Whether you run a brick-and-mortar shop, an e-commerce store, or some other type of business, increasing the traffic to your small business’s website is important. Your online presence is where potential customers can learn more about the products and services you offer. You want to build up trust in your brand with them, resulting in lifelong customers and sales.
I will talk about the top nine ways you can increase your website traffic at a low cost to you and your business. Read on for more information.
1. Implement Search Engine Optimization
SEO, or search engine optimization, is a highly effective way to drive organic traffic to your website when done correctly. Producing high-quality content that your customers are searching for optimized with relevant keywords is essential to increase your website’s rank in search engines. To know what keywords you need to include on your website, you’ll need to conduct keyword research to educate yourself on what your customers are searching for. These keywords should be included in every section of your website, from blog posts to product descriptions to company information pages.
2. Continually Refresh Your Keywords
Depending on what field or industry you’re in, your keywords can change every eight weeks. You’ll need to stay on top of the ways customers are searching for you and your products online. Choose the top five keywords that you want your company to be known for. Place these keywords in the titles of your blog posts. They should also be throughout your website, like I mentioned, but be careful not to overdo it. You can turn off your target audience by overly stuffing your website with unnecessary keywords. Search engines also don’t react well to keyword stuffing when they evaluate websites.
3. Update Your Website
Is there anything more frustrating than going to a business’s website only to find out many of their links don’t work, and things are out of date? Your website should look professional and have clear information on how your customers can hire you. There also should be a place for them to sign up for your newsletter or fill out a contact form. Have a plan for around three ways to engage visitors when they arrive on your website.
Some examples include:
- Offer them a free quote
- Monthly newsletter sign-up
- Free eBook giveaway
- Ask them to sign up for automatic updates from your blog
4. Start Blogging Regularly
Create a list of pain points that your customers have and develop solutions as blog posts. The content you create should specifically address their needs. Blogging is not only about writing — you can also create podcasts and videos that answer questions and give them their solutions as well. In addition, you can invite authorities in the field to join you on your podcast or do a guest blog on the subject, increasing your credibility.
You should be putting out a new blog two to three times a week. This will help you stay relevant and at the forefront of your customers’ minds. Every blog you should back should be full of good content, so decrease the number of blogs you issue if you cannot produce quality content that often. Blogging is one of the best ways to position yourself as a thought-leader in your chosen field. You can also use your blog posts in your social media strategy.
5. Build Inbound Links
Inbound links or backlinks are links from another website back to your website. When your business gets backlinks from industry influencers or complementary businesses, it helps get your website in front of a bigger audience and drive qualified traffic to your company’s website. Additionally, Google will pick up on backlinks, increasing the search engine’s trust in your website. If it sees trusted websites pointed toward yours, you’ll start ranking higher on the search engine results pages.
Make a list of 10 websites each week that you can get linked from. Comment on blogs, send out press releases, and list your business in directories to achieve your goals. Remember, both the quality and quantity of backlinks are equally important in this tactic.
6. Start Email Marketing Campaigns
Promoting new products, upcoming sales, and sending out regular newsletters is a great way to keep your customers informed about what’s going on in your business. Each piece of content you email to your customers should have useful information and include links to different pages on your website. These links can be to a blog, landing page, or product page. Be strategic with each email you send out, as you don’t want to send out messages that are not relevant to your readers, resulting in them unsubscribing from your database.
7. Develop a Customer Email Database
You’ll need a database of customer email addresses to send out emails to them. One of the ways you can capture email addresses is by creating an eBook or resource guide that you can give to customers for free in exchange for their email addresses; This is called a “lead magnet.” They’re a surefire way to grow your email list by providing your customer with high-value content, establishing yourself as an authority in your field.
8. Make Social Connections
Social media is one of the main places potential customers and other businesses live. Choose the top social network where your target customers hang out online; Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, etc. Use social media to connect and share your blog content as well as new product information and additional content on our website.
Remember, social media is more than just promoting your business. It’s about mutual interaction, and you need to build real connections to gain trust. Use the 4:1 ratio of promoting other people’s content over your own. As you share other businesses ’ posts, you’ll create that relationship with them, and they’ll be more apt to share your content as well.
9. Regularly Engage Online
On that same note, it’s important to engage with potential and active customers as well on social media. If someone makes a comment or asks a question on a post you did, interact with them. You don’t necessarily have to respond, especially if it’s not a question, but simply giving their comment a like or a heart goes a long way in building up customer trust.
While one of the goals of interacting with customers is to drive traffic back to your website to make a purchase, it should be a secondary one. Creating a relationship with your customers is the primary goal. Avoid being overly spammy and posting links to your website in the comments on posts. Your social media bio should include a link to your website.
Implement These Tips to Increase the Traffic to Your Website
You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to increase traffic to your small business’s website. Instead, take the time to research your audience and build up a strategy to connect with them. Naturally, you want to provide them with relevant and high-quality content. While it may take time and patience to build out a marketing campaign, you’ll be pleased with the results as your customer base and sales grow.
Looking for more marketing tips on how to grow your small business? Check out one of my other marketing and branding blogs.