There are many creative ways to increase traffic to your
website. As long as your creating good, original content, you should see a
natural increase in traffic. If you want to help it along, there are lots of
things you can do to give yourself a boost.
Method 1 of 4:
Writing Quality Articles
1. Develop good
headlines. Headlines are the first thing readers see, and are typically the
only thing they see if the article is shared. Your headlines should jump out at
the reader and quickly draw their attention. A good headline can dramatically
increase your views when shared on a social network.
2. Write articles
rich in content. Quality articles will get ranked better in search results.
Make sure that your articles address the needs of your readers, and that they
can find all of the information they need in one spot. This is the most
effective means for increasing traffic to a website; offering people something
that they cannot obtain elsewhere, or at least, not to the level of quality
that you are offering it.
Create content
that is helpful and useful. Simply cobbling together information from another
website will not generate traffic. You need to offer visitors the information
they need to achieve a goal, solve a problem, be entertained, find out quality
news, or just have a good laugh.
Avoid content
generators. While these were once the delight of a fledgling web industry, they
are no longer useful. Putting your own team's creativity online is what is
useful.
Never copy and
paste from another website - Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search engines are
too smart for this nowadays and will detect copied and unoriginal content,
sending you to the bottom of the pile.
3. Address a
niche. Good sites address a specific niche or audience and then become an
expert in that field. You want your site to be the one resource that your
readers go to first. Either start a site based on an interest of yours, or
examine the market and find a niche that hasn't been addressed well. Turn that
niche into your expertise.
4. Create
shareable content. In the world of social media, sharable content is king. Your
content should be easily sharable so that your readers can spread the word for
you. This is a combination of a good headline and an interesting image, as well
as a captivating lead-in. All of this creates a perfect bite-sized chunk of
your article that others can share through Facebook, Twitter, and other
networks.
Lists are
incredibly popular for sharing on social networks right now. Sites such as
Buzzfeed and Mashable make great use of list headlines, such as "10 Ways
to..." or "21 Signs That You're...". These quickly draw the
reader's eye, and are a great way to deal with shortened attention spans.
5. Vary your
article length. You should have long, comprehensive articles as well as short
and to-the-point articles. Let the content dictate the size; don’t spend too
long belaboring a simple point, but don’t be too brief when detail is called
for. research suggests the average length should be around 1,600 words, though
feel free to vary as you see fit.
6. Write articles
frequently. Your blog will be more successful if you have a steady stream of
content. Aim for at least six articles per week. Whatever you choose, pick a
schedule and stick to it as best as possible.
Keep it fresh.
For repeat visits, it is crucial to provide regular updates to the website,
especially in frequently viewed zones. Add fresh content every few days if
possible; at a minimum, weekly.
Consider
outsourcing article writing. If you hate the thought of generating content
yourself, or your team is not writing-savvy, consider outsourcing this end of
the task. Depending on the length, content, specialization and quality
required, prices can start as low as US$5 per article. However, don't neglect
attempting to write your own work - who better than you knows your own
business, hobby or club and can express precisely what needs to be said?
7. Tag and describe
your articles appropriately. The tags, description, and metadata of your
article will affect how well it shows up in searches. It also helps people find
the articles they need.
To have a
fully functioning and successful website, you need to make sure your tags are
in place and your links are not broken. You also need to submit a sitemap file
to Google to have your website show up in Google's search engines.
Use keywords
effectively. This is called search engine optimization and will help people
find your website when they're searching the Web. Make sure the keywords flow
naturally with the text and when you are brainstorming for good words, ask
around for words that come naturally to people of all ages when looking for
your type of site.
Keywords not
only go into headings and page names but also into "meta tags".
"Meta tags" are the software code
that website visitors do not see but search engines do.
Don't overdo
the keywords; over-stuffing keywords will result in a very low search ranking
for your website. Also, be very careful not to place key text inside graphics;
search engines cannot pick up graphics.
8. Build good
links. Link building is incredibly important for websites. This is the process
of creating links that point to your page from other pages. This will happen
naturally as you create quality content, but there are some things you can do
to help build links yourself:
Trading links
with other websites that are closely related to the subject of your website can
bring you more website traffic. These are two-way links because you must
provide a link to them, too, and linking to low-quality websites can threaten
the credibility of yours. Only link to sites that are dead on topic, and truly
help your visitors.
Link back on
related blogs and forums. Find communities that relate to your niche and create
a user profile there. Enter in your site information in your profile and make
quality posts. This will draw people to your site through your profile links.
Contact
companies that relate to your niche. Getting a company to link to your site for
a how-to article, or a blog post related to their product, can significantly
increase your traffic. Try to build some links with companies in your niche.
Set up an RSS
feed. An RSS feed allows your articles to be easily linked in a variety of
other places. Submitting your RSS feed to directories can really give your
links a boost.
9.Link to old
posts on your own site. Make sure that you are linking to related articles that
you've already written. This will help new users find interesting articles from
your backlog, and will keep people on your site.
Add links on
old posts to new ones. If you write an article that relates to an old article
that you did, make sure to go back to the old article and link to the new one.
10. Organize your
content into categories. A well-organized site is much more useful for readers,
and will lead to better retention. It can also help increase the views on your
older articles.
11. Give freebies.
Who doesn't like a freebie?! Online freebies are commonplace and they leave the
visitor wanting more when they are well written and informative introductory
materials. Consider such freebies as:
Giving away an
eBook with your ad on it. Allow your visitors to also give the freebie away.
This will increase your ad exposure and increase web traffic to your website at
the same time;
Holding free
online classes or seminars. They could be held in your website's chat room. The
idea of "live" information will definitely entice people to visit
your website. You will become known as an expert on the topic.
Giving
visitors a free entry into your contest or sweepstakes. The prizes should be something
of interest or value to your visitors. Most people who enter will continually
revisit your web site to get the results.
Letting
visitors download free software such as freeware, shareware, demos etc. You
could even turn part of your site into a free software directory. If you
created the software, include your ad inside and let other people give it away.
Targeting
specific groups who might worry about using the internet with free classes in
using it on your site - senior citizens, busy workers etc. might find these
convenient and alluring.
Offering free
online services or utilities from your website. For instance, they could be
search engine submitting, copyrighting, proofreading etc. The service or
utility should be helpful to your target audience.
Giving free
consulting to people who visit your website. You could offer your knowledge via
e-mail or by telephone. People will consider this a huge value because
consulting fees can be very expensive.
Offering a free
start-up package that has a finite time; enough time for the customer to
practice with your online product and like it enough to pay for continued use.
Sending out
free CDs, DVDs etc. that contain starter packs or teasers to encourage the
customer to use your site more.
Offering free
screensavers or templates for business cards, cards, writing paper etc.,
anything that a customer can print out.
Method 2 of 4:
Creating a Social Site
1.Use calls to
action. Ask your readers to get involved. If the readers feel like the site
owner is interested in them, they will be more likely to continue coming back.
Calls to action engage the reader, and helps keep them on the page. Calls to
action may include asking the reader to write in with responses, sound off in
the comments, or visit a site.
2. Interact with
readers through comments. Comments are a great way to stay in touch with your
readers. Respond to good comments on your articles, and use the comment space
to ask questions. Taking a few minutes each day to respond to the most well
thought out comments will do wonders for your community.
3. Follow and
interact with other sites and blogs. Stay connected with other blogs that
relate to yours. Leave comments on their posts and interact with the
communities. Don’t hawk your site, but allow people to find their way to it.
4. Guest post on
other blogs, and invite other bloggers to guest post on your site. Guest posts
are a great way to drive traffic between related blogs, and allow you to gain
readers that might not normally make it to your site. Be sure to allow any
guest posters to link back to their own site, and share any guest posts the
same as you would your own posts.
5. Start a forum.
A forum is a place for your site’s community to gather together and discuss
everything from your site to anything else. Active forums are also a great way
to become more visible in searches. See this guide for details on creating your
own forum.
As your site
grows, you may need to appoint moderators to your forum. If a community growes
toxic, it can have a negative effect on the traffic to your site. A good
moderation policy is always important for online communities.
6. Advertise your
site. Besides using links, you must make use of numerous other ways to increase
web traffic. There a lot of ways you can advertise your site, both online and
offline:
If you have
money, consider pay per click. The big search engines like Google, Yahoo,
Microsoft provide advertising packages. But find out first how to limit your
expenditure to the level you want.
Go beyond the
electronic medium and into the print medium. Advertise in local newspapers,
business brochures, magazines, nationwide publications and mail-drop
literature. And don't forget the perennial favorite, the good old Yellow Pages™
- printed version naturally!
Small business
cards left in cafés, on signboards, exchanged at meetings etc.
Use local
resources such as clubs, libraries and community centers for non-profit website
awareness raising.
Use word of
mouth. Tell everyone you know about your website, give out business cards to
passers-by in the street, and so on. You might even want to run a guerrilla
marketing program!
Use your car,
especially if your website is area-specific (e.g. a website detailing local
events or selling local services). Get some vinyl decals or bumper stickers
created and turn your car into a moving advertisement, literally driving
traffic to your web site!
Method 3 of 4: Using
Social Networks
1. Use social
networks to expand your reach. Social networking is hugely important, and
ensuring that you have a solid presence will have a large impact on your views.
Post compelling content and you’ll soon build a loyal following. Follow and
share with other users, who may reciprocate and follow you. There are a variety
of ways that you can use social networks to extend your online presence,
depending on the needs of your site.
2. Create a
Facebook page. Facebook allows you to create a page for your site or company.
This allows you to quickly share new articles with your Facebook followers, as
well as share other related articles. A Facebook Page is also a good way to
advertise your site to a large number of people.
3. Post new
articles on Twitter. Create a Twitter account for your site or for yourself,
and post the headline and link to each new article you publish. Many blogging
software packages allow you to do this automatically. Make sure you have a link
to your Twitter feed on your site.
4.Use Tumblr to
gain followers. Tumblr is a blogging service that allows you to easily link to
content around the web. Use Tumblr to post links to your articles as well as
related content.
5. Set up a
Google+ Page. Google+ is Google's social network service, and like the others,
allows you to easily post links to your published articles. Google+ has a very
large potential audience, since all Google users have access to it, though a
far smaller percentage actually use it.
6. Pin your
articles on Pinterest. Pinterest is an image-focused social sharing site. it
started as a crafting and recipe service, but has since grown to cover a broad
range of categories. Make sure that your blog posts have good, clear images if
you're going to pin them on Pinterest.
7. Take photos
with Instagram. Create an Instagram account for your company or site and take
some pictures related to your niche. Be sure to use hashtags to advertise your
blog on the photos, and have a link to your site in your profile.
8. Submit your
articles to Reddit and Digg. Reddit and Digg both have large communities of
active users. Posting your article can result in a lot of good traffic and
sharing, as long as you are posting in the correct place and following
submission rules.
Method 4 of 4:
Drawing the Eye with Good Web Design
1. Build a
cohesive, modern design for your site. If your site is hard to look at, you
won’t retain many visitors. Make sure that your style matches your niche, and that
it is modern enough to be pleasing to the eye and easy to navigate.
2. Balance your
page. To improve your website, balance your page because when users enter a
website, their focus first starts at the top left of the page and hovers there
before slowly tracking to the right. The web user is focused more on the text
of the page, rather than images or graphics. This is where balance comes into
place.
Balance will
not only make your page more visually appealing, but it will make your page
easier to read and items easier to find. A good object will help the objects on
your page flow.
3. Keep it simple.
If you clean your website up by removing all the unnecessary visual elements,
it will allow important items to stand out. You should leave some white space
on the page so the illusion of the space is visually pleasing, as well as
easier to navigate.
Use clean
backgrounds. The background textures and color you choose have the ability to
drastically affect the overall appeal of the website. Lots of texture and
graphics in the background can be distracting. If you are going to use a color
on the background, you should make sure there is significant contrast between
the background color and the text. Be careful when using brighter and darker
colors such as red or yellow. They cause visual fatigue (temporary loss of
strength and energy resulting from hard physical or mental work) and the reader
will lose their focus on the text.
4. Take clear,
high-quality photographs. If you are using photographs on your site, ensure
that they are as high-quality as possible. This may mean investing in a better
camera if you take your own photos.
5. Create a
navigation menu. For easy navigation, you should create a toolbar with links
that are easy to navigate and position the toolbar in an area that makes sense.
Web users often look for the toolbar across the top or down the left the left
hand side of the page. You shouldn't forget a link to your homepage. It’s often
forgotten but very important to point your users to your homepage.
6. Commission art
for your site. If you don’t have much artistic flair, you can commission art
for your site to give it a professional look. This can cost a little money, but
can have a big impact on the feel of your site.
7. Create
infographics. These are very shareable, and dominate social media feeds. There
are sites online that can create infographics for you based on your data and
template choices.
8. Start a
podcast. Podcasts are a popular way to share your thoughts and views with your
readers. They can listen to your podcasts on the go, and you can even earn
money from them.
9. Create a
YouTube channel link it to your site. If your suite lends itself to video,
consider linking a YouTube channel to it. You can embed YouTube videos in your
blog posts and send YouTube viewers to your blog for more details. You can even
monetize your YouTube channel for additional revenue.
