Driving traffic to your website quickly is something we get asked about often. The truth is there is no overnight solution, but if you follow this guide you will be able to create unstoppable traffic to your website within about six months, and your hard work will be more than worth it.  

1. Blogging 

Creating unique and engaging content on your blog is a great way to increase your traffic. Speak with authority and by all means have an opinion, but be careful not to steal content or take credit for other people’s work. 

Be original and enjoy the writing process.  If you don't have time to write yourself, and publish on a consistent basis then considering hiring a copywriter to help you. 

2. Link Building 

Link building is a marketing and traffic-driving tool that involves having other websites link back to your site. There are various ways to do this, from getting a mention in a blog to paying for advertising, but you need to be careful to keep the links legitimate, or the Google crawlers will ignore them. 

Link building is the perfect activity to outsource to a virtual assistant who can help you research relevant websites that you might want to reach out to and build links with. 

3. Social Media 

Use the social media platforms that truly engage with your target audience and leave the ones that don’t. Snapchat, for example, has a very young demographic and is not a strong candidate for many businesses. Stick to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn (B2B), Instagram and Pinterest.  

If you can, try to really master one social platform and stick with that.  Don't spread yourself too thin trying to appear on every platform all of the time. 

Traffic building is about being consistent in your efforts and engaging a real audience.  Find the best social platform for you and stick with it. 

4. SEO and Long Tail Keywords 

Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is an important strategic activity that can turbocharge your website traffic if done correctly. 

Learning the difference between keywords (party planning, birthdays, etc.) and long-tail keywords which are longer and more specific phrases can really help with SEO. Getting help from an expert will speed up the process and will help you target the right keywords for your business. 

Great tools also exist to help you with your SEO efforts - tools like KWFinder and SEMRush. 

5. Guest Blog 

When you are building a brand and trying to ensure you have a solid reputation becoming a guest blogger is a great move.

Getting your blogs published on other people’s blogs helps tremendously with traffic. Being an expert and producing engaging content that links back discreetly is more likely to work than out and out promotion. 

One of the best platforms we've found for getting your content out there online is Medium.com - its got a huge audience and your unique, original content will get a place to shine on this stage. Remember to link back to your original content post on your own website to drive the traffic back to your own site. 

6. Influencer Marketing 

Getting your product or services mentioned by an influencer is a great way to boost traffic. Some influencers will endorse products they genuinely believe in and others will charge for their name, but have a look around and see who is significant in your industry.  

Learn more about influencer marketing in our popular blog post - How To Explain Influencer Marketing To Your Mom.

7. Email Marketing 

Ensure you get your customers to sign up to email updates and include an email capture or pop up on your website.

Don't just build your email list and forget to actually send them content!  Regularly email your list at the same time every week and keep them up to date with what's happening with your brand.  Make sure you have something interesting to say and include a mixture of news, reviews and giveaways or discounts.  

8. Create YouTube Videos 

It's a modern fact. People prefer to watch rather than read.

Video content can be engaging and get your message over in a memorable, engaging manner. Create a YouTube channel, so all your content appears in one place.  

9. Partner with Another Brand 

Wedding venues and wedding cake makers, recruitment agencies and local childcare, by partnering with a complementary brand you can help each other out, drive traffic and recommend each other and solve two customer problems in one hit.  

It's a win, win.

10. Giveaways/Competitions 

People love something for nothing, and giveaways and competitions are perhaps the fastest way to bring traffic.

It is vital to get your entrants to work for you, though, by sharing the competition with their friends and by liking your social media channels.

Always make sure you are clear when asking for emails as part of the competition entry (to build up your email list), explaining how their data will be used after the competition has ended and give them a chance to opt-out. 

Make It Happen In Your Business

To increase your website traffic and number of visitors landing on your content does take time and dedication.  By implementing the range of effective strategies above you will, eventually, see success. 

Gaining website traffic is a process a bit like compound interest on your savings account - it can feel in the early days like you are doing all the hard work and not seeing much progress.  However, it is overtime, as time passes and the cumulative benefits start to add up that the power of these strategies really start to have an impact. 

Next Steps:

• Review what you are currently doing in terms of activities to drive traffic to your website today.  Ask what is working?  What is not working?
• Determine where you may have gaps - perhaps you haven't yet tried launching a competition on your social pages, or maybe link building is a complete mystery to you.  Make a list of which strategies you haven't yet tried. 
• Prioritise the strategies which you feel will deliver you the biggest benefit for your available investment money.  For example - if you already have an email list but don't use it, by sending out a regular email to that list at the same time each week, after a few weeks of regular drumbeat communications and enticing offers, you should see some real engagement from your audience and sales will start to come through.