As business owners, we’re always craving more customers. And in the digital world, how do you attract more customers? By increasing traffic to your website.
Whilst paid advertising has its place, not everyone has the marketing budget to implement an effective advertising campaign. And even if you can afford to advertise, there’s no guarantee that it will be successful.
Before you go throwing your hard-earned money into advertising, it’s important that you create a user-friendly website that provides value to users. Whilst this can take time (and is sometimes seen as ‘hard work’), it’s much less expensive than advertising.
Follow these steps to increase traffic to your website for free:
Utilize Social Media
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest… the list goes on. The rise of social media has changed how consumers interact with brands. And if you’re not utilizing social media, you’re missing an opportunity to connect with potential customers.
Social media allows you to actively participate in conversations with a virtual audience. This lets you uncover a customer’s needs and influence buying decisions. And best of all, it’s free to use!
When users on-share your content, this rapidly increases your exposure, which can result in leads, subscriptions, and sales.
Consider platforms like Twitter to create short, punchy messages that spark an interest. If your business is more visual in nature (like interior design), a tool like Instagram can be a powerful way to showcase your products and services.
On-Page SEO
SEO remains all-important when it comes to ranking in searches. And if you don’t have a large marketing budget, it’s crucial that you prioritize on-page SEO.
Start by selecting popular keywords that allow you appear in searches. From here, formulate your content so that it flows naturally and provides users with concise information. Utilize headings and an appropriate text to ensure that your content is easy to read.
Be sure to use internal and external links to reputable sites. This keeps people on your site and builds more organic traffic. Don’t crowd your posts with unnatural keywords (keyword stuffing). And try to refrain from over-saturating your posts with affiliate links. This will make you appear ‘sales-oriented’ and search engines may penalize you.
Some other points to consider:
- Meta descriptions – the snippet used in search engines to summarize your content
- Optimized images
- Image alt text – an attribute that is added to an image tag in HTML
Guest Blog On Other Websites
If you’re new to digital marketing, you may not be aware of the value in guest blogging. However, by guest blogging on a reputable site, you can amplify your brand’s awareness. In addition, guest blogging can draw a significant level of traffic to your website.
Before you pitch your blogging services, keep in mind that you should only guest blog on authoritative websites. Avoid linking to poor quality websites that appear deceitful. This can have a detrimental effect on your brand.
Invite Guest Bloggers to Your Site
It also pays to invite people in your industry to blog on your site. They are likely to provide links to their guest blog, which brings traffic to other areas of your website.
This is proven method to increase traffic, but it comes with a word of warning: Only partner with reputable bloggers and make sure their content is beneficial. If its a carbon copy of someone else’s content, or there’s too many affiliate links, search engines will likely penalize you.
Write Catchy Headlines
Headlines act as a hook that draws in your audience. In fact, a well-written headline will often dictate whether a user clicks on your content.
When crafting a headline, be specific and try to keep it simple. The best headlines will often promise a solution to problem.
You should also incorporate clear sub-headings throughout your piece. This works because users will often scan over an article, rather than read it from start to finish.
Long-tail Keywords
A well-defined keyword strategy should always include long-tail keywords. These are generally three or four phrases that are ultra-specific to your content.
Users tend to search with long-tail keywords when they’re further along in the buying cycle. In other words, when they’re readying themselves to make a purchase.
Long-tail keywords generally have less competition than popular keywords. This makes them a powerful tool to attract more qualified prospects.
Vary Your Content
To appeal to the most people, it pays to mix up your content. This applies to content mediums (written articles, video etc), as well as aspects like the length of your posts.
By creating content that varies, you can target different types of users. As an example, some people search for long-form content that includes statistics. Others may be looking for a clear and concise answer to a simple question. And some users prefer content that includes more visuals.
One type of post that is proven to attract visitors is a ‘list-type’ article (otherwise known as a listicle). These articles – such as ‘5 Ways to Lose Belly Fat’ – work because they grab the attention of your audience. And here’s another fun fact: people are intrinsically fascinated by numbers. Strange but true!
Ensure Your Website is Fast
Nobody likes a slow website. And if your pages take forever to load, users are simply going to bounce. Some ways in which you can improve your website speed include:
- Optimize images
- Compress your content
- Reduce JavaScript & CSS
- Assess which Plugins are necessary
Is Your Website Responsive?
In other words, is your site optimized for mobile devices?
These days, more than half of all web browsing is done on mobile devices. So, if your website isn’t optimized for mobile, users are simply going to find a website that is.
Platforms like WordPress make it easy to select themes mobile-responsive themes.
In Summary
It’s possible to attract visitors to your website for free. But as you’ve seen, there are a number of steps to follow. And this equates to more work.
Ultimately, business owners (within any niche) can be confident of increasing traffic to their website. Here is a quick recap:
- Use social media wisely
- Implement On-Page SEO
- Guest blog on reputable websites
- Invite guest blogger from other sites
- Write catchy headings
- Use long-tail keywords
- Vary your content
- Make sure your website is fast
- Optimize your site for mobile
Keep an eye out for more tips on increasing traffic to your website. And as always, feel free to reach out if you’ve got any questions or comments.
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