Are you struggling to drive more traffic to your website?
It’s a concern that many businesses have, especially early on in their tenure, and it often becomes a frustration when they don’t know what to do.
Because the digital landscape has been rapidly evolving over the past few years – and even more so now because of AI – it’s no longer as simple as having a website and publicly declaring your company exists.
But we’re here to make this more simple for you. It will require some extra effort, but we’ll provide both tips/guidance and some resources that you can act upon today to start getting more website traffic.
Search Engine Optimization = Organic Search Traffic
What some people don’t realize is that a website needs to be optimized to show up appropriately in search engine results. When someone knows the name of your business, it’s easy enough to find your website. But when they’re searching for products or services (for example), they won’t see you unless your website is optimized to show up.
This goes beyond the scope of simply building a beautiful and engaging website. Ranking in search results considers if you’re utilizing appropriate keywords in all the right places, having sufficient content on each page to support those keywords, and your overall website health.
3 THINGS TO IMPLEMENT FOR MORE ORGANIC SEARCH TRAFFIC:
(1) Research Relevant Keywords To Use
Because search terms are constantly evolving (the latest data from Google shows that 15% of daily search words are brand new), you want to base your content on what’s trending. The lowest cost way to do this is to utilize the Keyword Planner in Google Ads; especially since it shows how search volume changes over time.
(2) Complete On-Page SEO Homework
After selecting and injecting appropriate keywords into your web pages, you’ll need to ensure they’re also in your page titles, meta descriptions, and prominent headings (H1, H2, H3). If you have a WordPress website, the free Yoast plugin will provide you with an easy-to-follow checklist while editing each page.
(3) Ensure Your Site Is Mobile Friendly
When you have a web design & development company create your site for you, this is already taken care of. But if you’ve created your website with a DIY builder or made major changes to a developed website, you’ll want to explore this ASAP. Since websites will load differently on phones, your “mobile-friendliness” is a factor that could affect your ability to gain top rankings. Gain quick insight into this using Google’s Mobile Friendly Test.
Blogging = More Keyword Opportunities
Did you know that if you optimize your entire website for the same keyword, you penalize yourself? Having more than one page catered to the same keyword flags cannibalization, and this can make you lose search result positions. Our best follow-up advice is to break content down to have one focus per page, allowing the most appropriate main keyword per page.
But you don’t want to stop with just the top-choice keywords for the core of your site. Opening more doors for more search opportunities and positions is the preferred way to go. If you’ve hit a roadblock because you can’t create more pages as it would duplicate content, consider a blog instead. This way, by answering questions related to your products/services, and thus utilizing additional keywords, you have new opportunities for traffic.
3 SUGGESTIONS TO MAKE BLOGGING EFFICIENT:
(1) Create Valuable, Engaging Articles
Blogging is a way to connect with your target audience when they’re doing their research but aren’t yet ready to call, email, or hit the buy/book button. Consider this in your approach, and make your blog content with a nurturing approach in mind. If you need quick and easy ideas, create an account for either ChatGPT or Claude, educate a channel on your business, and then ask it for blog topic ideas.
(2) Create a Schedule
Since most businesses repurpose blog content for social posting, and eventually come to find a portion of their audience looking forward to new blog articles, it’s good to keep a schedule. Maintaining this will also be key now that search engines are sourcing publications for being both recent and relevant. Stick to a schedule that works for you – whether it be weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Make the planning process a key part of your marketing & social planning process, and it will become just another piece of the puzzle.
(3) Foster Engagement + Have a CTA
Blog posts provide the option to allow comments, sharing, and social likes. By enabling these features, you can create and convey your audience’s interaction with your digital content; which looks good. And by optimizing each blog post (with your SEO checklist), people could find and land on a blog post; so ensure you have a “wrap-up” paragraph that brings the attention back to your business and offers a clickable link to take action.
Social Media = Organic Social Traffic
Like “Organic Search” traffic sources, there are also “Organic Social” traffic numbers that will show up in your Google Analytics dashboard when these clicks take place. In order to promote this method though, you need to have a CTA on some of your social posts that push users over to your website. We find that some people do not realize the need to promote their website in this way because they’re posting on social media.
But unless you’re actively communicating on social media – in such a way that you’re transacting through posting and DMs – then you’ll need to consider driving this form of traffic. The fact remains that while you can set up your profile with a button link to your website, the majority of people won’t see this because they spend most of their time scrolling through their post feed. So having posts that provide the website link is what truly opens up this opportunity.
3 TIPS FOR USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO DRIVE TRAFFIC:
(1) Use The Platforms Your Target Audience Is On
This can take some experimentation if you’re not sure, and that’s okay. Consider who your target audience is and what they like to use. This could very well be 1 – 3 different platforms, and your approach on each platform should consider what the most appropriate content is for it. Curate content to use across the board, but easily alter it and schedule it for all platforms using tools such as Hootsuite or Buffer.
(2) Utilize a Variety of Engaging Content
With your brand presence in mind, you’ll want social content that matches. You want your posts to be engaging and informative so people don’t find content redundant. But you also want it to be an extension of all your other digital content. This is because you don’t want someone’s expectations and perception to change when they go from liking and clicking on a social post to navigating your website. Have fun, but remember to “bring it home” (back to the website when appropriate so that you turn a follower into a customer).
(3) Remember to Engage to Increase Impact
Engagement goes a long way when it comes to social media. You can make the best content in the world, but not see measurable results if there’s little to no engagement. That’s because social platform algorithms will only increase the reach/visibility of any post if people are actively engaging with your content. This entails likes, shares, and comments. Promote this by doing the same to others, and using CTAs on some of your posts to prompt engagement.
Online Advertising = Immediate Exposure
For a more immediate boost to your website’s visibility and traffic, you can consider paid advertising (aka PPC; online ads). It can be costly to do, but it is an investment that can be worthwhile as long as the campaigns are appropriately optimized and hitting the correct target audience. A limited budget and limited runtime can create the bottleneck to big numbers – but each case is different and dependent on the platform and the industry. For context: Your CPC (cost per click) or CPA (cost per acquisition; or cost per lead) will fluctuate depending on both current demand and the budget of competing ads.
But if you have at least $400/month to allocate towards ads, it’s worth a try. Before doing so though, ensure your website is up to date and decide on the target action and offer to utilize for the campaign. Having high-quality photo and video assets will also impact the performance of an ad, and having multiple of each is the preferred approach for experimentation purposes. If you want to consider running an Ad, here’s some starter advice on each platform.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT RUNNING ADS ON THESE PLATFORMS:
(1) Google
Google Ad Campaigns can be set up in a number of ways, but the current go-to tends to be a combination of 2: Search (with Display enabled) plus Performance Max. Since Search Ads rely heavily on keywords, it’s recommended (although optional) to complete the SEO work on your website first. Regardless, it’s best to use the Keyword Planner to decide how the campaign should work. Prepare to have some web development help to ensure conversions get tracked appropriately or else you’ll be paying for “non-results”. Ads on Google are best for long-term use – it takes 30 days to fully optimize a campaign after 7 days of learning, and it only gets better as time goes on.
(2) Meta (Facebook/Instagram)
If your target audience is on Facebook and/or Instagram, this is easily one of the best ways to grow awareness. You can run different types of campaigns – ranging from boosting the visibility of your page, to advertising an offer for clicks (website traffic), to ads that collect leads right on Facebook. By agreeing to run the campaign on both platforms, even if you only have a Facebook page, you get oodles of advertising space. Since this will be through posts, reels, stories, and more, this type of ad often requires the most work for photo and video assets. But since campaigns often start running within an hour of publishing them, it’s a fast track to brand awareness.
(3) Pinterest
Depending on your business, we might recommend LinkedIn over Pinterest; but Pinterest is often an overlooked platform. Pinterest is a search engine in itself – connecting users with relevant content based on what they like to both look at and Pin to their boards. It can be as simple as sharing a photo of a product that links back to where to buy it on the website or creating a high-quality graphic with a keyword-rich description of a resource available online. All Pins are clickable – to the link that’s posted for it – which is how this creates opportunity. If you see a potential to add content to Pinterest, there is also potential for running an Ad Campaign there too.
Online Collaboration = Backlinks + Exposure
Did you know that linking to external websites is an SEO strategy that increases your chances of visibility? But it’s not just the opportunity for another site to link to you that counts. If you have partnerships or client showcases that you can put on your website (with links to them), this is a good way to boost your chances at higher rankings.
But on the flip side, it’s a whole new avenue to have links to your website from elsewhere. This involves curating relationships with organizations that are willing to link to you. It can be as simple as joining groups that list businesses on their website, or as complex as actively reaching out for a digital form of published referral. Creating good, high-ranking blog content is one way to earn links without your knowledge; giving more reason to consider blogging a key marketing strategy.
3 WAYS TO QUICKLY GAIN BACKLINKS:
(1) Join Networking Groups with Websites
There are many great networking groups out there, and many (if not all) have websites. But one thing you’ll want to search for and inquire about is the opportunity to have your business listed on a networking group site. Not only will this look fabulous – because, no doubt, a networking group will be considered a reputable referral source – but it will increase your exposure.
(2) Engage in Online Forums & Groups
Joining Facebook or LinkedIn Groups, or even sharing expert knowledge and input on Reddit and Quora, is a sure way to bring attention to your brand. On the former options, people tend to be more social but will listen and respect your input; which can lead to curiosity about your company that can result in referrals and sales. With the latter options, you have the opportunity to become an authority and go-to advisor on relevant subjects that are aligned with your industry; resulting in possible inquiries that open the door for opportunities.
(3) Reach Out To Relevant Sites To Publish On
If you’ve ever heard of or received emails asking to contribute an article to your website, you’re now going to learn why. Many people will search for reputable websites and ask to contribute content; all with the chance of them gaining a link back to their site. This is an SEO strategy that often goes overlooked because most people see these emails in their Spam/Junk folders. However, if there’s an opportunity to write an article for an industry umbrella company or a related business that will link back to your website, you should seize these opportunities.
Don’t Wait, Start Driving More Traffic To Your Website Today!
It’s safe to assume that these efforts will require investment in the form of time and energy, so we know that it’s not going to happen overnight. Pick the easiest method and start there, but also consider how to implement all of these suggestions.
Since crawlers (those bots that scan websites and decide how to index them within search results) aren’t going to be scanning every single website every day, it will take time to see results. One thing that you can do to nudge this process along is after updating your website [for example], go into Google Search Console and force a new crawl.
Increasing your visibility – and thus, increasing traffic to your website – will take time and persistence. Stay consistent, stay on a schedule, and experiment as needed to find the methods that produce results.
If you need assistance or want experts to step in to help, we’re only a phone call or email away. Whether you’re looking for a standout website that’s mobile-friendly and optimized for SEO, or all-around Digital Marketing Services, book a Zoom consultation call with us. At Northnet Media, we take pride in helping businesses thrive in the digital landscape!