Everyone wants to increase traffic to website but not many of them are able to successfully achieve the goal.
The Internet world today is very much different compared to those old days. There are millions of websites competing for the top spot on Google (as well as other search engines) and the competition is real. It is much harder to increase traffic to website today as it takes more than just writing great content.
However, here are the few things you can do today to increase traffic to website.
1. Focus on search engine optimization or SEO
Search engine optimization is important and you NEED to deploy search engine optimization to your website from day one.
SEO is important for ranking — and if you are looking for ways to increase website traffic, you should never leave SEO behind.
You might hear that SEO can be expensive and complicated. The truth is, SEO is pretty straight forward in many cases. Take a look at the case study below for more information.
Engaging content is important if you want to improve website traffic. This strategy is to ensure that you are able to convert and convince your first time web visitors that your content is great and worth the read.
Creating engaging content involves using various forms of media, typography and even eye-popping visuals.
There are many tools that you can use to create engaging content and here are my favorites.
Canva — The best online platform to create images for free. Paid images and elements are also available at $1 each.
Piktochart — The ability to create powerful and highly engaging infographic without hiring graphic designers or freelancers.
WordPress Visual Builders (Thrive Architect, Divi) — If you are using WordPress, you should ditch the age-old WordPress editor and go for visual builders instead. Tools such as Thrive Architect (demo) and Divi (demo) allow you to create engaging content without using any coding skills.
3. Improve website loading speed
If you want to start getting more traffic to your website, you need to focus on improving your website loading speed.
Food for thought
Do you want to spend 30 seconds waiting for a website to load completely or just under 2 seconds?
In today’s world, speed is everything.
How fast your website loads will determine the time spend of a website visitor … as well as their happiness level.
Your website should load fast and it shouldn’t take longer than 2 seconds to load.
The average attention span for an adult is around 7 seconds.
Therefore, you need to make sure that your content is able to attract them immediately upon their arrival to your website.
By doing this, you will be able to increase website traffic as they will certainly be back for more (repeated web visitors).
Not sure how to make your website loads faster? Here are several guides you can refer to:
If you want to increase website traffic, social media marketing is a must.
What is social media marketing?
In short, social media marketing, or SMM, is a form of internet marketing that involves creating and sharing content on social media networks in order to achieve your marketing and branding goals. In this case, your goals will be increasing website traffic.
5. Collaborate and engage
Last but not least, collaboration and engaging with other peers within your industry is a great way to get more traffic to your website. In other words, influencer marketing is one of the best methods to increase website traffic without spending too much money (or any money at all).
The easiest way to collaborate with another influencer within your niche is through doing outreach and expert roundups. While both of these are pretty much time consuming, don’t forget that these are great ways to ‘borrow’ fans and followers from others.
What is expert roundup?
An expert roundup is a collection of quotes or interviews by influential people in your niche. Each participant should be someone with some authority in your field and that has something to contribute to your readers. The most effective roundups pose a very specific question that the experts can easily respond to.
Are you ready to increase website traffic?
While there are many ways you can do to increase website traffic, the above are the top 5 methods to get more website visitors to your site.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and tell me about it!
For many bloggers, search engine optimization or SEO is very important when it comes to growing a website. And yes, this is wrong! Hell wrong … I should be focusing on reader’s engagement and let me tell you why.
I did two case studies last month and the figures really opened my eyes. Through my experience, new websites on competing on moderate to high competition keywords usually get very less traffic for the first few months. When I read Neil Patel’s Quick Sprout, it made me realized that I could actually grow my website from nothing to something … within days.
What’s worst is that I’m competing on super high competition keywords such as:
Blogging
Internet marketing
Search engine optimization
WordPress
Do you know how much competitions I’m actually facing? Literally, it felt like competing with a quarter of the total websites in the world.
So, this is probably not the question of the year but it sure sounds important for you and me; Why should you focus more on social engagement than plain, straight-forward search engine optimization techniques?
This is not about ditching your SEO strategies but to improvise it. Start thinking out of the box!
Here’s what Google said in the past:
‘In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by increasing the number of high-quality sites that link to their pages.’
This is what Google says now:
‘In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by creating high-quality sites that users will want to use and share.’
Does this make any sense to you? I even underlined the important words for you. So, ask yourself again now; How important is social engagement in Google point of view?
The below are two case studies which I did to see how social engagement affects my website growth and traffic.
Case Study 1
Focused on:
Search engine optimization techniques
Quality content
Using right keywords
My website traffic was pretty low considering that it is new and limited social engagement
Look at the graph. Does that look familiar to you? For me, absolutely yes. Regardless how many new websites I started up, my graph and website traffic has always be like that.
20 to 50 views a day? That doesn’t make the cut! I need to do more and think out of the box; Is there any other way to improve and increase my website traffic?
Case Study 2:
Focused on:
Social shares (social media)
Reader’s engagement
Commenting on other blogs of the same niche
My website traffic increase dramatically when there was comments done on Google+ and social media
Even a young boy could tell the difference right? My website traffic exploded, skyrocketed and increase more than what I expected.
This is H-U-G-E …
In just one week:
Website traffic increase at least 2.5 times more
Over 50 comments received
Bounce rate reduced by 10%
And my Gooogle Adsense revenue grow by 33%
This is H-U-G-E …
Case study 2 isn’t much about the normal SEO stuffs most bloggers talk about … you know, content, keywords and the list continues.
Instead, case study 2 is how clever bloggers and writers grow their websites. Just look at how Traffic Generation Cafe, Kikolani and CopyBlogger grow their websites.
Practically, they did everything every one was doing. From search engine optimization techniques to writing great contents.
But, they did everything with a twist … they added human touch.
What? Human touch?
Human touch is more than just hand shaking
Read some of your articles and tell me if these articles are written for search engines and not for readers. I admit it, even I have some article written for search engines and that’s bad.
I classify human touch as one part of social engagement. When your readers hits your website, you got to make sure that you try your best to get to them and welcome them.
If you are writing a blog or article, make sure you are catering for your human readers and not bots. Readers want to read facts and not SEO optimized articles. Period.
Be a reader yourself to be engaging
Nowadays, reader’s engagement is way more important than content itself.
Always put yourself in the shoes of your readers. Imagine you are visiting a blog and the writer is actually writing for search engines and not for the reader. Would you be back? I guess not.
Sames goes here. When a reader leave a comment, reply to them and tell them how much you appreciate them. I know a bunch of bloggers who don’t reply to comment and this is absolutely why you should … starting now!
You want to your website to grow in terms of traffic, search engine ranking and even subscribers right? You got to do something to make them come back for more! And, you wouldn’t go any wrong with some customer service or human touch I would say.
Small steps could create big improvements in social engagement
Before you even thinking of going into social media, make sure you are ready for it. Update all your profiles and make sure they are good. Yes, real good.
Tip when writing a profile: Compose a short profile where readers can get an idea of what you are in just 15 seconds or less.
You want your readers to engage with you and you want to create a good platform for that. There’s no better way then showing to people what you really are with a good profile and a nice photo of you. Please … no fake photos or some celebrities. That’s a recipe for disaster 🙂
Why reader’s engagement matters?
It doesn’t really matter if the reader is leaving a negative or positive comment. Taking for an example, I received a comment yesterday by Adrian Jock. He pointed out that I had overlooked one of the facts and I didn’t delete that. Instead, I published it and did the right amendment as what pointed out. You can find the article here: The Truth About Aweber And MailChimp.
I used to be a blogger myself who deletes all bad comments and leave good ones instead. Well, even though that is absolutely doable, I wanted to be slightly different.
Now, do a little thinking and do you get the point?
The fact is that any discussion could be a great discussion. It really depends on how you talk it out. I know some comments turned out to be heated one instead. And that, by all means … please avoid it! 🙂
Thank your readers who left comments on your website
A small note of thank you goes a long way especially for bloggers
This is another important part that is important for most readers following from the above. They love to see your reply and yes this is the real deal. I know quite a few bloggers and writers who do not respond to their reader’s comment. If you’re following their footsteps, you should stop right now!
If you want to boost your social engagement level and get your readers to come back for more, you should start talking to them. There’s no better way then thanking them for their time visiting and even reply to their feedback.
For me, I reward my readers and those who leave a comment by using CommentLuv plugin. Basically, anyone can entitle for a free DoFollow link as long as they comment and share the article on social media. Don’t hear my words for it. Instead, here’s the link (it’ll open a new window for you): What is CommentLuv WordPress plugin?
Start leaving your comments on other blogs!
Have you ever encountered a time where you stumbled upon some article on the web and liked it? Why don’t you leave a comment and thank the author for the hard work? Moreover, they deserved it since they had provided some sort of important information for you.
When you are leaving comments on blogs, make sure you make it as insightful as possible. This means that you must scrape off all those thank you and goodbye stuffs. Instead, thank them for the hard work and add some of your thoughts into the matter.
I know probably 90% of the blogs out there do not allow links on their comment right? This is where you should take advantage of CommentLuv enable sites. Sharing good comment and get a link share in return?
I don’t think there’s anything else better than this!
The importance of social share (social media)
Like it or hate it, social share is important. Imagine the webpage had just opened and immediately, your eyes are attracted to the total number of social media shares it has on that page. I bet your mind is telling you that the article is pretty impressive and worth your time reading right?
Yes! That’s it! The more social share you have, the better chance people are going to be convinced on what you’ve to say.
Recently, I’ve been very active on social media and for every like, retweet or share I got on social media, my traffic exploded multiple times. Does this make any logical sense for you?
I bet it do … right?
Writing good content is important but if no one is reading it, there ain’t any point. Therefore, it is best if you can allocate some time around daily for some social shares. Even sharing other articles is also a great move as well!
If you are looking for a good (and free) Social Media management tool, you may want to sign up for SocialOomph.
Over to you …
I’m sure you are now convinced that social engagement is extremely important regardless it is for SEO, website ranking or even increasing website traffic.
What do you think about social engagement and are you practicing it already?
Hit the Reply button below and let’s discuss.
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I bet the title attracts you huh? Pretty sure the title makes you wonder on how I can increase website traffic without much effort right? Nope, this is not a prank and I am not in a business of BS-ing. Carry on reading below to know how you can build website traffic the right way.
I have always been a huge fan when it comes to increasing my website traffic. Personally, I am bored with those conventional methods to increase traffic. I wanted to be different and I wanted more web traffic.
It all happened recently where I decided to write on several reviews especially on blogging tools I used for my writings. You can find the article written here; Top 12 Killer (Must Have) Blogging Tools For Bloggers.
I realized that I could actually gained some exposure through that. Well, I am not talking about writing quality content or doing good backlinks to that article. In fact, I am talking about using social media to boost my website traffic.
Do you know what is the best way to increase web traffic?
Here’s a few facts about increasing website traffic:
The more publicity you get on social media, the better chances search engines will rank the website
The more people shares on that particular website or blog post, the better it will rank on search engine result pages
It is always faster to spread the word with the help of others instead of going in as a lone ranger
Make sense with the above? Think hard if they don’t but I bet they do right?
Write good content even before thinking of increasing website traffic
This is basically the rule I practise, all the time. It doesn’t matter if you want to increase your web traffic or make your site popular, good content is a must.
This is the golden rule guys! Don’t break it.
Simple methods I always use in blogging is to ensure that I have the relevant information, expertise and experience before writing reviews on those blogging tools.
And here’s the juicy part…
How I increase website traffic with minimum (some) effort?
I used to work in a corporate company (in Sales and Operations team) in the past and one thing I learned was, ‘˜If you want something, then ask for it’. For me, this is absolutely relevant in this blogging industry. You may have composed a 1,500 words article that has great content, quality and very information. However, the article is going nowhere if it is not getting the right limelight to shine.
This blogging idea actually struck my mind when I was writing my last article. I realized that everytime I tweet and share an article, only (or at most) 50 of the 900 plus followers I have will actually click on that. In fact, I would consider myself lucky if I would even hit 50 clicks on that. That sucks right? Live with it and that’s what life really is.
Then I thought to myself that it would be absolutely great if I could get others to help me to spread the word. I am not talking of getting services at Fiverr to increase my count. Instead, I am talking about getting not only real people but important figures like the developers to help sharing them on social media.
As a small time blogger, I only have about 900 plus followers, However, look at those famous bloggers and developers. They have thousands of followers. Ask yourself something. Who will create a better ‘˜impact’ when it comes sharing information on social media? You or those developers?
The answer is very clear. They are important figures in the eyes of many compared to us. Things these important figures share will have a better chance of getting more exposure. I am talking about multiple times more exposure than what you can actually gain for Christ’s sake!
Josh from Thirsty Affiliates was more than happy to share my post on Twitter
*Josh, if you are reading this, thank you for that Tweet. Hope you have a good weekend mate!
Did I even mention that Josh is one of the leading guys from Thirsty Affiliates? You know, then guys who turns ugly URL to some beautiful ones? Check it out right here!
Preparation before submitting my articles and blog posts
I wrote several lengthy blog post and I rechecked for their contents. After publishing it for a day, I contacted a few developers and told them that I did a review on their product. Of course, I ended up asking them in a nice way to share it if they liked it. No string attached!
Out of 5 developers and companies I wrote about, 3 responded and they were more than pleased! Two of them told me that they will feature my article either on their websites or share them using social media. That was huge and I thanked them like crazy.
Another company replied by saying that it is not their company policy to do such. However, the management had agreed to offer me a lifetime long discounted rate for their products. In my blogging books, this is moderate huge but for my wallet, it is more than huge! Haha!
What I did when I received those emails from them? I head over to my stats IMMEDIATELY!
I looked at how many traffic I am going to get. Right after the first tweet, I got myself a nice boost of website traffic of 19 views. Not bad at all (I am not greedy yet)!
Stats results within 30 minutes of the first tweet
Traffic improves a little following the next hour
The rest is pretty self explanatory. I received pretty good traffic for that one specific post for the next couple of hours and am pretty sure in the next coming days.
Improve website traffic by thinking out of the box
You see, the above is just an example. This is not only specifically for reviews. Do you know that you can even quote a famous blogger or person and get them to share the post for you?
I am no god or guru when it comes to improving web traffic. However, through experience and many try-an-error methods, things seems to go on smoothly as what planned. At times, website traffic can explode without you expecting and that makes everything even more possible, if you know what I mean.
Now, over to you. Do you have anything in mind to share?
I bet you do and what are you waiting for? Use the form below and share with all of us what you think.
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