Let's be honest, getting your website live is only half the battle. The real challenge is getting people to actually visit your site.
Let’s cover 5 effective strategies to drive traffic to a website.
Strategies to drive traffic to a website
1. Blog With Purpose
Okay you know that phrase content is king, this is absolutely true for the internet and blogging is the key. A blog is your way to help your ideal customer, solve people’s problems, answer their questions and ultimately get more visitors to your site. The aim, when someone Google’s “how do I do X” or “best X”, you want to be top of the page.
One of the best tips when it comes to blogging, don’t just write for the sake of it. Write content that is relevant and actually helps people and this is how you will drive traffic to a website. There are loads of tools out there to find what people are searching for, such as AnswerThePublic, UberSuggest and even just Google’s section “People also ask”.
2. Social Media Content
Social media isn't just for stalking your ex and holiday photos, it’s a brilliant way to drive traffic to a website. If you’re in more of a professional industry, maybe LinkedIn is the platform to prioritise, want to sell directly through social media, try TikTok and want a visual portfolio, use Instagram.
Short form videos, behind the scenes photos or long insightful captions all work well to reel in and connect with your audience.
There are several ways you can use social media, from more direct options like linking people to your latest blog posts to simply using it to grow an online presence and keeping your website link front and centre of your profile.
The goal is really to get people to know your value and make them curious enough to click through to your website.
3. Email Marketing: Not as Boring as You Think
Email marketing is probably one of the methods that goes most under the radar. People tend to think, we’ve got enough spam coming into our own emails, who’s going to want to read more?
However, building an email list is an amazing way to create a direct line to people who actually care about what you're doing.
Carefully consider what you’re sending out, send out newsletters, share your latest content and drop some exclusive insights or special offers. The key is making email marketing feel personal, not like a sales pitch each time.
4. Online Directories
Remember the Yellow pages? Well, online directories just act as a digital version of these, except you’ve got your website that people can land on rather than just calling you.
Google Business Profile is a major one of these, a strong profile helps to drive traffic to a website by helping your appear in local searches on Google Maps and Search. Make sure to feature a direct website link alongside your contact details, services, and client reviews.
5. Guest Blogging: Expand Your Reach
Guest blogging is the digital version of "it’s not what you know, it’s who you know". Write valuable content for other websites in your industry, and suddenly you've put your business front and centre with a whole new crowd.
Guest blogging will not only give you exposure to a fresh audience but it will also provide backlinks to your website, which are a valuable metric to help Google see your website as trustworthy.
The Bottom Line
It’s worth mentioning that all businesses and websites are different, what works for one business might not show the same success for another business. With every method, you might have to try different strategies before you hit the one that gives you the best results.
It’s unlikely you’ll get overnight success when trying to drive traffic to a website, it’s a long game. It's about consistently showing up, providing value, and making connections.
Mix and match these strategies or apply what’s right for your business. Remember to monitor, analyse and track what works. Most importantly, be patient.
