Go out and look around you. You’ll mostly come across many people using their smartphones, laptops, and other gadgets.
It’s no secret that internet usage has greatly skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. With restrictions prompting most of us to remain indoors and stay in touch with the outside world via technology, more and more people are relying on the internet to connect, learn, and purchase.
The internet is now brimming with billions of content as it has become a famous avenue for businesses to market their products and services. This very reason had businesses and organizations vying to be on the top of search engines.
But mastering the art of boosting website traffic is anything but easy. Search for ways on the internet, and you’ll be bombarded with too much information. Lucky for you to be here because, in this article, we’ll dive into effective, time-tested methods for increasing your website traffic this year.
What is website traffic?
It’s simply another term referring to online users who visit a website. The website traffic is measured in visits, often dubbed as “sessions,” and is a standard website performance metric used to determine online business effectiveness. According to Big Commerce, website traffic was the sole, most important metric used to determine a website’s effectiveness. But as researchers and marketers got savvier, analyzing website performance became more diverse and advanced.
Why it matters to your business
Why does website traffic matter, you ask? For starters, if you aren’t attracting visitors to your website, your brand will not flourish in the digital landscape. If you’re not attracting visitors, then you won’t generate sales or achieve your business goals.
That being said, there are the three primary ways you can implement to boost your website traffic number:
1. There is a need for more targeted traffic to generate more sales.
2. Traffic from these targeted users is more likely to stay and return to your website.
3. The more an online user spends time on your website, the more likely they will sign up for your newsletter and revisit your website for deals, announcements, discounts, and new product launches.
Different types of website traffic
Here’s the thing: not all web visits are quality or relevant to your goals. Here are the different types of website traffic and their corresponding meanings, as discussed by Cyber Click.
Organic traffic
This refers to the total number of visitors who conducted research on search engines like Google. Visitors most likely came across your website through the search results. Organic traffic accounts for a high percentage of visits, and one thing you can do to boost organic traffic is by implementing search engine optimization (SEO) techniques.
Direct traffic
Often the least talked about, this type of traffic indicates the number of visitors from various origins. These are users who found your website through typing the URL of your website into the search bar, accessing your site in their bookmarks/favorites, and clicking on a link in an email or non-indexed file.
Direct traffic comes from online users already aware of your site and visiting it on purpose.
Referral traffic
This type of traffic happens when a user clicks your website’s link from external sources like forum or blog. Participating in link building activities has been proven to increase referral traffic. It is the type of traffic that could take the form of blog posts, articles, press mentions, and the like.
Affiliate traffic
Relying only on organic traffic means limiting yourself from more potential audience. Affiliate marketing is a popular method to increase the number of website traffic. Affiliate marketing refers to the method by which an affiliate earns a commission for advertising a brand’s product or service. This is essential if you’re operating an affiliate website. For this, you’ll need an associate to market your website on their network. The payment method happens on a per click, transaction, or contact.
How to boost your website traffic
There are many ways to boost your website traffic, but the following tips have yielded better results than any strategy out there.
Leverage social media
Social media platforms are great traffic drivers. Social media traffic takes place when you utilize your brand’s social media platforms very well, and lead users to your website.
Now, what makes it important?
1) Fostering deeper connections with your target market – The primary goal of social media is to bring people together. Today, anyone has the power to grow their audience on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and other platforms by engaging with online users. Likewise, you can also tap social media influencers to promote your website through sponsored posts.
2) Sharing knowledge and expertise – Through bite-sized contents, you can share your knowledge and entice prospective clients. Talk about your products, services, advocacies, and other interesting topics to encourage online users to visit your website.
3) Increasing online presence – You can massively improve your website traffic and online visibility by consistently providing value on social media platforms.
Here are some social media tips to get you started:
– Know your audience – If you’re a small, start-up business, focus on limiting your social media usage to a maximum of three platforms. Focus your efforts on your chosen platforms to ensure positive results. Don’t forget to pick the right platform/s for your industry. Keep in mind that each social media platform targets a different demographic, so make sure to do research before anything else.
– Post consistently – Being on schedule will keep you accountable and help you grow a steady stream of followers. Don’t forget to include your website link in the captions if necessary.
– Analyze your results – Gauge and assess your social media efforts. Then, with trial and error, you’ll be able to find the proper schedule, strategy, and forms of content for your audience.
– Use hashtags – A hashtag motivates social media users to explore content that matches their interests, which can help brands reach their target audience. In today’s busy world of social media, people can quickly get overloaded with information. Using the right hashtags will make you stand out from your competitors, so make sure to research what your target audience is looking for!
Utilize paid search
This type includes online users who went to your website after clicking on an advertisement from pay-per-click (PPC) advertising networks like Google Ads. Keep in mind that these networks incorporate various types of ads and locations, so make sure to choose which one is more beneficial for your business. For instance, you can use Google Ads to advertise a page in search results.
Optimize your Google Business Profile
According to LocalIQ, an optimized Google business listing garners seven times more visits than an unfinished one. Therefore, don’t forget to take advantage of the free opportunity to set up your Google Business Profile!
An optimized listing includes the following: high-quality photos of your logo, in-store photos (if you have a physical store), reviews/ratings, website link, category, open hours, phone number, and answered questions.
Write and encourage guest blogs
Guest blogging is a two-way method. You can invite people to blog on your website, and you can be a guest blogger for blogs in your niche.
If your guest post gets approved on a high-authority website, the chances of garnering quality traffic increase. Not only will it affect your web traffic, but it will also help boost brand recognition. In addition, if you are a guest poster, the website’s owner will usually allow you to share your website’s link. This will earn you referral traffic, and at the same time, earn backlinks on your site. Indeed, it’s a win-win situation!
There are several ways to search for websites that allow guest posting. According to User Growth, there are the two most popular ways:
1. Use Google search and type in the following on the search bar:
– your keyword(s) + inurl:write-for-us
– your keyword(s) + inurl:guest-post-guidelines
– your keyword(s) + guest-posts
– your keyword(s) + bloggers wanted
– your keyword(s) + inurl:write-for-us
– your keyword(s) + submit an article
– your keyword(s) + contribute
– your keyword(s) + accepting guest posts
– your keyword(s) + become a contributor
2. Use social media. Simply search relevant terms like “guest post,” “guest posting,” or “guest author” to find websites that accept guest writers.
Put backlinks
A backlink is a situation where one page on the internet references your website on theirs through a clickable link. Also known as an inbound or exterior link, it provides an interesting signal to search engines, suggesting that your website is valuable. And when search engines detect its relevance, they will boost the visibility and rankings of your website.
Here’s are some tips you can start doing to increase the traffic coming to your website:
1. Use Haro – In case you missed it, Help A Reporter Out (HARO) is a site where journalists seek help completing an article. Here, journalists post several questions, and if you were able to provide answers, you could get free press. This is where journalists from internal websites such as Entrepreneur, Time, and The New York Times inquire, making it a great place to shoot your shot for quality backlinks to your website!
2. Create infographics – Appeal to visual learners through infographics. One of the many reasons brands love using infographics is that it simplifies complex ideas, making stories more digestible for readers. Brainstorm for content or idea you want to share through an infographic. Make sure it includes an exciting story that your audience will be interested in. You can breeze through current trending topics for inspiration.
Through using long-tail keywords
Producing relevant content is only half of the battle if you want to increase your website traffic this year. Conducting keyword research is just as important as coming up with a creative idea that’ll entice your audience.
When doing keyword research, focus your attention on long-tail keywords. These are words consisting of three to four words, such as “best restaurants near me” or “how to lose weight in 1 month.”
Optimize keywords and match people’s search inquiries. For instance, if your website sells makeup products, then “makeup” and “beauty” should be the focal point of your keywords.
Use these long-tail keywords to craft compelling titles for your articles. You can search for keyword ideas using tools such as Ahrefs’ free keyword generator, WordStream, and Wordtracker.
Improve your On-Page SEO efforts
There are a lot of SEO tactics you can implement on your website pages to boost their ranks in search engines.
Don’t know where to start? Here are some tips you can start implementing today:
Meta description – This refers to the text appearing below your URL in search results. It gives insight or a brief description of what an online user can expect to see on your website. The meta description is only limited to a certain number of characters, making it your only chance to entice online users to click your website link aside from the headline or article title itself.
Well-designed website – Never underestimate the power of having a well-designed website. If your website does not reflect your professionalism or passion for your craft, people will leave and search for others. That’s lost visitors, social media buzz, and potential revenue.
Evergreen content – This refers to any type of content that will stand the test of time, keeping your website on top of the search rankings for long periods.
Use relevant keywords – Keywords are primarily what lead people to your website. To properly utilize keywords, take your website’s elements (images, articles, videos, etc.) and summarize them in SEO-friendly words. Then, include your keywords in your URL, meta descriptions, header tags, and alt attributes to make your website rank higher in search engines.
Titles and headlines – Align your on-page headlines to the language of your audience. Make sure your headline incorporates your chosen keyword/s and accurately describes the page content.
Closing thoughts
The bottom line of this discussion? Don’t put all your eggs in one basket! There are many ways to increase your website traffic this 2022, so take advantage of the best strategies out there! With time and effort, you’ll realize that a diverse approach combining various strategies will help you reach your business goals.
From optimizing your on-page SEO to guest posting, it might take a while until you see results. We at BrightMinds PH can help implement web traffic-boosting strategies that promise results. If you’re interested, you can message us today for a free quote!
