Why is it so important to increase your website traffic? Well, the more people that come to your website the more leads you’ll bring in. Most people don’t even know where to begin when it comes to increasing traffic but there are both paid and organic strategies that can help you with this task. We will discuss how each one works in detail below.
What Affects Website Traffic
Different factors affect your website’s traffic. One of those being Google’s algorithms. It’s no secret that Google has an algorithm, and similarly to any other company, they can change it at any time. For example one of the updates to Google’s algorithm was Mobilegeddon. Mobilegeddon was a change that gave preference to pages using mobile-friendly web design. This update meant websites had more chance of ranking well on Google if their site was mobile-friendly and had a properly coded meta description and title tag.
You’re ranking on Google will also affect how you generate traffic. Obviously the higher you rank on Google’s search engine the more likely people will find you and click onto your website. How do you get on the first page of Google? Google does something called indexing. It scans the content on your website and determines how relevant it is to whatever the person is searching for. For example, if someone is searching for a red jacket. Google will look at the content on your website and determine how relevant it is to a red jacket. They do this by looking at how many times red is mentioned in your copy, what type of words you use in relation to jackets, or anything else surrounding that topic to decide where you rank.
On-page search engine optimization (SEO) is another factor. On-page SEO is all about making your site search engine optimized, meaning that it’s easier for search engines to crawl and read through your website. This means having proper H1, H2, H3 headlines, setting up meta-tags and descriptions. Having alt-text on your pictures (because Google can’t see pictures). Setting these up and making sure you’ve included your keywords will help Google determine how relevant your website is to the query.
There’s also domain authority. Domain authority of a website describes its relevance for a specific subject area or industry. The higher the number the more likely your website will appear on the first page of the Google results. In order to get a higher domain authority, you need to create high-quality and relevant content. Quality and relevancy trumps quantity every time. As your domain authority grows your website will start to build trust with Google and in return, you’ll start to appear higher in search engines.
Finally, there are inbound and outbound links. Google likes it when you link to a different website or link to another page on your own website. This is a signal to Google that both of your websites are relevant to one another, which in turn gives them a reason to place you higher up on the search engine.
There are many more things that drive increasing website traffic such as:
- Page Speed
- Website layout
- Content on your website
- Page titles
- and even the location of your business.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what triggers certain rankings but you can speculate.
Want to learn more about Google’s algorithm, read this blog!
Paid Vs Organic Website Traffic
There are pros and cons to each one, but you have a lot more control over your paid traffic. You can place ads in certain places that will attract the right people. On the other hand, organic traffic is free and seeing it grow implies growth of your business and the brand presence you have.
What is Paid Website Traffic?
Paid traffic is quite simply a marketing strategy that you pay for that drives specific visitors to your website. One example is advertising on Facebook or Google Adwords. Otherwise known as social media marketing or digital marketing. You can set up an ad and let it run as long as you want, paying each time someone clicks on it or views it. You can also purchase backlinks for your website. We go more in-depth on this strategy further down.
What is Organic Search Traffic?
Organic traffic comes from search engines. Someone typing something into Google and Google giving them your website as a resource otherwise known as content marketing. Going with our previous example, someone looking for red jackets and Google showing them your website. They found you because Google deemed your website as the best fit for what they are looking for.
Other Types of Website Traffic
There’s also social traffic which comes from sharing your content on social media and participating in hashtags on platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Direct traffic is traffic that comes to your website when someone types your website link in their search bar. For example, typing www.tactycs.io. Instead of going to Google, typing Tactycs and then clicking onto the website.
Referral traffic is traffic that comes to your website from another site, usually through their referral or backlinks.
Strategies to Increase Web Traffic
Use Social Media
The use of social media is one strategy for driving traffic. The key to this, however, is consistency and quality. You need to engage with your audience and show that you care. You can’t just post once and not ever go back. When you engage with your followers it shows that you’re trying and they will want to do the same. If you’re able to provide high value you should notice an increase in your social traffic. If you’re unsure what your audience likes try posting different types of content and see which gets the most engagement.
Want to learn more about what you should be posting on your social media platforms? Check out our blog!
Leverage Hashtags
Hashtags are a great way to drive traffic and visibility. By using hashtags you’ll be put in front of people that you normally don’t interact with. Use relevant hashtags i.e. relevant words to you and the content you’re posting. Otherwise, it will be overlooked. Use SEO strategies such as keyword research to find out what people are searching for and put those keywords into your hashtags.
Blogs
Blogging is hands down one of the best ways to increase search volumne. Because you have so many chances to offer relevant and high-quality information. Not to mention when you post a blog post, not only are you bringing in new visitors but also previous readers who are looking for more resources. Use your blog posts to talk about everything that is related to your industry. The more you create content, the more traffic you’ll get. You’ll also show up as an industry expert, increasing your domain authority.
Follow the link to learn how to optimize your blog post for SEO!
High-Quality Content
Creating high-quality content is one of the best ways to get more traffic to your website. This applies whether to your blogs or on social media posts. You don’t want too much text or images, but rather something that is visually appealing and concisely written. High-quality content is easily digestible, provides value, and contains keywords that people are searching for. If they want to learn more about the topic make sure to always link or include a call to action in your posts so they know what to do.
Unsure how to write quality content? Read out blog to learn how!
Purchase Backlinks
Purchasing backlinks, or backlink marketing, can help you get more traffic to your website and rank higher in search engine results pages. This is due to the fact that this strategy helps increase domain authority, which in turn helps your site rank better. One of the main things to remember when purchasing backlinks is to purchase them from reputable sites. Use sites such as The Hoth.
Use Your Email Marketing Strategy
You should be using email marketing to connect with your audience. Those who are subscribed to you are interested in what you have to say. Sharing a link to your blog content or certain pages on your website are great ways to increase traffic.
Don’t have an email strategy? What are you waiting for!
Paid Advertising
The paid advertising method can be used to gain traffic to your website quickly. It can vary in price depending on the platform you use. For example, Facebook Ads is an affordable option that allows you to purchase targeted traffic. This method is a quick way to get traffic but not sustainable. You’ll likely see a spike while your ad is running and then a drop off once the ad is finished.
Some paid advertising options
- Social Media Ad Platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Pinterest etc
- Search Engine Ads: Google Ads, Bing Ads etc.
- Run Of Site Ads: where a banner or other type of online advertisements appear on any page
Never stop trying new strategies because there is always room for improvement! The idea is to use as many different strategies as you can to drive traffic until you find the ones that work best for your business.