Three Easy Ways to Increase Website Traffic

by Niala Samnarine

n a perfect world, every visitor to your website would turn into a lead, and that lead would turn into a customer! Unfortunately that’s just not reality. People may come to your website for a variety of reasons: research, comparison shopping, to view your testimonials, or maybe even by accident (yikes!).

One thing we do know, is that getting them to your website is the very first step in even opening the door for them to become an eventual customer. Every business owner, big and small, is looking for ways to increase website traffic.There are over three billion searches performed everyday, use these three methods to ensure that your website collects it’s fair share!

Compelling Content

Think about the websites that you visit. You go to your preferred search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) type in whatever you’re looking for and click through some of the very first links you find.

Rarely do these first few results not have what you’re looking for. That’s because your search engines have become very sophisticated when returning search results. They’re pulling the best content for people searching. So how can you get in on this action?

By creating helpful content. Content is more than just the text you put on your homepage or about us section of your website.Fast tips for creating compelling content:

• Refresh your website pages with multimedia: Think outside of text by incorporating multimedia i.e. video, images, social feeds, etc.
• Newsjacking: create content around trending topics and find an interesting way to relate it back to your business! The 2014-2015 NBA season is right around the corner, if you’re a Halloween store, why not create a guide or infographic on DIY ways to dress up as your favorite player, while incorporating in-store products to help.
• Blogging: This is a no-brainer. If you’ve never done it, or have been at it for years, blogging is an easy way to keep Google coming back to your page in search of new content. Just remember to create original content that is helpful, relevant and interesting.

Paid Advertising

While this is not free, hence paid, it’s a very easy way to get traffic to your website. Whether you’re looking to bring awareness to a new website, or bolster visits around a new product, offer or service, purchasing online advertising is a great option.Where to Advertise?

• On Other Websites: This is generally the most expensive of the options available. Many websites that offer advertising have low click-through-rates, and offer advertising via cost per 1,000 impressions. Still if you decide to advertise on a site where many of your business’ prospects frequent, these impressions will be valuable for increasing brand awareness and driving traffic back to your site.
• Search Engines: Google and Bing Adwords are among the most popular forms of paid advertising. They allow users to designate when their ads show by bidding on keywords. The cost per click method of buying advertising is generally cheaper than paying via cost per 1,000 impressions. Also, since you’re targeting keywords that you know your prospects will be searching to find you, you’re able to reach your specific market.
• Social Media: If you don’t have very many followers across social media, it won’t necessarily matter how much information you post. An easy way to find the masses who will engage with your brand on social media is through paid advertising. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn all offer some form of paid or sponsored advertising. The bonus is that you can use demographic and geographic targeting as well as interests to ensure you’re reaching your niche market.

Backlinking

Backlinking is the practice of other websites linking back to your website. For example, if you’re writing a blog and you find a very interesting statistic pertaining to your industry written in an article by Forbes.com, by crediting Forbes.com in your article (like I’ve just done) you will have given them a backlink.

In addition to earning backlinks, putting these links in your content to credible sources is a tactic known as outlinking, a tactic used to bolster SEO because of it’s typically reciprocal nature.So how can your business get into the backlinking action?

• Guest blogging: by writing for other people and businesses in your network, you can (without being spam-my) reference your site, whether in the content itself or simply in your byline. By putting your link in the byline on someone else’s website you will have created a new backlink to your website!
• Connecting your websites to social media: Many people use the About Us sections on their social media pages to describe their company and also input their business’ website. This gives your website another backlink from an authoritative website such as Facebook, Google + and so on.
• Engaging in online communities and forums: this is a more time consuming option as you must be an active participant in online groups, however it’s generally free and can yeild a great amount of visits to your website. In addition to commenting and leaving your website in your signature, posting your content within these communities (where relevant) will ensure it gets seen by a demographic who may not otherwise be exposed to your content.

Comment below and let us know how these tips work for you or if you have any questions on how to get started.

You’ve got the traffic, what’s next?