Once you are starting to receive few visitors is time to concentrate in how to increase traffic to your website. Is time to do the little things that can increase your search ranking and bring visitors to your niche or business site. These are 17 easy to put in action but quite effective ways to increase traffic:
1. On-Page SEO
You are probably groaning at the 3-letter acronym SEO. In case you don’t know, that stands for search engine optimization. This means making your website, content and webpages attractive to Google and the other search engines. If you have fallen prey to so-called experts that promised to deliver search engine rankings by offering their SEO services, it is understood that search engine optimization is a topic you would like to avoid.
Don’t worry, SEO is easier now than ever before.
Search engines don’t “read” like human beings. This means that you have to do certain things differently than what may be visually appealing to you and to web surfers. Of course, your website should also be attractive to human beings. On-page SEO keeps the search engines happy and sending you free traffic, and it is not as hard to optimize your site as you may think.
Years ago, if you put your target keywords in your meta tags, headers, sub- headers, image captions, and used those keywords 4 to 6 times every 100 words, you could guarantee a lot of targeted, free traffic. That is not the case anymore. Google is insistent that as long as you provide a lot of helpful information and include words, keywords and phrases that let Big G know what your webpages are about, they will send you traffic.
That having been said, you should be using short and long-tail keywords and phrases in your image captions, your domain URL, your headlines and sparingly throughout your content.
2. Publish Great Content Regularly
Matt Cutts is often seen as the “face” of Google. He is one of the leading spokesman on the Internet that provides an understanding of what Google expects from websites to help web surfers find what they’re looking for. Time and again he tells bloggers and online entrepreneurs to focus on providing consistent, original content published regularly, that helps your audience solve problems.
Let’s say you have two websites you frequent that are almost identical. They solve the same problems, talk about the same things, and they even look the same. If one website provides incredibly valuable and helpful content once a week and the other site does so once every 6 weeks, which one do you think Google and the other search engines are going to send the freest traffic to? Publish original, helpful, valuable content regularly for the best chance at free search engine traffic.
3. Testimonials and Referrals, Customer Success Stories
Whenever anyone says something good about you or your company, let everyone know! You should have a webpage on your site or blog dedicated to testimonials and customer success stories. Social proof is so powerful online. You can talk all day long about how good your product is, but people have a natural reluctance to believe you, because you are the person selling the product.
On the other side of the coin, think about what happens when someone stumbles across an impressive list of testimonials and referrals, incredible customer success stories where you really helped someone. That social proof does all of the work for you, making you look like a leader in your field that someone can trust and do business with.
4. Blogging
It should go without saying that you need to have your own blog online. When you get your blog indexed with Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines, you will begin to receive free traffic. There are other blogging tactics which can also drive free traffic.
5. Guest Blogging
Guest blogging doesn’t provide the big traffic boost that it used to. However, it is still a great way to reach a large audience. Contact the owners of the biggest blogs relevant to your niche or market. Offer to write an original, high-value blog post for their site. In return you ask for a link back to your website.
6. Asking Others to Guest Post on Your Blog
Turn the guest blogging experience around. Reach out to others and ask them to write guest posts for your blog. This helps when you are having a hard time coming up with original content on a regular basis, and tells the search engines exactly what your site or blog is about when you link back to the web properties of guest bloggers relevant to your message and audience.
7. Responding to Comments on Your Blog and Others
Some people get really upset when you do not respond to their comments on your blog posts. This can be time-consuming, but the engagement is worth the investment. Once or twice a week set aside time to read and respond to the comments on your blog posts. Do the same to comments on posts of other bloggers in your niche.
8. Create a Video Blog to Add to Sites Like YouTube and Vimeo
Vlogging is the act of combining video with your textual blog post. While doing this, you can take the audio and turn it into a podcast. Some people are not comfortable videotaping themselves. If you are, vlogging and then posting your vlog to your blog and video sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo expands your reach and drives engagement.
9. Become an Author
You don’t have to sit down and write the next great novel. Nonfiction e-books of 15,000 to 25,000 words make excellent giveaways. Answer one question or solve one problem, and give the book away for free on Amazon. When you become an author you instantly achieve a level of respect and admiration that is not available to non-authors.
10. Answer Questions on Q and A Websites
There are sites which allow web surfers to post questions about anything and everything. Online marketers like yourself answer those questions, and the question that gets the most positive feedback is chosen as the top answer.
The key to taking advantage of this process is to deliver outstanding answers, not just one or two sentences. If you can develop a reputation as being the go-to source for information on a particular topic on these Q and A sites, your in-depth answers can drive traffic for years. Yahoo Answers, Quora and Wiki Answers are some of the top Q&A site.
11. Host Surveys and Giveaways, Contests and Quizzes
Zoho Survey, SurveyGizmo, FluidSurveys and Survey Monkey allow you to poll your audience and find out just what they are looking for. They are also great for quizzes. If you want to run a giveaway or contest, Cool Freebie Links, ContestGirl and Freaky Freddies are just a few of the many contest sites where you can post your contest.
12. Host Webinars
GoToWebinar is the leader in the field of webinar software. Anytime you communicate with your audience with more than just a text-based blog post, you have a better chance for engagement. Webinars are proven traffic sources, as well as being effective sales machines.
You may have been asked to join a webinar before, or perhaps you have hosted webinars in the past. The engagement is so high because people can hear your voice in real time, you can answer questions and really get to know your audience. If you like, you can also include video, so people can see exactly who they are dealing with.
YouTube recently launched a live video streaming service, and you can also use Google+ Hangouts to host a webinar. Why not use the free online telephone service Skype to broadcast a webinar? OnStream Webinars, Webinato and ClickWebinar are a few other prominent webinar platforms.
13. Start a Podcast
This may seem daunting at first. However, all you really need to start a podcast is a decent microphone and a computer. Odds are you have a blog. There is a pretty good chance that your competitor has a website or blog as well. On the other hand, podcasts are few and far between, which makes them the perfect free traffic source that sets you apart from your competition.
Pat Flynn is a blogger, author and podcaster well known for giving away valuable, step-by-step, how-to information. His “How to Start a Podcast” tutorial is updated frequently, contains text and videos, advice on resources, and a guide on how to start as inexpensively as possible. You can check out that free resource at https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/tutorials/start-podcast-pats-complete-step-step-podcasting-tutorial/.
Offline Marketing
Web entrepreneurs frequently forget that the “real world” is a great place to advertise their products and services. The following strategies can help you get the word out about your website, and once you make the initial investment, they can drive targeted traffic to your little corner of the web.
14. Attend Live Events
There are seminars and live events held around the world that relate to the niche or market you are in. Attend some of these live events if you can, and offer to speak or provide some type of valuable freebie. Always make sure you have plenty of business cards for live seminars and conferences, complete with your contact information and web address.
15. Car Magnets
You’ve probably seen a car, truck or SUV with a professional looking decal or magnet on its door. While not truly qualifying as a “free” traffic source because of your initial investment, once your magnet is up on your car, while you are tooling around town and going through your regular, daily routine you are advertising your website.
16. Flyers
Printing up flyers requires a very minimal investment. You then distribute those flyers around town, outside crowded shopping centers or other high-traffic areas. Make sure you check with the appropriate authorities in your area so that you don’t run afoul of any local marketing laws.
17. Speak at Your Local Chamber of Commerce
You may be surprised at how well received you will be when you ask your local Chamber of Commerce if they need a speaker. Trade unions, speaking clubs, fraternal organizations and other local groups often have a hard time finding speakers. This is a great way to instantly brand yourself as the leader in your field, and can be especially beneficial if you operate a brick-and-mortar business in your local area.
Conclusion
These 16 strategies to increase traffic to your website are easy to complete, it should not take very long and it will continue to payback in traffic for a long time.
