Driving Traffic to your Website
For business owners, creating an online presence can be, at times, stressful and take loads of effort and strategic planning. You are also at the mercy of search engines such as Google and the ever changing updates and algorithms that could disrupt your placement in terms of searchability. While it is important to follow Google’s rules in order to ensure your business has the best chance of being found by customers, there are other ways to generate traffic. Follow along if you’d like to learn more.
Become an Expert and Share
It simply comes down to a popular trend these days - guest blogging. Guest blogging is a great way to drive traffic to your site. But only publish posts that you are knowledgeable on and have something articulate to say. By doing this, you are giving yourself authority in whatever particular niche you are posting to and this will help your brand. Guest blogging leads to exposure and increased reach, so go ahead and give it a shot.
Talk to your Audience
Blog commenting has gotten a bit of a bad rap lately. It’s seen as sneaky way to create link building and is frowned upon by many. However, if done right, blog commenting has its merits. The point is to add value, provide insights to conversations, and expand your network. You are talking with other people, so you want to be well versed in the topic of the article and have valuable input to add. When commenting on an article, make sure to read it thoroughly and understand the subject matter. Crafting well thought, smart, informative comments will again give you authority and help boost your online exposure.
Get Socializing
Social platforms such as Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and others are a great way to get traffic. Be proactive with these networks and share useful, fun and related content with your audience. Make sure to do this often to keep the content fresh. Engaging with other users is a great way to become an active, trusted community member. People will become engaged with you and will naturally want to check out your site and see what you have to offer. Better yet, they will help you spread the word on your goods/services.
Be a Problem Solver
The internet is a wealth of information and with a few easy clicks of the mouse, you can search for answers to questions you may have or problems that need solving. Forums such as Yahoo! Answers and Ask.com contain thousands upon thousands of queries. If you can provide insightful solutions or suggestions to someone else’s problem, you could potentially gain a follower. This in turn can lead to word of mouth about your problem solving skills and willingness to communicate and help others.
Get Friendly with your Email
Businesses can greatly benefit from a mailing list. Make sure you have dedicated space on your website where people can sign up to receive newsletters and email updates. The oh so helpful mailing list is a great way to send out email blasts and let your customers know about upcoming promotions, special deals, important information, etc. And remember to use catchy headings and subject lines - this will ensure a higher opening rate.
Back to Basics
Metadata optimization makes good business sense for basic SEO. Meta tags give people a snippet of what a site or page is all about. This is a great way to entice people to actually want to click on the description and be taken to your site. This is a good practice to keep up on, but remember, duplicate meta descriptions are a no no. Either you take the time to create unique descriptions, or you leave them out altogether.
Take it for a Spin
A great and super easy way to gain exposure is for the experts take your product/service for a spin. If you have a product or good that you are promoting, let the experts test it out and offer their opinion. If you can get the approval from bloggers, industry experts, or individuals who have a large following, this is an excellent way to generate traffic to your site. Good reviews mean more clicks, not to mention the added bonus of building a solid, trustworthy reputation.
Stick with It
No one ever said having a website was going to be easy or an overnight success. It takes time and true dedication. But if you stick with it and stay in your industry and keep plugging away at building your customer base, you’ll increase your chances of showing up in search results. Also, the longer you are around and can offer quality content and valuable knowledge, you will build your trust and authority and people will know to go straight to your site rather than searching around on the internet.