Four key ways to drive more traffic to your website (and a free workbook to help you set your website goals)

If you’ve invested thousands of dollars in your website or hundreds of DIY hours and your website traffic isn’t improving, or your conversion rates are satisfying, it’s probably time to figure out why. And while driving traffic to your website is the first necessary step, the ultimate goal is always to turn that traffic into paying customers or donors.

Not all website traffic is created equally, so having one viral blog post or a ton of traffic in one day isn’t going to do you much good in the long run. The goal is to have a consistent audience visiting regularly that will eventually make a purchase, come to your physical store, or make an online donation.

While there are many different ways to increase website traffic, here are four key places you can start.

Use Your Data

First, you should make sure you are using the greatest tool or weapon available to you, which is your analytical data. Most businesses these days have a massive amount of data on different customers and clients (always obtained ethically, of course, and through verifying with your website visitors that they have given you permission to use the data in your marketing efforts). When used correctly and ethically, you can target more personalized and effective messaging to your audience, improve their experience on your website, and improve conversion rates. You just need to ensure that you are using the right data services to store and access the data. 

Go Big With Social Media

You might also want to consider focusing your efforts on the right social media campaign. The best social media campaign will explore a variety of different types of content on a range of social networks. For instance, you might want to think about posting infographics as opposed to presenting information in purely text formats. Infographics are great for providing complex pieces of info and transforming them into bite-size chunks that are far easiest to digest and understand for an audience. (If you’re thinking that infographics are way too time-intensive to create and you wouldn’t have a clue where to start, the team over at Visme has a great guide on how to create infographics!)

You should also look at how you can inject personality into your marketing (transparency and authenticity are two huge factors in driving traffic) as this will make people want to connect with the brand by visiting your website. To honestly go big with social media and drive more traffic to your website, remember to tap into free resources for social media marketing. These resources can help you refine your strategies, optimize your content, and stay up-to-date with the latest trends, boosting your online presence and attracting more visitors.

Explore Video Marketing 

In addition to using analytics and social media, tools like video marketing software are exploding right now. One of the ways that you can hit the right marks with your video marketing is by finding the angle. For instance, in marketing, the best way to appeal to an audience is to tell them a story that they can connect to that resonates with them. This isn’t always easy to do, and you need to think about your audience's pain points. You can then pitch the solution to them with the right video. This is particularly beneficial for companies where the product or service is complex or dull. Video doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy - it just needs to resonate with the right person at the right time.

Invest In The Right SEO

Finally, you need to ensure that you are investing in the right form of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). I say the right form because many SEO tactics look fantastic on paper but aren’t going to pay off in the long term. It is essential that you avoid blackhat SEO tactics because this could potentially cripple your online ranking. You should also think about whether you have found the right marketing agency to provide your SEO solution. Some will deliver the same cookie-cutter service to every client, and that’s the last thing you want.

Once you begin to implement these strategies, be sure to monitor your analytics and track your results. I recommend setting some goals upfront so you can record your benchmarks, take note of what’s working, and leave the tactics behind. Before long, you’ll be on your way to consistently great traffic numbers with more sales or donors! If you need help with your goal, here’s a free workbook to get you started!

Go ahead and try these out and then let me know what’s working by coming back to leave a comment!

Until next time,

Andrea

One Nine Design is a digital marketing company helping small businesses and nonprofits learn how to use their website and email list to grow their reach and make a bigger impact!