Congratulations on your awesome website! I mean, you spent a lot of time and/or money on it, right? It shows! Now, you must be wondering how to drive traffic to your website and get more eyeballs on that page to let it work its magic. Driving traffic to your website doesn’t have to be expensive or confusing, but it does require intention. If you were hoping someone else would handle that for you, you might be out of luck. (Of course you can always throw more money at it. 😉
Because this topic comes up frequently for my clients, I thought I might throw out my list of…
4 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website
… though I’m sure you’ll find many more ways to make it happen as well.
1. Organic Search Engine Results
This is the dream, right? That your website is so awesomely chock-full of high quality content, that search engines like Google and Bing can’t help but rank you #1 for every topic related to your business. Not working for you right away? That’s because organic results tend to take time. If you are hoping to rank well in search engines, the key is to create useful, keyword optimized content.
Use a plugin like Yoast SEO for WordPress to help jump-start your SEO efforts. And be sure to work with a professional who can review your site for the must-have on-page SEO basics. Then, write, write, write. Regular additions to your site through a blog can help get more and more keyword rich content out there to be indexed by Google.
If this is your primary strategy, make sure you are using Google Search Console to track your efforts and get Google to index you.
2. Social Media Posting
Are you on Facebook? Is your business? Be sure to create the obligatory social accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others common to your field and be sure to link to your website content you worked so hard on in #1 above. Also, be sure to participate in conversations and offer your content as a solution or complement to those conversations.
Social Media is a secondary source for business and content discovery right after search engines and is a great way to drive traffic to your website. You’ll want to be sure your business has visibility where folks might be looking for you. Just remember, Social Media is meant to be a relatable conversation, not and impersonal bull-horn to announce your sales and specials…not that that stops many businesses from doing just that.
3. Advertising
Online advertising takes many forms these days, but some of the most common options would be services like Google Adwords and Bing Ads for Search Engine Marketing, Social Media platforms for promoted ads and content, and basic display advertising across industry-specific media outlets.
You don’t have to spend a fortune on online advertising to drive traffic to your website. But it does help to be consistent over time. Look at your existing marketing dollars and look at where you are unable to provide the ROI (Return on Investment). Shift those dollars over to online advertising and evaluate based on the tools each platform provides.
All of the social networks have worked hard to bring their ad platforms close to each other and offer user-friendly features and tutorials. Give it a try!
4. Link Building
Link building enterprises came and went with many changes to Google. But the value of links to drive traffic to your website cannot be underestimated. Whether a local business directory, links back from your vendors or suppliers, or features about your business in the press, each link contributes to your performance in search engines and open a door for visitors to click over to your website as those links are encountered.
Don’t pay for links, though. These should be natural, voluntary, and on reputable sites. Don’t try to fix this item with a quick outlay of cash because Google has made it clear that paying for links is a practice they don’t support.
Chose one or all of the items above to get started on driving traffic to your website. Remember to try all of these approaches and to be consistent over time. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see immediate results either. You’re in this for the long-haul anyway, right?
