Website traffic is the number of visitors that a website receives. Traffic is vital for your website. Number of people that visit your website equates to the number of potential clients and customers.
Driving traffic to your website is a complicated business. There are so many factors that come into play. There is no guaranteed formula for driving traffic to a website. You’ll need to be creative. Coming up with different strategies, testing them out and seeing which work best for your website is the only way you can make a difference in your web traffic.
Here are the top ways to drive traffic to your website:
1. Social media Advertising
Social media ads are an amazing way to get traffic to your site. Social media allows you to target a very particular group of people. These people would be more inclined to click on your ad because they are already interested in what you have to offer.
Social media ads are also relatively cheaper, and you won’t be able to get the same results from broadcast ads. People are spending more time on social media. Placing advertisements for your website will increase your brand awareness, which will ultimately lead to more traffic for your site.
2. CTA Buttons
Call To Action buttons tell visitors what you want them to do. Including a CTA button that directs traffic to your website on your social media page is another source of traffic for your website. Writing compelling copy for your Call To Action button will increase the number of people who choose to click on your CTA button. Color scheme, button design, as well as the overall feel and placement of the CTA button, will determine if it is effective in driving traffic to your website or not.
Suppose that you have a sneaker brand. You’ve just come out with a new product. You have a complete set of descriptions and features available on your website. CTA buttons on social media platforms would be a great way to market your product to people who are your fans and like sneakers.
3. Participate in Online Forums
If you are an expert in a particular niche, find forums where you can participate in a healthy discussion with like-minded people. Online forums are also an excellent way to drive traffic to your website.
Online forums such as Quora allow you to answer questions. To be noticed, you’ll need to answer the queries to the best of your knowledge. If you don’t know about a particular subject and start commenting on related questions, you’ll only make a fool out of yourself.
The right way to participate in online forums is to be genuine and helpful. Answer questions and be a productive part of the discussion. People will notice your participation. At this point, it would be alright to insert a link to your website. Before you post a link, make sure that you’re not violating the forum’s rules.
4. Optimize Your Website for SEO
If you optimize your website for a search engine, you’ll have a greater chance to rank higher on a search result page. The first spot on a search result page tends to get the highest number of clicks. Clicks equate to traffic. And traffic is what you want.
Search Engine Optimization has two types.
On-Page SEO deals with the things that make a website useful for the user. An intuitive user interface, page layouts, content, and the general framework of the site are a part of on-page SEO.
Off-Page SEO deals with building backlinks, branding on social media platforms, guest posting, and influencer marketing.
SEO relies on keyword research and market analysis. Publishing relevant and trendy content on your website will automatically drive traffic to your website. Select ideal images that will catch the eye of your audiences but not slow down your website.
SEO is a continuous process. Search engines can make changes in their searching algorithms, and these changes can have an impact on your website’s search rank.
5. Guest Posting
Guest posting on credible sites can also drive traffic to your website. Guest posting is writing articles for websites other than your own. It is an excellent way to increase your website’s awareness and domain authority.
Here is how you can start guest posting on your own:
- Find websites that have the same interests as yours.
- See if they allow guest posting. If they do, also check out their criteria for a guest post.
- Ask the publishing website if they would allow you to plug in a link to your site. Some websites do, and some don’t. If a website doesn’t let you put in a link to your website, try to find other options first.
- Create the post. Try to produce useful content that the audience and editors would like.
- Hit submit, and you’re good to go.
Creating content tailored for different websites would also increase your chances of selection. Having a significant social media following would also be an incentive for the site to publish your guest post.
6. Build Backlinks
Backlinks are generated when a website links back to your website. A backlink from a verified and trusted site not only increases your web traffic but also increases your search engine rankings.
Some websites demand monetary compensation for including a backlink to your site. Keep that in mind, when requesting for a backlink. The right way for both parties to benefit is to add an equal number of relevant backlinks on your website from the other website.
7. Display Advertising
We’ve all seen display ads. They’re the ads that immediately catch our attention. They generally have a clickbait copy (accompanying information that makes you want to click on the link). Display ads work by grabbing your attention and compelling you to click on them. The clicking on the display ad would lead you to another website.
Display ads, when used correctly, can drive meaningful traffic to your website. Always think of your target audience. Who is going to see your ad? Design your ads keeping your customers in mind. If you don’t get meaningful traffic, you’ll only be increasing your losses. If you don’t know how to make a display ad, there are plenty of resources and free courses available online. Online professionals can also be hired to make spectacular display ads that are sure to increase traffic to your site.
Here are the don’ts of display ad marketing:
- Ads that lack creativity and don’t catch your eye.
- Using the same display ad everywhere.
- Paying no thought to the audience of the ad and what they want.
8. Email Marketing
The process of sending an email for marketing purposes to different people is known as email marketing. Generally, you’ll want to send emails to people who know about your brand. Sending a marketing email to a person who doesn’t know you have risks.
Here is how you can launch an email marketing campaign for your website:
- Create a list of emails. The emails in this list can be gathered using a signup form.
- Push out relevant content available on your website to the list.
- Don’t spam your list with too many emails.
- Have a link to your website for more relevant information.
- Always include a choice for the recipient to unsubscribe.
Seasoned marketers also practice cold email marketing (marketing to people who had no previous relationship with you using email). It’s best to avoid cold email marketing until you know what you’re doing.
9. Make Sure that Your Website is Fast
No one pleases in waiting too long for a website to load. If your site is taking too long to load, your bounce rate is going to increase, and the quality of your web traffic is going to decrease.
According to a study, a one-second delay in website load time leads to a 7% decrease in conversions. Optimize your website so that people who visit once would visit again.
Here is how you can make your website faster:
- Use compressed images and videos on your website.
- Use only the essential plugins on your website.
- Use page caching and browser caching.
10. Start a Podcast
A podcast is a relatively easy way to get your voice out to the world. Podcasts have grown in popularity quite significantly in recent years. They don’t force you to sit in front of a camera. All you need to do is write a script and speak in a way that people will like.
Podcasts can also be a way to drive traffic to your website. Suppose that you have a website that is about meditation. Office going people want to listen to something soothing before their tough day begins. Having a podcast will fulfill the need of getting a daily dose of meditation. The people who listen to your podcast, granted that your content was meaningful for them, would want to know more about you. At the end of your podcast, you can plug in the name of your website.
11. Influencer Marketing
Influencers are people who are popular among their audiences and industry. People listen to influencers because they admire them or are entertained by them. When influencers promote a product or brand, their audience would consider making a purchase.
Influencer marketing can be used to promote your website too. Most famous influencers charge a significant amount for a single ad in their content or a shout-out. Since influencers are a means to an end, getting more traffic to your site, you should always weigh the potential returns.
Here is a basic guideline for selecting an influencer:
- Find an influencer who is relevant to your website.
- Research if his promotions have had an impact on other businesses.
- DM (Direct Message) him and ask for a quote.
- Determine if he is a good fit for your website to associate itself with.
12. Start a YouTube Channel
YouTube is an excellent platform to get more traffic to your website. In 2018, YouTube had more than 1.8 million users present on the site every month.
Video is an essential medium of communication. People aren’t spending their time watching TV anymore. They are spending time on different platforms like YouTube to entertain themselves and maybe even learn something new.
People enjoy spending time on YouTube. This is an opportunity for you to expand your current audience base. There might be people who exclusively prefer video content. But sometimes you need a readable version of the information.
A simple strategy to boost traffic to your website would go something like this. Make relevant video content for your target audience. Include as much value as you can in the video. Add a simple plugin for your website at the end if anyone wants to learn more about the topic.
13. Make Your Content go Viral
Viral content is rare. There is no formula to make a piece of content go viral. Content that is going viral is shared on multiple platforms. A piece of viral content can bring in tremendous amounts of traffic. Always remember to include your branding on a piece of content. This way, people will know where to go for similar content.
Here is how content goes viral (most of the time):
- The content is about a popular trend that the general population hasn’t caught onto yet.
- The content is relevant to a broad spectrum of people.
- The content is entertaining. No one likes boring content.
14. Make Your Website Responsive
People are using their private devices to access the internet. More than 4 billion people have a cellphone. It’s more convenient to use a handheld device to access a website. If your site is not optimized for mobile devices, potential clients and customers will ignore your website. Having a responsive website, a website that is suitable for different devices has a higher rank on the search results page than a non-responsive website.
Conclusion:
There are many ways to boost traffic to your website. With proper thought and planning, your website will be able to attract more visitors. More visitors mean more leads. More leads mean more conversions. Not all strategies will work for your website. It’s about making the best decisions that will drive the most traffic for the least amount of effort and resources.
About the Author
Hamzah Adil has been writing for different entrepreneurship blogs. He focusses on solving real time problems of entrepreneurs. Low traffic on the website is now a significant problem for newest entrepreneurs, and he has gained quite insights working for different startups. Currently, he is associated with Swift Chat, a free live chat app for websites that helps businesses in bringing more conversions to market venture in cost and time-effective manner.
