Do you have a new product/service or website but no attention or traffic?
Then this article is for you.
I’m going to teach you how to get traffic to your website and quickly. We will discuss how to build your online business model, ways to reach out and get noticed, and the importance of creating content that matters.
What We’ll Cover:
- Offer valuable content
- Budget ads appropriately
- Use social media
- Create brand ambassadors
- Write guest posts
- Create a community
- What comes next
Having a website for your business can be a game-changer in this digital day and age.
It offers a place for your customers to learn more about you, get a feel for how you operate and take a good long look at the products or services you are offering. However, just having one doesn’t ensure your business success.
It won’t matter how great your products are or how excellently written your content is if no one is reading it. But how do you get traffic to your site if no one knows about it?
One of the most typical answers to this question is improving your Search Engine Optimization, or SEO. However, I’m going to tell you to ignore this one – at least for now.
SEO is, essentially, the optimization process that allows your website to be found by search engines like Google and Bing. The higher your SEO rating, the closer to the top of the search engine results page (SERP) your site will be found.
And while SEO is vital for any site, no one starts their website off on day one or even day 90 with high SEO rankings. It requires time and patience.
Instead, I want you to focus on a few more organic digital marketing tactics that will significantly increase and grow your website traffic, without having to worry about SEO just yet.
However, as you go through this post and these various methods, you will find that many of them will help your SEO as well. That way, when you get to a point when SEO matters more, your site will already be well on its way.
Offer Valuable Content/Ads
As a new business/website owner, your number one job is to create advertisements and content that get people to notice you and your brand.
That’s why in the beginning, every ounce of your focus needs to be on ad and content creation.
The thing is, it won’t matter to anyone if that content isn’t relevant or meaningful to your audience. Always give them information or ideas that are useful to them. Give them something they can use right now, in this very instance.
This means really knowing your expected clientele and the market you are trying to pursue. You need to know everything possible thing about your intended audience. Imagine where they live, what they like to do in their free time, how old are they, do they have children, grandchildren, what does their background look like, what are their values or beliefs.
Then, based on this information, you can create information and ads that speak directly to them and not someone who would never be interested in your product in the first place.
Just make sure that whatever it is, it’s unique.
You don’t want to be just another random website offering the same regurgitated information that’s found on thousands of other sites. And you definitely don’t want to plagiarize or only paraphrase what someone else already said.
Use trending topics and information that are key for your industry and make it yours.
Also, think about the various informational formats you can use and experiment with. For example, consider doing a video post on tips for completing a specific project, create an industry-wide newsreel your audience can only get from you, or perhaps simply find a way to create humor and fun out of nearly any tedious, business-related topic.
Another thing to keep in mind is your competitors.
As important as it is to know who you’re selling to, it’s equally important to understand who you’re up against. Think about what makes your product or service different from the competition. Why would someone use your product or service over a similar product by someone else?
Make sure to note this in your content. Don’t brag, but make sure you explain to your readers or customers why your product is precisely the right gadget for them.
Invest in great creative and getting in front of the exact demographic you are going after.
Budget Your Ads Appropriately to Get More Website Traffic
Now that you have created functional, quality, and informational content, it’s time to get it out there for everyone to see.
This is where things can get a little tricky, especially for those of you just starting out, as it calls for investment in online advertising.
The trick is to get a relevant ad in front of as many people as possible. Therefore, just throwing it out everywhere and in any old fashion doesn’t really work.
Instead, do your research. Check out the various advertisement possibilities and see what is required of each. Find out how much they will cost you, both upfront and down the road. Obviously, you want to be spending your hard-earned money in places that give the most bang for your buck and have proven success for your industry and audience.
But depending on your product, business, or industry, not every channel will be a good fit or ideal.
The following are all tried and ture paid advertisement places to try out:
- YouTube
- Bing
However, each has its pros and cons, and, as I said before, some simply may not be worth your while.
My advice is to start small and see where it gets you. For anyone in advertisements, particularly new website owners, you must be able to calculate your cost per acquisition (CPA). This is how much it costs to gain just one new lead, potential customer, or buyer via any particular channel.
This will help you determine what your online business model needs to be.
So, let’s say you spend about $5000 a month on Facebook ads for your brand. As a result, you get about 70 new acquisitions. Therefore, your cost per acquisition is $71. Figure this out for every channel or ad platform you use. Then, compare the cost per acquisition for each of them.
Google Analytics can be an excellent tool for you to see just how much attention a specific ad or blog post is getting you. Look at the Sources Report there. This will show you how much traffic you are getting, where it is coming from, and what your conversion rates are.
You will likely find that some channels are simply better suited for you than others, and the cost per acquisition will reflect that. Naturally, you don’t want to spend money and time on those that don’t give the results you need.
Once you have a good idea of what each channel can offer you, it’s time to scale your ads. Place more ads on platforms that really work and limit the content you place on those that may not be the best option.
However, it’s essential not to put all your eggs in one basket.
In this digital age, it’s critical to be as diversified as possible while still making money. So, while it might seem worthwhile to only place ads on the platform that gets you the most attention, you may find that as time goes on and your ads get better and more widely known, other platforms may be much more useful than they were initially.
As with any process, it’s always a good idea to regularly analyze your ads and how they are working for you, and make changes as needed.
Also, when it comes to building your business model and website, consider a simple funnel to start with, especially if you don’t have a lot of capital right off the bat.
Use landing page builders like Unbounce to get started. These builders tend to be efficient and straightforward enough to get you off the ground and running. Run your ads off of that to get the ball rolling and then build off your progress.
Use Social Media (Often!) to Get Website Traffic
Social media is an absolute must for any brand.
Social channels give brands yet another platform to distribute content and advertise on, and can also be uniquely designed to communicate with your specific audience.
Just like with the content you create for your actual site, your social media accounts should only portray rock-solid information. This should be useful, relevant content tailored to your audience’s interests and needs.
However, it is critical to remember what platform you are using when posting content.
Some platforms, like Instagram and Pinterest, are designed for short, image-driven posts. Similarly, Twitter’s limited character count is tailor-made for brief and tempting links.
Facebook, on the other hand, is a bit more versatile, and you’ll see a good mix of to-the-point posts and longer pieces of content.
LinkedIn is another social media platform that can be extremely useful. As the world’s largest professional social network, material can be published that allows your info to not only get in front of thousands of targeted users but can also increase your professional reputation.
The key to using social media is to post new content regularly. Studies show that people go to social media to learn about their community and things that interest them more than any other avenue, which means if your brand isn’t already on social media, it definitely should be.
Get People Involved with Your Brand
One simple way to get a ton of traffic to your site is by getting others involved. This is especially helpful if those people happen to be well-known and credible within your industry, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start small.
Start by just using friends and family members who may have a vast circle of influence or have valuable connections. Ask them to share your posts, blogs, or ads. Or, tag them on social media channels like Facebook and Twitter to get their attention. This gets your content in front of their friends and sphere of influence.
In addition, you would do well to find social influencers, big industry names, or people you would like to work with in the future and mention them in your posts or content. Be sure to include a link to their site or one of their blogs. You could also write a round-up that mentions several of these people in one space and send a link to each, asking that they link back to your original article in return.
Be sure to email anyone you mention and let them know that you have done so. You can also ask them to share your content on their site, or refer to you in their own post.
And of course, be as personable as possible. You don’t ever want to come off as pushy; after all, you need them, not necessarily the other way around. However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t offer them some sort of incentive or reason for sharing your piece and/or mentioning your site.
Before reaching out, make sure that any content you want them to share is unique and exciting. Influencers don’t want information that is just like someone else’s. They want something unique that hits the mark and can make a difference.
Each time you have a line drawn from your site to someone else, you show people that you can be trusted and are valued by others. The more often you can do this, the better.
You will be amazed at what just one of these influencers could do for your website’s traffic.
These people have likely worked for years to build an audience of thousands or even tens of thousands that could all be potential customers for you.
So, take advantage of those sites or people. Use what they already have to get yourself more attention.
Write Guest Posts to Get More Website Traffic
Guest posting is creating content or a post for someone else’s site, typically a blog.
While it might seem counterproductive to develop content for a website that is not your own, it can offer a considerable amount of traffic to your site.
To find guest posting opportunities, reach out to sites with a similar audience. That way, you know your information will be relevant to them, and they will be more likely to click back to your site.
Ideally, a guest post will include a link back to your site. Your link will allow consumers and readers to easily click over to your website and see what you are all about. Therefore, make sure when you are looking at sites to guest post on that you take look over their rules, specifically whether or not they allow links.
You’ll also want to include a strong author bio for all of your guest posts. This should let readers know a little bit about you and further entice them to check out your site, regardless of whether links are allowed. Create a call to action (CTA) or some kind of incentive for checking out your site.
Likewise, you can also invite other industry leaders and influencers to guest post on your site.
Create a Community of Trust to Get More Website Traffic
Creating trust is crucial to any brand and website.
Clients want to know that when they spend time on your site, with your brand, or invest in your company that they will be rewarded and treated fairly.
One of the easiest ways to do this is to focus on creating relationships.
When someone comments on one of your social media posts or a recent blog, respond to them. Get in there and talk to them. Give them valuable information and answers that can be trusted, and help them out whenever you possibly can.
Don’t be afraid to join Facebook groups, subscribe to mailing lists, or forum/question and answer sites that could get you in contact with even more people who may be interested in your product or who might be in the same industry as you. Be bold and don’t be afraid of being the new guy.
If these communities already have the same demographic that you’re looking for, it allows you to put your content and name in front of people with a proven interest in the types of things you can offer them.
Get into conversations with these people and continue to give sound and valuable advice or information when you can. This gets your name and brand in front of even more people. As they learn to trust you, they will look further into your brand and what you have to offer.
Just remember to think about each community’s audience and whether or not it fits your demographic.
Also, consider your potential click-through-rate (CTR). If you advertise or put content on a channel, you want to make sure you aren’t wasting your time and money by placing an ad where no one is going to engage with it.
Similarly, you’ll want to think about your conversion rate. How many people will buy your product or service and convert after clicking on your ad?
This information will help solidify your entire business model and determine how much you will want to spend in specific areas.
What Comes Next
So, what’s next?
Once you’ve been consistently posting content, reaching out to others and bringing attention to your brand for say, three to six months, you should finally be seeing a different amount of traffic to your site.
This is when you should kick things up and get involved with SEO.
Start paying attention to your ranking within search engines. Begin using the top ten search terms or industry-related awareness terms in your content. Take that money you’ve earned from increased site traffic and reinvest it in SEO and getting ranked.
Conclusion
Alright, I’ve given you lots of ideas to think about and a to-do list that may seem a mile long.
However, it’s completely doable, and you’ll find that it can be really enjoyable as well as rewarding.
Don’t be afraid to try new things and be the new guy. Find what works for you and be the best at it. You will be shocked at just how quickly your business can skyrocket.