The top priority for most marketers and business owners is to reel in more customers. The second priority is to increase website traffic. There are countless ways to increase traffic to your website. We’re going to explore 25 of them, including several methods to boost site traffic for free!
25 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Website
1.) Advertise
This one is painfully obvious, so we’re going to look into it first. Paid search, social media, and display advertising are all excellent avenues to attract visitors. They are also an awesome way to build your brand and get your site in front of people. It’s important to adjust your paid strategies to suit your overall goas. Do you just want to increase traffic to your website, or are you looking to also increase conversions? Each paid channel has its pros and cons. With that in mind, think carefully about your objectives before you reach for your credit card.
If you’re planning on increasing traffic to your website leading to more sales, you’ll need to target high commercial intent keywords. Yes, it can get pretty competitive and expensive for such keywords, but the payoffs can most certainly be worthwhile.
2.) Get Social
It simply isn’t enough to produce superior content and just hope that people find it on their own. You have to be proactive. One of the best ways to increase traffic to your website is to use social media to promote your content. Twitter is ideal for short, snappy links, whereas Facebook can help you garner the attention of a wider audience. If you’re a B2C product company, you might gain greater traction via image-rich sites such as Instagram and Pinterest. Here’s some additional advice on how to make the most out of your social media efforts.
3.) Mix It Up to Increase Traffic to Your Website
Sadly, there’s no secret recipe for content marketing success, no matter what some may lead you to believe. This is why it is important to vary the length and format of your content to make it appealing to a wide range of readers. It is vital that you mix in shorter, news-based pieces with long-form content and video, infographics, and data-rich posts for maximum impact.
4.) Craft Irresistible Headlines
Headlines are an essential element when it comes to developing successful content. If your posts lack a compelling headline, then even the most helpful of blog posts will often go unread. This is why it is essential that you master the art of crafting magical headlines. For instance, the teams at BuzzFeed and Upworthy draft 20+ headlines before settling on one that will increase traffic to their website. With that in mind, think carefully about your headline before you hit “publish.”
5.) Pay Attention to On-Page SEO to Increase Traffic to Your Website
Do you think that SEO is dead? Well, think again! Enriching your content for search engine optimization (SEO) is still a meaningful and worthwhile practice. Do you make the most of image alt text? What about internal links or about meta descriptions? Optimizing for on-page SEO doesn’t have to take ages and it can help boost your organic traffic!
6.) Target Long-Tail Keywords
Have you covered your high-intent and popular keywords? If so, it’s time to expand into the world of long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords make up the majority of web searches. This means that you’re missing out if you’re not targeting them as part of your paid search or SEO efforts.
7.) Start Guest Blogging to Increase Traffic to Your Website
Before you open your mouth – no, genuine guest blogging isn’t dead. Securing a guest post on a respected site can increase traffic to your website and help build your brand into the bargain. However, standards for guest blogging have changed drastically. Spammy tactics can result in stiff penalties, so proceed with caution.
8.) Invite Others to Guest Blog on Your Site
Guest blogging is definitely a two-way street. In addition to posting to other blogs, invite people in your industry to blog on your own site. They’re likely to share and link to their guest article, which in turn can bring new readers to your site. Just be sure that you only post high-quality, original content without spammy links, because Google is cracking down on low-quality guest posts!
9.) Chase Down Referral Traffic
Quit trying to convince other sites to link back to you. Instead, create content that others cannot resist linking to…it’s really that simple!
10.) Post Content to LinkedIn to Increase Traffic to Your Website
LinkedIn is far more than just a means to find a job these days. The world’s largest professional social platform is now a valuable publishing platform in its own right. This means you should be posting content to LinkedIn on a regular basis. Doing so can increase traffic to your website, as well as increase your profile within your industry. This is especially true if you have a moderate to large following.
11.) Make Use of Schema Microdata
Employing schema (or another form of microdata) won’t directly increase traffic to your website, but it will make it easier for search engine bots to find and index your pages. Another perk to using schema for SEO is that it can result in better rich snippets, which can drastically improve click-through rates.
12.) Link Internally
The strength of your link profile isn’t determined solely by how many sites link back to you – it can also be affected by your internal linking structure. When creating or publishing content, make sure to keep an eye out for opportunities for internal links. This not only improves your SEO but also results in a better, more effective user experience – aka the cornerstone of increasing traffic to your website.
13.) Engage with Industry Thought Leaders to Increase Traffic to Your Website
Do you think that interviews are only for professionals? Think again! You’d be amazed by how many people are willing to talk to you if you simply ask them. Send out emails requesting an interview to thought leaders in your industry, and publish said interviews on your site. Not only will the name recognition boost your credibility and increase inbound traffic, but the interviewee will also probably share the content too, which further expands its reach.
14.) Increase Traffic to Your Website with Email Marketing
Far too many businesses are hyper-focused on attracting new customers via content marketing that they forget about the old bread and butter methods. Email marketing is a powerful tool and even a moderately successful email blast can lead to a noticeable uptick in traffic. Just be careful not to shell people with relentless emails about every single update in your business. Also, don’t overlook the power of word-of-mouth marketing, especially from people who already enjoy your offerings. A friendly email reminder about a new service or product can help boost your traffic, too.
15.) Make Sure Your Site is Responsive
Gone are the days when internet browsing was done exclusively from a desktop computer. Today, more people than ever are using mobile devices to access the web. If you force visitors to pinch and scroll their way around your website, you’re essentially telling them to go elsewhere. Even if you have a basic website, you still need to ensure that it is easily accessible and comfortably viewable across a wide range of devices, including, but not limited to smartphones.
16.) Make Sure Your Site is Wicked Fast to Increase Traffic to Your Website
Have you ever waited thirty seconds for a webpage to load? I didn’t think so. If your site takes forever and a day to load, your bounce rate will likely skyrocket. Make sure that your pages are as technically optimized as humanly possible, including image file sizes, page structure, and the functionality of third-party plugins. In short, the faster your site loads, the better.
17.) Develop a Sense of Community
People these days want to speak their minds and weigh in on subjects that matter to them. So building a community into your site is a great way to start a conversation and increase traffic to your website. Incorporate a robust commenting system through third-party solutions such as Facebook comments or Disqus, or create a dedicated forum where visitors can ask questions. However, don’t forget to manage your community to ensure that minimum standards of decency are met.
18.) Make Yourself Heard in the Comments Section
You likely visit at least a few sites that are relevant to your business on a regular basis, so why not join in on the conversation? Commenting doesn’t always provide an immediate boost to referral traffic but making a name for yourself by providing meaningful insight, and cutting-edge comments on industry blogs, and sites are a phenomenal way to get your name out there. This can indirectly result in driving more traffic to your own site. Just remember that, as with guest posting, quality, and relevance are essential – you should be engaging with other people in your niche, not dropping spam links on random sites.
19.) Dive Deep into Your Analytics Data
Google Analytics provides a wealth of information pertaining to every aspect of your website. Keep a close eye on your analytics data and use this information to inform your promotional and content strategies. Pay close attention to what posts and pages are proving more popular than the rest. Inspect visitor data to see how, where, and when your site traffic is coming through.
20.) Get Active on Social Media
It simply isn’t enough to simply share content through social channels. You need to actively participate in the community! Have a Twitter account? Great! Join in a group discussion with relevant hashtags. Is your audience leaving comments on your Facebook posts? Answer questions and engage with your readers. Nothing turns people off quicker than those who use social media as a broadcast channel. That being said, use social media as it was intended and actually interact with your audience!
21.) Submit Your Content to Aggregator Sites to Increase Traffic to Your Website
First and foremost, don’t spam Reddit and other similar sites hoping to strike it rich with referral traffic. It just isn’t going to happen. Members of communities like Reddit are extremely savvy when it comes to spam disguised as legitimate links. However, it doesn’t hurt to submit links to these audiences that they’ll genuinely find useful every now and then. Choose a relevant subreddit, submit your content, then watch the traffic pour in.
22.) Incorporate Video into Your Content Strategy
Text-based content is fine and dandy, but video can prove an invaluable asset in both attracting new visitors and making your site more engaging. Data shows that information retention is statistically higher for visual material than it is for text. This means that video marketing is a superb way to capture and hold your audience’s attention. This, in turn, will increase traffic to your website at the same time.
23.) Research Your Competition
You’re at a huge disadvantage if you have yet to use software like BuzzSumo to research your competitors. These services aggregate the social performance of specific sites and content to provide you with an overview of what topics are resonating with readers and, most importantly, making the rounds on social media. Find out what people are reading (and talking about), and emulate that kind of content to increase traffic to your website.
24.) Host Webinars
People love to learn. Webinars are a stellar way to impart your wisdom to your eagerly waiting audience. Combined with effective social promotion, webinars are a great way to increase traffic to your website. Send out an email a week or so ahead of time, as well as a “last chance to register” reminder the day before the webinar. Make sure to record the presentation for later viewing, and promote your webinars extensively through social media.
25.) Attend Conferences
Whatever industry you’re in, chances are there are at least a couple of major conventions or conferences that are relevant to your industry. Attending these events is a great idea – speaking at them is even better. Even a halfway decent speaking engagement is a superb way to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry and gain significant exposure for your site.
Well, that’s that! If you have any further comments or would like to follow up, feel free to email me at andrewroche@gmail.com.
