We have already learned (In our Blog) that a massive proportion of web traffic originates from the Search Engines, and the importance of SEO. So, this post is a reminder that even the best SEO techniques are worthless unless you have content on your website that people want to view. And with the growth in social media, making your content visible is also about your networking and social presence.
1 – Content is King
Unless the material on your web page is interesting or gives the reader some value, nobody will want to visit, or return.
<> Don’t just copy other websites, and if you are providing something similar, then you need to make it better or different in some way.
<> Never copy another person’s content, always create something original.
<> Frequently update and provide new information to encourage visitors to return.
<> Keep your pages and articles short and simple, and keep the amount of scrolling down to a minimum. Few people want to scroll more than about three screens full.
<> Think Mobile! The size and presentation of text and images is even more critical with the explosion in the number of mobile users and smaller devices.
2 – Use Communities & Social Media
Here are some ideas to consider. You will be realizing by now that SEO, traffic, web presence and content are all interlinked and dependent on each other.
Raise the visibility of your business and your brand by participating in relevant communities and user groups. Whatever your product or subject matter expertise, there will be a range of industry groups and consumer groups on social media platforms, or with their own websites where you can both gain and provide information. But use these opportunities carefully. Many groups discourage active selling.
Create brand awareness. As with Blogging and Article Marketing, ensure your content is useful and interesting and not just a pure sales pitch. It’s not all about you, so reply or comment on other people’s articles and discussions. At very least you can leave the contact page URL on your website as a method of responding to you.
3 – Understand the market leaders
Copying the market leaders in your niche will not win you any friends, or many customers. But understanding what they do to be successful, and then applying similar techniques which are specific to your own business and website is perfectly valid. Google tools may help you look at your competitors.
4 – Measurements and Metrics
Understanding which of your products, web pages or articles are most popular, and who visits them will help you to focus investment and resources. Google Analytics and the other tools will provide this information. But only by measuring over time will you be able to build more traffic and achieve better conversions in terms of sales or other activities.
5 – Give Freebies and Coupons
This does not mean that you have to give out free products. But offering something free is a well-established and successful way of getting people to visit your website, or to sign up to your mailing list.
For example, if you have a website that is related to IT you could give wallpapers or screen savers that you have designed. Or you might offer a short e-book or PDF document with some useful information related to your business or products.
Coupons are increasingly popular. Offering limited time discount coupons via your social media presence can be a good way to bring people to your website or online shop.
6 – Advertise
There are many ways to advertise on the internet, and some adverts can be designed primarily to seek new traffic, rather than purely selling products. Google Ads or Facebook Ads are popular because it is possible to be very specific about location and demographics of your target audience.
7 – Build your image or brand
When you are developing your website, you need to have a vision of what you want from it. You need to establish a brand and live up to it. This will take time, but is worth it. Be consistent with how you present your business and its image. Logos, color schemes, adverts, and all the aspects of your online business and online social media presence should be complementary.
If people have a positive experience with your business or product, they are more likely to return or to buy something else if they recognize the brand. They are also more likely to make recommendations to friends, families or colleagues if they perceive that your brand is reputable. All of which helps to build further traffic in the longer term.
8 – Build a quality website
Even if you are just starting up, building a website with a proper domain name and a premium quality WordPress theme will be worth it. This doesn’t need to cost very much, but will probably be a whole lot better than opting for entirely free resources.
As your business and website grows you may need to outsource some of the development and growth. As that time, you need to choose between low cost freelancers or a specialist company. But even a good local web development company may be less expensive than you would imagine. People will not return to a website that is slow, glitchy or very unattractive.
9 – Link Exchange
We already discussed previously in our Blog how Search Engines will increase the ranking of your website if there are a good number of relevant links to and from it. The back links (links to your website from other web pages) are particularly important in this respect. However, the Search Engines will not approve of back links that have been artificially created or originate from a website where you have paid to create such links.
The methods such as using are your own social media pages and carefully targeted article marketing and blogging are perfectly acceptable, but care has to be taken with other forms of back links. Do not under any circumstances use Link farms which are websites set up for the sole purpose of hosting back links for other websites. This practice is now considered totally unacceptable.
If you find other website owners who have websites that are complementary to yours and who are willing to place reciprocal links with you, then that is worth considering. But remember the downside is that you are providing a link to take your visitors away from your own website. Viewed in that context, link exchanging is less attractive. Certainly, it should be at the bottom end of your SEO priority list.
Conclusion
Increasing traffic to your website requires a combination of techniques. It will not happen immediately, and it will take some time. At the very least: create a well-planned website, do the basics of SEO as previously described, and never forget that the content must be good.