and focus on visitors who will click to get engaged. Dry clicks will only empty your pocket. Traffic is of no value when you are running ads; you need the right people who click to buy the product.
Pro Tip – Eliminate negative keywords that will attract irrelevant traffic to your website.
E.g., You own a vegetable mart but don’t provide organic vegetables; you can put MINUS ORGANIC VEGETABLES as a negative keyword.
LinkedIn has Potential Audience
The LinkedIn audience is an influential lobby that has much more buying capacity than organic traffic. LinkedIn is one of the best channels for driving traffic to B2B websites.
LinkedIn has an excellent capability of generating traffic for companies. Publish high-quality and original posts on LinkedIn to gain traffic and an authority badge for yourself.
E-mail marketing
E-mail marketing is another powerful way to reach your audience. An e-mail can effectively increase potential visitors.
Studies show that e-mail is viewed more seriously and professionally by people than by messages. A friendly e-mail request often works to woo customers or increase traffic to your website.
Pro Tips for e-mail marketing:
- Build a subscriber list.
- Keep e-mails short and specific with a personal touch.
- Add a Call to Action (CTA).
- Don’t spam a person with too many mails.
- Add social share buttons to e-mails.
Use Lead Magnets
Lead magnets are content upgrades you offer for an e-mail subscription. The audience will sign up for your e-mail subscription list for free e-books or valuable information.
Pro-tip – Here are a few lead magnets that you can use to get subscribers.
- Free online courses
- Templates
- E-books
- Instructional videos
- Lesson slides
Use Aggregator Sites
Aggregator sites don’t have their content, but they collect content from other sites and put it in one location.
Users are comfortable with these kinds of areas as they get a variety of content in one place. Here are a few aggregator sites where you can submit your content.
- Panda
- Techmeme
- Alltop
Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is writing posts for another website that is other than your own. By doing so, you get a backlink to your site. It is an excellent way to increase traffic to your website and create brand awareness.
The challenge here is to find the right website which will allow you and give you leads. You can also invite other bloggers to write on your site. Just ensure they note the right stuff that is original and of high quality.
Pro Tip. Google can find guest blogging sites for you. Just type ‘NICHE INVITE’ write with us (NICHE is the relevant keyword).
Build Backlinks
Links from relevant sites are authority boosters for your site. Reach out to people and introduce your content but don’t force your way.
When publishing your content, look for opportunities to create internal links; this will help increase traffic and assist SEO.
Pro Tip – Create backlinks for brands mentioned in blogs. Ask a query related to your brand and then link if they cannot get the answer.
E.g., There is a blog on baking cakes, and you have written an article on – ‘Traditional Art of Baking.’ Ask if they know about the old traditional art of baking cakes. If they cannot answer or tell you that they will get back, use the opportunity to link your blog or article.
Influencer Marketing Engages a Large Audience
Influence Marketing is an excellent method to engage thousands of audiences without having followers. You can reach out to Influencers on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to promote your brand.
Go on Social Media sites and look for influencers from your industry or relevant niche. Get connected and seek their help and guidance. Most Influencers will charge you or take a chunk of your profit, but that’s all right as long as your investments are getting dividends.
Pro Tips – Influence the influencers! Yes, you’ve heard right, and the best way to do this is to take an interest in their content. Human psychology proves that people like it if people take an interest in their creativity. Do that, and it will yield results.
Blog Commenting
Blog commenting is also an effective way to increase traffic to your website. Find out sites that are having content in sync with your niche. SEMrush is a crucial tool to find your organic industry blogs for your commenting strategy.
Do your homework to analyze traffic, domain authority, and estimated views. No point going after sites where content is not shared, nor are there enough views.
Leave a comment on the relevant topic to gain conversation and visibility. Add something that can create a conversation; dry comments won’t help.
Pro Tips.
- Avoid putting links in your comments. It will not gel well with the website owner and will mark you as unreliable.
- Don’t use your business name; use your real name.
Promote with Blogger’s Outreach
Blogger Outreach is a technique to find relevant bloggers established and write for the same niche. It also consists of sending a personalized e-mail to promote your product or website.
The first step is to find bloggers who are already doing this job or are ready to do it for you. Compare the niche; if it is in sync, try to find their e-mail address. An excellent way to find it is on the contact page of the website. Send a personalized e-mail requesting to mention your product or website in their blogs.
The important thing here is learning to create a perfect pitch that works for you. These services can be free of cost or paid; choose wisely.
Pro Tip – Make a list of bloggers as you send an e-mail. Tick the responsive ones and strike out the unresponsive bloggers. Next time focus only on those who are responsive.
Promote with Relevant Online Communities
Online communities are spaces on social media or the Internet where you can hang out as an audience, analyze the discussion, or even put your views.
There are various online communities on Facebook groups, Instagram, Reddit, and many other platforms. If you are having trouble finding one try these links Facebook Groups and Directory of Slack Communities.
Pro Tip – Try and create a win-win situation. A lot of people are there who also need help or your support for their product. Help them and get a favor in return.
Drive Traffic from Forums
Forums have been lingering on the Internet since the early induction of the web. People are using these platforms effectively to drive traffic to their content and websites.
Many forums have good audience and engagement levels; this can help you get started to drive significant traffic.
If you don’t find the proper forum for your niche, create one. Use WordPress plugins designed for discussions to set up your forum quickly and effectively. Keep your content original and of high quality, and you will see a steady flow of traffic to your site.
Pro Tip – Create your profile carefully, and don’t spam the process. Quality content matters to start new threads.
Prevent Keyword Cannibalization
In simple terms, it is a civil war on your website!
Keyword Cannibalization is a term used when two or more pages on your website compete against each other for the same keyword. They are in a brawl to rank above each other.
This problem is evident with large websites having many pages. Cannibalization confuses google or any such search engine about the relevance of the keyword concerning the page. It will dilute the domain authority of your page and lower the traffic. Always keep a check on Keyword Cannibalization.
Pro Tip – Use a spreadsheet to find keyword cannibalization.
Use Pinterest
Statistics reveal that each pinned content on Pinterest has the power to generate visits on six pages. Pinterest has proved to be a great platform to generate traffic on your website. It was designed for sharing and has worked out well.
Pro Tips – Here are a few tactics that will help you.
- Create a business account.
- Pin at the right moment.
- Create good images that catch the attention.
- Join group boards that are relevant to you.
Conclusion
We guess you are reading the conclusion after reading this article word by word. Congratulations on your efforts! It was a long list.
We are confident that even if you implement half of the tips given in this article within days, you will see a considerable amount of traffic at your site. There will be a few tips you are already familiar with and would have tried; try the other suggestions.
A final word towards plagiarism and relevance – for content that lacks quality, originality, and new ideas, none of these tips will work. Your content must be original and relevant to the audience from the induction stage to the final assault.
Do let us know which tactics you have tried and how far you have succeeded in getting the traffic? If you have more tips and ideas, share them with us. In case you have further queries, please mention them in the comments section.
