25 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Website
Ask a marketer or business owner what they’d like most in the world, and they’ll probably tell you “more customers.” What often comes after customers on a business’ wish list? More traffic to their site. There are many ways you can increase traffic on your website, and in today’s post, we’re going to look at 25 of them, including several ways to boost site traffic for FREE.
1. Advertise
This one is so obvious, we’re going to look at it first. Paid search, social media advertising and display advertising are all excellent ways of attracting visitors, building your brand and getting your site in front of people. Adjust your paid strategies to suit your goals – do you just want more traffic, or are you looking to increase conversions, too? Each paid channel has its pros and cons, so think carefully about your objectives before you reach for your credit card.
If you’re hoping that more traffic to your site will also result in more sales, you’ll need to target high commercial intent keywords as part of your paid search strategies. Yes, competition for these search terms can be fierce (and expensive), but the payoffs can be worth it.
2. Get Social
It’s not enough to produce great content and hope that people find it – you have to be proactive. One of the best ways to increase traffic to your website is to use social media channels to promote your content. Twitter is ideal for short, snappy (and tempting) links, whereas Google+ promotion can help your site show up in personalized search results and seems especially effective in B2B niches. If you’re a B2C product company, you might find great traction with image-heavy social sites like Pinterest and Instagram.
Image via Pascale Communications
3. Mix It Up
There is no magic formula for content marketing success, despite what some would have you believe. For this reason, vary the length and format of your content to make it as appealing as possible to different kinds of readers. Intersperse shorter, news-based blog posts with long-form content as well as video, infographics and data-driven pieces for maximum impact.
4. Write Irresistible Headlines
Headlines are one of the most important parts of your content. Without a compelling headline, even the most comprehensive blog post will go unread. Master the art of headline writing. For example, the writers at BuzzFeed and Upworthy often write upward of twenty different headlines before finally settling on the one that will drive the most traffic, so think carefully about your headline before you hit “publish.”
5. Pay Attention to On-Page SEO
Think SEO is dead? Think again. Optimizing your content for search engines is still a valuable and worthwhile practice. Are you making the most of image alt text? Are you creating internal links to new content? What about meta descriptions? Optimizing for on-page SEO doesn’t have to take ages, and it could help boost your organic traffic.
6. Target Long-Tail Keywords
Got your high commercial intent keyword bases covered? Then it’s time to target long-tail keywords, too. Long-tail keywords account for a majority of web searches, meaning that if you’re not targeting them as part of your paid search or SEO efforts, you’re missing out.
Image via thegardensofeden.org
7. Start Guest Blogging
Before you say it – no, true guest blogging isn’t dead, despite what you may have heard. Securing a guest post on a reputable site can increase blog traffic to your website and help build your brand into the bargain. Be warned, though – standards for guest blogging have changed radically during the past eighteen months, and spammy tactics could result in stiff penalties. Proceed with caution.
8. Invite Others to Guest Blog on Your Site
Guest blogging is a two-way street. In addition to posting content to other blogs, invite people in your niche to blog on your own site. They’re likely to share and link to their guest article, which could bring new readers to your site. Just be sure that you only post high-quality, original content without spammy links, because Google is cracking way down on low-quality guest blogging.
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9. Go After Referral Traffic
Rather than trying to persuade other sites to link back to you (a tedious and time-intensive process), create content that just begs to be linked to.
When Larry wrote about the kick in the proverbial teeth that eBay took from Google’s Panda update, we managed to secure a link from Ars Technica in the Editor’s Pick section alongside links to The New York Times and National Geographic. Not too shabby – and neither was the resulting spike in referral traffic. Learn what types of links send lots of referral traffic, and how to get them, in this post.
10. Post Content to LinkedIn
LinkedIn has become much more than a means of finding another job. The world’s largest professional social network is now a valuable publishing platform in its own right, which means you should be posting content to LinkedIn on a regular basis. Doing so can boost traffic to your site, as well as increase your profile within your industry – especially if you have a moderate to large following.
11. Implement Schema Microdata
Implementing schema (or another microdata format) won’t necessarily increase traffic to your website on its own, but it will make it easier for search engine bots to find and index your pages. Another benefit of using schema for SEO is that it can result in better rich site snippets, which can improve click-through rates.
12. Link Internally
The strength of your link profile isn’t solely determined by how many sites link back to you – it can also be affected by your internal linking structure. When creating and publishing content, be sure to keep an eye out for opportunities for internal links. This not only helps with SEO, but also results in a better, more useful experience for the user – the cornerstone of increasing traffic to your website.
13. Interview Industry Thought Leaders
Think interviews are only for the big leaguers? You’d be amazed how many people will be willing to talk to you if you just ask them. Send out emails requesting an interview to thought leaders in your industry, and publish the interviews on your blog. Not only will the name recognition boost your credibility and increase traffic to your website, the interviewee will probably share the content too, further expanding its reach.
Image via business2community.com
14. Don’t Neglect Email Marketing
So many businesses are focused on attracting new customers through content marketing that they forget about more traditional methods. Email marketing can be a powerful tool, and even a moderately successful email blast can result in a significant uptick in traffic. Just be careful not to bombard 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 are already enjoying your products or services. A friendly email reminder about a new service or product can help you boost your traffic, too.
15. Make Sure Your Site is Responsive
The days when internet browsing was done exclusively on desktop PCs are long gone. Today, more people than ever before are using mobile devices to access the web, and if you force your visitors to pinch and scroll their way around your site, you’re basically telling them to go elsewhere. Ensure that your website is accessible and comfortably viewable across a range of devices, including smaller smartphones.
16. Make Sure Your Site is Fast
Ever found yourself waiting thirty seconds for a webpage to load? Me neither. If your site takes forever to load, your bounce rate will be sky high. Make sure that your pages are as technically optimized as possible, including image file sizes, page structure and the functionality of third-party plugins. The faster your site loads, the better.
17. Foster a Sense of Community
People want to speak their minds and weigh in on subjects they feel passionately about, so building a community into your site is a great way to start a conversation and increase traffic to your website. Implement a robust commenting system through third-party solutions such as Facebook comments or Disqus, or create a dedicated forum where visitors can ask questions. Don’t forget to manage your community to ensure that minimum standards of decorum are met, however.
18. Make Yourself Heard in Comment Sections
You probably visit at least a few sites that are relevant to your business on a regular basis, so why not join the conversation? Commenting doesn’t necessarily provide an immediate boost to referral traffic right away, but making a name for yourself by providing insightful, thought-provoking comments on industry blogs and sites is a great way to get your name out there – which can subsequently result in driving more traffic to your own site. Just remember that, as with guest posting, quality and relevance are key – you should be engaging with other people in your niche, not dropping spam links on unrelated websites.
Image via organictalks.com
19. Examine Your Analytics Data
Google Analytics is an invaluable source of data on just about every conceivable aspect of your site, from your most popular pages to visitor demographics. Keep a close eye on your Analytics data, and use this information to inform your promotional and content strategies. Pay attention to what posts and pages are proving the most popular. Inspect visitor data to see how, where and when your site traffic is coming from.
20. Get Active on Social Media
It’s not enough to just share content through social channels – you need to actively participate in the community, too. Got a Twitter account? Then join in group discussions 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 using social media as a broadcast channel – use social media as it was intended and actually interact with your fans.
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21. Submit Your Content to Aggregator Sites
Firstly, a disclaimer – don’t spam Reddit and other similar sites hoping to “hit the jackpot” of referral traffic, because it’s not going to happen. Members of communities like Reddit are extraordinarily savvy to spam disguised as legitimate links, but every now and again, it doesn’t hurt to submit links that these audiences will find genuinely useful. Choose a relevant subreddit, submit your content, then watch the traffic pour in.
22. Incorporate Video into Your Content Strategy
Text-based content is all well and good, but video can be a valuable asset in both attracting new visitors and making your site more engaging. Data shows that information retention is significantly higher for visual material than it is for text, meaning that video marketing is an excellent way to grab – and hold – your audience’s attention, and boost traffic to your website at the same time.
23. Research the Competition
If you haven’t used software like BuzzSumo to check out what your competitors are up to, you’re at a huge disadvantage. These services aggregate the social performance of specific sites and content to provide you with an at-a-glance view 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 bring traffic to your website.
24. Host Webinars
People love to learn, and webinars are an excellent way to impart your wisdom to your eagerly waiting audience. Combined with an effective social promotion campaign, 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 archive the presentation for later viewing, and promote your webinars widely through social media. If you're wondering how to do a webinar, click the link for some tips.
25. Attend Conferences
Whatever industry you’re in, chances are there are at least one or two major conventions and conferences that are relevant to your business. Attending these events is a good idea – speaking at them is even better. Even a halfway decent speaking engagement is an excellent way to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry and gain significant exposure for your site.
Well, that just about does it for today’s post. If you’ve got your own tips for increasing traffic to your website, I’d love to hear them.
Comments
Thanks for this article! a lot of it was known to me, but refreshing the brain helps to keep a person on their toes. It's also a great reference for beginners. I would just add that being a true (sincere) contributor to conversations and in the community of your industry are huge. I think it takes time to build an audience and being that there is a boat load of spam, it takes awhile to build trust. So read articles, comment on articles, share those articles, credit the writers of those articles and repeat. Create great content, continue be social and the traffic will come.
First of all, I would like to thank Dan for this AMAZING post. There are too many internet marketers out there struggling to get traffic. How many people out there with mind-blowing websites that the world NEEDS that will never get enough traffic to get their ideas out to the public? How many people stuck at 9 to 5’s struggling to make money online only because they just CAN’T GET TRAFFIC? This is an extremely thoughtful post. The world needs more people who would create an article like this that could help the struggling moms out there trying to make money online.
This article has helped me A LOT. You see, I’m starting a new venture. This is the first venture of mine where I will be really trying to drive good free traffic. I never really tried before. This new venture (site) is ‘the one’. It literally HAS to work if I can get enough quality, targeted traffic to it, and this site could make BILLIONS. So what I am looking for is high quality, PERMANENT (no work needed to maintain – long term – hands-free), targeted, free traffic, and this article has laid out 5 of these types of traffic sources.
High quality, permanent, targeted free traffic is the best type of traffic you could get. It’s hands free and pure ROI. So I highly recommend that anyone reading who needs traffic look into it. Some good high quality, permanent, targeted, free traffic sources you could use are number one http://baloozo.com an ad site where you could post a permanent ad and push it to the top of the search results for your keywords and your category’s page 10 times a day, and there are advanced ad statistics. There are also feature PPC ads that go on top of the free ads that you could bid on for the first position, with a $0.01 load minimum and a $0.01 click minimum, in case you want to eventually pay for traffic, as well. You just sign up, post a permanent free ad and you’re getting permanent, free traffic forever.
Number two is http://flickr.com, a photo sharing site. To get traffic with this site you have to create interesting, niche targeted images or take interesting niche targeted photos or screenshots, sign up, upload the photos using proper tags (keywords) to make the traffic targeted, and say in the description of the photo: “Feel free to use this image, but give credits to http://www.yourwebsite.com.”, and then you’re getting permanent, targeted, free traffic forever from people sharing your photos and crediting your link.
Thanks a lot, Dan. You really don’t know what this means for me and how much you’ve just helped me. Secondly, I agree with Andrew's comment. There are so many people out there who blog comment just to get a link to their website in the name section. I love seeing blog comments that are not linked to.
Does anyone know any other ways I could get permanent, targeted, free traffic? I would be ever-thankful if you could share one with me.
Great points shared by you ! Each and every point has its importance in increasing traffic to its website.
When I saw the headline of this article I thought 'another one of those random articles about increasing traffic'...decided to read it anyway and I actually got some great tips so well done!Interview an industry leader (#13) is one I'll definitely be trying. I think it's a relatively easy way to piggyback on the traffic their sites and social media channels usually receive because most of them would link to the interview.
Great post! I really like how you put everything together, there are some very useful tips. Good job!
I think there are some pretty good traffic tips listed in this blog article. I would say it's best to narrow them down though so that you can focus on one or two strategies and master them for best results. At least that's how I like doing things.
great job.. surely it will help to increse website traffic.. Thanks for sharing..
A good SEO company will be able to provide you visibility of your site in other areas either effect search engine placement or the site visitor's experience.
Thankyou Mr. Dan. I am Learning more new things that i didn't know before but today, some concepts are clear. All points are very useful and get more natuaral traffic.
Even though the term SEO does not appear heavily through the article, most of the points mentioned herein can be considered as 'essential' SEO practices. A good post overall!
Hey Dan, rally its a very nice post. Frankly speaking, I was missing few points for my blog and now after going through your blog post i am pretty much sure that I will be able to drive more traffic now to my Blog. Highly appreciate your time to write such a great article. Thanks.....
This article is so useful. Anyway, that will be for an expert only. How about a newbie, it's difficult to apply, my traffic is so poor and I am stuck now. Any help?
Great post Dan, I totally agree with all the ways to increase traffic to website. Social media plays an important role in driving traffic to the site. As well as building network to the customers and generating loyalty among them.
Very nicely explained. Great to read it. Thanks
Excellent tips I am starting to do more long tail keywords to help drive traffic, but to have a successful website you have to do all the things right. With more practice though overtime you learn about new things to help improve your site. It honestly really is trial and error as you gain traction with your website.
Very nicely explained. Thank you for the great article. . . In my opinion SEO is the best way to drive traffic to your website for free. cheers
Thank you sir. I learned a lot from your post.
Hi Dan Shewan,These all ways are great to consider for increasing traffic of website. Nowadays, It become a very important to follow the right way or strategy to increase traffic to your website. Including rich media's in your website traffic getting stretagy can be a worth idea to increase traffic to your website.
Really awesome tips man...thanx for sharing it...i really appreciate with your work..keep doing it
Very good. Learnt a lot! Thank you.
Very interesting and informative. Keep up the great posts.
Thanks for the tips!
For online marketing, the most important thing is to drive targeted traffic to your website. I use social networking & content marketing more than anything. Thanks for sharing the great points. Really helpful.
All the points have different effects in increasing website traffic on any site, but the long tail keyword approach is extremely nice
Really a great post,i'm definetely gonna follow this steps ,Really appreciate this....Thanks!
I did almost everything mentioned here axcept guest blogging. I was getting decent amount of traffic to my website. But for the last few days a great downfall in traffic I noticed. Can you suggest me what should I do now to regain the traffic I was getting earlier to my website.
What's up to every one, as I am truly keen of reading this web site's post to be updated daily.
It contains good data.
SEO is required to get your website or blog come up near the higher listings of search engines like Google.To make sure you have a place in search engine results you should have a large amount of keywords, "Description", in the area of your site where you put meta tags.
Ok... So does this 25 ways really works? I did more of that and still nothing. Maybe in the future it will work...
Wow!great article...thanks for sharing...
Its worthy. nice article. Thanks
Getting good amount traffic is always a big challenge for new blogger.Be active on social media sites and online commutites Intract with other bloggers and by doing some small SEO workalways be updated with google search guidines Anyways thanks for sharing your idea keep sharing
I have started my own website but only understand your social media part of this article. Anyone out their that can have a look at my ubershoe website and tell me why we are not get traffics to it. Many thanks in advance.
Hey,Nice tips, I agree with your all points, I would like to know one thing,Is SEO Off page techiques are really working????
Thanks for the usefull information. I am going to use long tail keywords on my website.
Thanks. This is very informative!
Thanks for this helpful information. It has openned my mind
The tip to mix it up is very good because I have found that the same people often post the same kinds of things over and over again. This is completely true, and I have seen it with my own friends. In order to get more views and likes on your page, you have to mix it up. Put status updates that are a little bit different every time to keep people on their toes.
Nice article! I really like your all the points of increasing traffic.I am also completely agree with your point that site must be responsive for generating a traffic.Thanks for sharing!
Great information, I do have to admit that I'm not that good when it comes to social commenting and social website posting. But thanks for all the many tips and suggestions, I hope I can host a webinar of my own real soon.
very usefula rticle
Thanks good suggesion
Nice advice
Some of these points are fine but I'm not even sure what point six is all about. And how can you write a post about increasing blog traffic without including a point about the importance of guest blogging? That should be in here too, no?
Hi Sara,This article explains what long-tail keywords are, and why targeting them is so important. Also, guest blogging was mentioned in point seven.Thanks for reading.Dan
I used the same or some of the SEO tips when I started and I did saw an increase in my website traffic. But there's one mistake that I did to my blogs - It is cluttering my blog with ads. So, remember to always use Optimized images & lesser ads for your blog to load your blog/website fast.
Thank you for putting this useful information together. I enjoyed the article. It has refreshed my memory as well as giving me new tools to increase traffic to my site.
Your article is really beneficial for me. Thanks for your article.
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