Want to Increase Website Traffic? Follow These 9 Actionable Steps

 

Do you want to increase website traffic ?

 

Obviously you will say – Yes!

 

In this post I’m going to show you how you can increase website traffic on your website using these simple yet actionable 9 steps.

Let’s begin!

1. Online advertising

If you are relatively new in the business then it can take some time to appear your site on the first page results.

 

But you don’t want to keep waiting for your site to come in top search results on google then you can go for online advertising.

 

Paid Search traffic, advertising on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter can bring instantly traffic to your website.

 

We just don’t want more traffic we want to increase conversion too!

 

Probably that’s the main reason why we are spending money on it.

 

If you’re unable to generate profit out of your ad campaign then there is no need of running it.

 

I can’t take example of any specific product or service here but but i will be briefly covering some tips that you can use to create great ads..

 

The very first thing you need is a product or service that people wants..

 

Now you need to create an ad that includes the description and image of it. If you want some help the best thing you can do is look at the ads of the competitors in your niche.

 

Now create an ad which is hard to ignore something very eye catchy (swipe file).

 

Now put your ads into work..

 

Don’t just rush into it and through thousand of dollars on advertising, Start with a budget of  a $15- $30 day and run it for a week and observe the results that is being generated by it.

 

If it’s favorable then create some more ads with little variations in each of them.

 

But if id didn’t works then try another platform..

 

Never just stick to the one strategy.

 

Keep on experiment different things as well as different platform so that you can know by yourself which ads are performing better then others.

2. Long Tail Keywords

What if I told you that you can increase website traffic without doing any serious effort?

 

You will ask – “How?”

 

By Leveraging long tail keywords in your content.

 

For example terms like “Email Marketing”, “web hosting” are highly competitive and practically it is very difficult to rank on first page with targeting those keywords.

 

Similarly in your niche also there are some keywords on which you want to rank for but they are highly competitive. Right?

 

So what you can do is target long tail keywords because they are much less competitive and you can easily rank for those keywords and most importantly they will always drive targeted traffic on your website.

 

How to get started?

 

Login to your Google Webmaster Tools account. Click on ‘search traffic’ and then on ‘search queries.’

You will see a list of all the keywords you rank for in search engines. Now pick some keywords and simply enter them into Google.

 

For example – I have enter the term ‘Increase traffic’ and then scrolled to the bottom of the the page where a table showed  “searches related to increase traffic.”

These terms are relevant to a term you are already ranking for.

 

So what you have to do is crushing these long tail phrases into the post that rank for the relevant head term already and that’s it..

 

Let the long tail keywords bring traffic to your website.

 

If you are really serious about doing it then you can consider using a tool like LongTailPro.

3. Social Media

Don’t ignore the power of social media – If you’re doing then your are losing lots of traffic and sales!

 

Hot to get started?

 

First of all if are using social media just for asking people to buy your product or services or visit your blog.

 

Then you are doing a big mistake. Stop doing it right now!

 

Provide some values to your readers and try  to develop a personal bond with your followers.

 

When you really provide good values to your followers it means the next time you will publish something they are only left with the option to visit your website.

 

Why?

 

Because they are pretty much impressed by the last value you provide to them.

 

You can use tools such as buffer which can help you to repost your old content again and again so that you just not receive traffic on your new post only but on the old posts as well..

 

Also you need to be actively participate in this whole process. If someone is leaving comments on your facebook posts then answer answer the question and start engaging yourself with your readers.

 

Few months ago when i published an article on Shopify vs Bigcommerce i also share it on my Facebook page and see how much it was appreciated by my Facebook followers and not to mention the great amount of traffic that i receive from this post.

 

 

Not only on this post but almost each post that i share on social media receives great response from my followers.

 

Why?

 

Because i always focus on providing values to the readers..

 

So Try implementing it on your site and see how social media drives traffic to your website.

4. Guest Blogging

It’s a topic on which a 3000+ words article can be written and still you will feel like there’s scope of adding something more in to it. I am not covering the entire thing here but I’ll highlight the basics which is enough to get you covered to get started with guest blogging.

 

Guest blogging is a powerful tool that you can use to to increase traffic to your website..

 

The first thing is finding the websites that are related to your niche and accept guest posts as well.

 

How to get started?

 

I’ve arranged some search strings that you can use to find guest blogging sites in your niche:

 

• Your Keywords “guest post”
• Your Keyword “write for us”
• Your Keyword “guest post opportunities”
• Your Keyword “write for us”
• Your Keyword “contributing writer”
• Your Keyword “submit blog post”
• Your Keyword “submit an article”
• Your Keyword “guest posting sites”

 

Now search these queries in Google and you will find such websites that accepts guest posts.

 

Now make a quick list of all the sites that accept guest post and start sorting the best among them, Now you have to contact the owner of the websites – stating that you want to write on their blog.

 

You can use email template similar to this: (Even this also, If you liked it)

 

Hi (name),

 

I’m once among them who regularly follows your blog. Specially your article on (article name) was very helpful.

 

Today I’m writing to you because I’d love to contribute a guest post to Example.com.

 

I’ve been working on some topics that I think your readers would get a ton of value from:

 

-Topic #1

 

-Topic #2

 

-Topic #3

 

I’ll make sure the piece overflows with information that can’t be found anywhere else.

 

To give you an fair idea you can have a look on my previous guests post that I recently published on Example.com (link to your previous guest post).

 

Cheers,

 

Your name

 

Once receiving confirmation email from site editor, The next thing on which you have to work upon is writing a compelling piece of content for their site.

 

The first thing is to find the content which already exists and make it much more better then the previous one or you can write something based on your personal experience with some product or services.

 

Once your post gone live on their blog, the next step is to take a follow up on that post.

 

If any user has left questions in the comment section make sure to answer it properly. This further add values to that piece of content.

 

Don’t forget to send a Thank you note to the editor as it increases your chances of being accepted next time when you contact them again.

 

5. Increase Website Traffic With Headlines

 

If your Headline is not compelling then there are chances that your article will not be read by someone even though it’s comprehensive.

 

You have to work upon your headlines so that every time you publish a new post then it would no longer be ignored or  dismissed by the users.

 

Now days people are so much busy in their lives and if you wan’t them to read your article then it’s the Headline only that will entice them to read your post.

 

Here are some tips that you can use to master the art of creating amazing headlines:

 

• It must be Relevant to the content.
• It should be clear – Something which don’t confuse the reader mind.
• Exciting – In one line i will say that your headline should be something that make users curious and they have to click on it read more.
• Keep it short and straight to the point.

 

Once you have created a perfect Headline it’s time to look at it again and make sure there is nothing left on which you can work upon. Once you’re ready hit that pretty ‘Publish’ button and let the world see your content.

 

I’ve listed some free tool that you can use to generate title of your blog post:

 

• SEOPressor
• Blog topic Generator by HubSpot
• Title maker by Portent
• UpWorthy Title Generator

6. Use a Premium Theme

I’ve seen many bloggers using ‘free themes’ on their blog.

 

It’s okay but only when you are just getting started with you new blog.

 

But as soon as you start getting considerable amount of traffic you should switch to Premium Themes.

 

I’m not against using free themes but there are are some pros as well as cons of using it.

 

Using a premium theme will represent the professional look of your blog to your readers which will make your blog as a brand and also it increase credibility.

 

If you want to continue with the free theme it’s okay but don’t make this mistake which I’ve seen many bloggers doing in their initial days.

 

Placing lots of advertisement and non essential widgets on their blog design.

 

Believe me or not it most of your visitor will find this intrusive and there is possibility that they hit the back button before even reading your articles. So if you want that readers stay for long period then make sure your blog design is beautiful and most importantly it should be practical.

 

Your sidebar plays a very important role in helping your visitor to navigate your blog easily. So grab this opportunity and place something useful widgets.

 

I recommend placing email subscription, search bar, categories, Link to your social media profiles, Popular posts or recent posts. If you want to add advertisement in your sidebar – Do it!

 

If you are using Google Adsense on your blog then it’s not a issue because it will automatically display the relevant ad according to your content.

 

But if you are using affiliate marketing then make sure it matches with your content and also do notplace more then one one advertisement because somewhere it’s look spamy.

 

If you want to add advertisement after your post- Do it too! but make sure before that you display related articles as it will reduce your bounce rate and encourage visitors to stay longer on your blog.

 

Anyways, If you are looking for best solution for premium themes then i’ll recommend you to go with Genesis framework by StudioPress.

7. Write High Quality Content

I know you’ve read this thing everywhere because everyone recommends writing a long article and even i also recommend doing the same..

 

High quality content are most welcomed by your readers and more likely to be shared by others.

 

Always write long and well researched content along with targeting your targeted keywords with in your post in a best possible way. Never focus on quantity of posts instead focus on quality content.

 

One high quality article is better then 10 low quality posts

 

You will get more targeted traffic and more the targeted visitors on your site more the chance they will purchase your products or services.

 

1000 untargeted visitors is not the same as 1000 targeted visitors.

 

I am sharing some quick tips that will help you in writing a high quality content:

 

• Use a good headline
• Share something really useful
• Always be Honest while reviewing product or services
• Use Images
• Use videos
• Use Lists (like this :p)
• Publish infographics

Try to help your visitors as much as you can and if you do they will be thankful to you and there are more chances that they will subscribe to your blog and some day become a loyal reader..

8. Use The Power of Comments

You can also use blog comments as a medium to generate traffic to your blog.

 

If someone is asking a question, take some time ans answer the question thoroughly.

 

It will be reflected as that you are expert in the given topic and will encourage other readers to click on your name and then they will end up by visiting your website.

 

Leaving comments such as – ‘Thank you’, ‘Nice post’ doesn’t add any values to other readers so it will not work..

Don’t use your blog name or insert your link while commenting such as – this is my website www.example.com

 

Rather use your real name as it look more normal and it will look at as that you are just commenting to promote your blog.

 

9. Research Your Competition

This is my favorite pick..

 

The articles which you put on your blog will influence your audiences as well. For example – if you are focusing on topics somethings as ‘tutorial for beginners’, ‘”how to get started’ and so on, then your audience base will be beginners.

 

On the other hand if you are publishing some advanced level posts then it will tend to attract visitors who already have some experience on the subject.

 

The best way to choose your topic is to research your competitor strategy.

 

Let me show you how..

 

First of all pick some most popular posts from your competitor and paste the URL of it Keyword research tool such as SEMrush.

 

Now you can see exactly for what keywords he is ranking for

 

and also the number of Back links that he is having on that particular post.

 

Once you have find your profitable keywords – The next step you have to do is, Go to Google Trends and enter your keywords to further find out whether this topic is popular or not..Like i have done before writing this post.

 

That’s all now you have to write a piece of content that is 2x, 5x or even 10x times better and put focus on your keyword and also embedded some long tail keywords while writing your post.

 

That’s all you are ready to boost your website traffic.

 

One more thing i would like to inform that most website analysis solutions charge a monthly fee to use their service but don’t worry if you’re just starting out your purpose will be solved with their limited version itself (which is completely free to use). Once you find that this tools are worth spending then you can upgrade it later on.

 

Here is the list of some most popular website analysis tool that you can use to begin your competitor research, all of them are paid but everyone comes with free version :

 

• Moz Open Site Explorer
• Ahrefs
• Majestic SEO
• SEMrush

 

You can use any of them which suits your needs. I personally use SEMrush because i find it’s much better then other.

 

So implement this strategy and see how it drive targeted traffic to your website.

 

Now It’s Your Turn

Now I want to hear from you:

 

Do you have different approach that you use to drive traffic?

 

or

 

Something I’ve missed in this post?

 

or

 

Maybe you have a question about something.

 

Let me know about it in the comments section below.