In today’s competitive digital marketplace, most business owners realize the importance of having a website. In fact, according to Internet Live Stats, there are 1.82 billion websites across the world wide web. So how will your website differentiate itself from its competitors and the overload of information available? Below we’ll outline 10 proven methods to increase traffic to your website and yield results.
What is Website Traffic?
Web traffic can be described as the number of users that visit your website. Traffic is typically measured in “visits,” also known as sessions; by monitoring these sessions, you can measure the success of your marketing initiatives and its effectiveness at attracting your target audience.
1- Create High-Quality Content
One of the most proven methods for increasing traffic to your website is developing and publishing meaningful content. By including content that speaks directly to the needs of your potential visitors, your business will establish itself as a thought leader and become a trusted resource when they have questions pertaining to your industry. High-quality content formats could include a newsletter, company blog, case studies, whitepapers, or videos. Furthermore, consider publishing a strategic mix of evergreen content versus trending content to ensure your audience is informed on a timely basis but will also continue to come back to your website time and time again.
2 – Take Advantage of your Free Google My Business Account
Your Google business listing is free and easy to set up, so why not take advantage of it? When activated, your listing allows past customers to share their experience and prospective buyers to learn more about how you operate and what to expect. A completed Google listing will receive 7x more visits than an incomplete listing. When setting up your profile, ensure the information you provide is as accurate as possible and assign your business to the most relevant Google My Business (GMB) category. In doing so, users will be able to find your business and search engines will determine your business’s relevancy within a user’s search.
3 – SEO
A highly sought-out method by any size of business and one of the more complex methods to increase traffic is SEO or Search Engine Optimization. It’s important to note that SEO is typically not an overnight success. It takes time, research, and testing to be successful; however, it is one of the best ways to achieve long-term and consistent success. Google’s organic search accounts for 57.8% of more web traffic than any other source such as; Bing or Yahoo. Search engines determine which pages rank first based on hundred of “signals.” SEO is vital because it’s the process of boosting the signals to rank higher within organic search results. According to Neil Patel, who’s known as one of the top 10 marketers globally by Forbes magazine, 75% of users will not click the second page of their google search. If you want to grow your business, your website can’t afford to be on the second, third or fourth page of the search result. Ranking on Google is “free” compared to other avenues of increasing your traffic, as long as you do it right.
4 – Mobile Friendly Website
In conjunction with SEO, mobile-friendly websites will also improve your ranking on Google, resulting in higher traffic on your website and greater opportunity. As we continue the shift from desktop search to mobile, Google recognizes which sites are mobile-optimized, including loading times. Google has prioritized the mobile page load’s speed as a critical factor to success in ranking high within the search result. If your mobile site is unresponsive or slow except to face a hefty penalty within your ranking. The good news is that Google has made it easy for you to check if your website is mobile-friendly. Simply take their Mobile-Friendly Test to understand if your website is optimized for mobile viewing. Test a single page or multiple pages to see how the Googlebot views the pages when determining search results.
5 – High-Quality Backlinks
A backlink is developed when a website is linked to another website, also known as inbound links or incoming links. Backlinks can be in the form of a blog, infographic or services page on your site. Backlinks will further your efforts concerning SEO; as discussed above, your business needs to rank high within search engine results and backlinks relate to those efforts. Focus on adding quality backlinks versus numerous links from unknown sources. For example, using a backlink from Forbes Magazine will be much more effective than using a backlink from several unpopular sources. These links will help search engines, establish how authoritative and applicable your website is based on the specific topics you’re trying to rank. When other websites link to your site, it shows the search engine that your piece of content has merit and is creditable.
6 – Have a Secure Website
Search engines are encouraging websites to ensure they have a secure site to protect their customers. Since 2014, Google announced that having HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) instead of HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) in front of the website’s domain would be a ranking signal within an organic search, improving their SEO efforts. Making this change protects the confidentiality of the user. Seeing as Google is the most popular search engine, you’re going to want to make sure that your site is secure for all users. Users will feel more confident about visiting and making purchases from your website if it’s safe.
7 – Leverage your Social Media Channels
Posting content to your website in hopes that users will find it is simply won’t suffice in today’s digital era. One of the best and most effective ways to increase traffic to your website is by leveraging your social media channels.
Several channels offer features to add your website link directly on the platform, making it easy for users to find you. Remain active within your community management on social; when a user comments or asks a question, be diligent in returning a response. People genuinely enjoy interacting with brands; it helps to humanize the company and builds brand loyalty.
The content you publish on your social channels should be cohesive with the content on your website, they should mirror one another. By creating a solid Call to Action (CTA) within the caption of your posts will drive your followers to your website. An example could be; to learn more about our latest sale, visit our website.
If your audience genuinely enjoys your content, they’ll likely want to learn more about your business. You can only post so much information to your social media channels due to text restrictions; what better way to learn more about your business than through your website!
8- Email Marketing
Another feasible way and a method that proves time and time again to triumph in reaching your audience is email marketing. The best part about email marketing is that you’re speaking to an audience who’s already opted into hearing from you. Leverage this powerful tool to target and inform your audience to coerce users to specific pages on your website. The two primary forms of email promotion are as follows;
Newsletters
This avenue may not bring you new users; however, promoting events, blogs, current promotions or providing helpful information within your newsletter will drive your audience back to your website. Continuously build your email list to ensure constant growth, which will only increase traffic to your site; read more about email marketing through our previous blog: Email Marketing 101: A Guide for Small Businesses.
Promotional Emails
Typically highlight specific sales promotions; you might send a promotional email if you’re launching a new product or you’ve added a new service to your business.
9 – Allocate a Budget for Display Ads
Don’t underestimate the power of a well-constructed advertisement; it can help to increase brand awareness, create demand, increase your sales and ultimately grow your customer base. It’s a best practice to invest in several types of paid advertising to ensure you’re reaching the maximum amount of users. According to The Manifest, 66% of companies use online advertising and do so through a variety of channels, with the most popular being:
- Social media ads: 86%
- Display ads: 80%
- Paid search marketing: 66%
- Retargeted ads: 43%
If you’re looking to increase traffic rapidly, investing in advertising through; social media, display ads or retargeted ads are just a few of the options available.
10 – Appeal to Influencers
Influencer marketing is not a method you should ignore in 2021; influencers can persuade the users by promoting company products and services. That’s why they’re called influencers. They influence others to complete an action desired by the company at hand.
Conduct an exercise to discover top influencers in your region and those that align with your brand values. Are they promoting similar products and services that your brand is selling? Research past partnerships with other companies and look at their digital presence to discover if the partnership was victorious. When reaching out to influencers, ask about metrics that aren’t available to the public, such as total impressions, reach and a segmented audience breakdown.
By creating partnerships with local influencers, you’re tapping into markets previously untouched by your company and creating exposure that you would have never had the opportunity to be exposed to before, as well as establishing relationships with your community.
