Today there are 1.2 billion websites -- or one website for every seven people in the world! That’s a lot of competition. If you want to get traffic to your website, you’re going to have to take the right steps.
Take a look at the following 10 things savvy online marketers do to get web traffic.
Improve Website Speed
Sites that load painfully slow will cause visitors to bounce away. Slow loading sites can be penalized by search engines, too. Tip: Use one of the free testing tools to test your site’s speed. Google offers one, but there are others including Webpage Test and Pingdom. Use test data and insights to identify improvements, and then talk with your website developer.
Attach a Blog to Your Website
Having a blog gives you a place to add content to your website -- content that attracts traffic. According to Hubspot, businesses with blogs tend to get 3 to 4 times the traffic as those without. Tip: Keep blog content relevant -- and informative -- but not a sales pitch. Ask yourself, is this topic relevant to why a customer might choose to do business with a company like mine?
Use Proper Keywords
Keywords are search phrases that visitors use to find web pages when hunting in search engines. Include relevant keywords in your pages and blog posts, used in a natural way, and over time you’ll be more likely to attract traffic from search engines. Tip: Choose keywords as specific as possible to your type of business, product, service or industry. That way you’ll attract visitors that are really interested in what you have to offer.
Share all Your Content on Social Media
Share all of your blog content, whitepapers, videos and more on social media. Social media is no time to be overly modest. Tip: Don’t go overboard. For example, don’t share the same blog post ten times a day on Twitter -- that’s spamming not sharing. And don’t forget to be a good social media citizen by commenting on and liking others’ updates and sharing their content.
Seek Guest Blogging Opportunities
Write original engaging and informative content. Then approach sites in your industry and request to publish it. This exposes your business to a new audience. Tip: Approach guest blog posts as an opportunity to provide information to readers, not as a free ad. You’ll have more credibility.
Publish an Email Newsletter
Regular newsletters can be a great way to drive traffic. Include blog post snippets in your newsletter along with links back to full content on your site. Tip: Put a “subscribe” box on just about every page of your website. Also, when your newsletter comes out each month, alert your social media followers to encourage them to subscribe.
Participate in Social Groups
Become an active member of groups on sites like LinkedIn and Facebook. Regularly comment or answer questions. Tip: Know the rules before you post links back to your site or blog. Some groups do not allow links.
Use a Call-To-Action on Posts
A call-to-action can be used at the end of blog posts to encourage people to click on other content in your site. The more relevant content a visitor sees, the more likely he or she will visit again. Tip: A blog post is a great way to promote longer form content such as ebooks and whitepapers.
Make Optimum Use of Headlines
Half the battle today in getting visitors is the headline. You have to grab a reader’s attention to get the click through. Tip: Don’t let the headline of your content be an afterthought. Titles of blog posts, videos and social updates are so important that I actually created my own title generator tool.
Pump up Your Local Listings
If you operate a business with a brick and mortar location, then being listed in local directories is crucial. Bing Places for Business, Google My Business, Apple Maps, yellow pages sites, and Facebook Places / local are just some of the places to make sure your business appears. Tip: Check to see if you’re listed using free checkers at places like AdviceLocal, Synup or Moz Local.
Finally, remember that getting web traffic is a marathon, not a sprint. Be in it for the long haul.
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