You have chosen a great product and designed your online store. Now all you need to do is figure out how to drive traffic to your website so that sales start rolling in.
From social media to non-traditional marketing strategies, this article will help you learn what you need to learn to increase your web traffic. We will also show you what experts do to increase the number of visits to their online stores. And, if you ask yourself: how to increase my website traffic? We share some tools that will help you know how much traffic you are already getting and where it comes from.
25 Ways to Increase Your Web Traffic
Here are 25 ways to increase your website visits:
1. Optimize your website for searches
When you start working on your website, focus on finding keywords that represent your niche to base your website and blog content accordingly. Generally, you should choose one or two main keywords per web page. You can use SEO tools like Keywords Everywhere to find relevant keywords.
First, focus on keywords that have a search volume of less than 10,000 monthly searches. After a few months, creating your blog content and optimizing your product pages, you can use higher volume keywords.
The trick to getting traffic to your website is to first build a solid foundation with relevant keywords. Make sure to take advantage of your online store blog, as it can have a greater impact in driving relevant organic traffic to your store.
2. Experiment with new content
How to increase visits to your website? With new content. Having new content is an SEO strategy that is used mainly to attract traffic to a website. Basically, you have to remove outdated content from your website and add new sections to keep your content relevant. In essence, it consists of constantly updating the content of your website.
An easy way to update the content of your product pages is to have a product review app like Stamped.io. This app allows your customers to leave comments on your product page, while showing Google that you have consistent activity on your page and also new content. You can also keep your product pages “up to date” taking into account the most frequent comments from your customers and add them to your descriptions.
3. Add your website to search engines
Another useful SEO tool is to have search engines like Google crawl and index your website, so that you can increase your chances of showing up on the results pages for relevant queries.
For Google: Submit your site information through Search Console, this free Google tool gives you information about your website, alerts you to potential problems, and helps you analyze your organic traffic performance. All you have to do is log in with your Google account and add your website, you will have to verify its ownership. Next you will have to indicate the domain and establish the frequency of crawling and configure the options to obtain the data you need. Easy enough, isn’t it?
For Bing and Yahoo: you can also use tools like Bing or Yahoo and all you have to do here is log in with your Google, Facebook or Microsoft account and as with Search Console, add your website, provide the URL of your Sitemap and select the options that are of your preference to know the statistics of your website.
4. Build your backlinks
Backlinks are another important component for your page SEO. When an external site links to your website, it tells Google that your website is trustworthy and relevant to the words in the anchor text (the clickable words).
Also, backlinks have the potential to drive traffic to your store on their own. Visitors to other websites will be able to click, land on your page, and make a purchase.
5. Look at what your competition does
In my last e-book, I talked about some of my secrets to doing a competitor analysis. Every time I open a new online store, I always research what are the main sources of traffic for my competitors. This helps me understand which marketing channels I should prioritize in my marketing plan.
Sometimes I use the free Alexa tool. All you need to do is type in your competitor’s website, scroll to “Featured Sites,” and look at the list of web pages that were visited just before landing on your competitor’s website.
If you see that Google tends to be the first option, then you should focus on Google Ads and SEO. If Facebook is number one, then your best bet is to create Facebook Ads. Or if a blog within the niche is the biggest source of traffic, you can then develop an outreach strategy and collaborate with that blog.
6. Optimize long-tail keywords
Another way to increase your free web traffic is with the use of long-tail keywords. While many short keywords may appear in your keyword search, it is important to pay special attention to long-tail keywords or key phrases. Often times, these keywords are more specific, so they generally have less search volume, and as a result, less competition. This means that not only is it easier to rank for these keywords, but it is also easier to know what the visitor is looking for.
When you create a website tailored to the intent of what people are looking for, you are more likely to provide them with the content they are looking for. This will help drive more relevant organic search traffic to your website.
7. Add new products and content to your website frequently
Since one of the factors that determine the popularity of Google is the freshness of its content, it is a good idea on how to increase visits to your website is that you also update the content of your website on a regular basis, daily if possible.
But this is not just a good SEO strategy. It is also a key factor in getting users to return to your website. Because if you have something new to show them, they are more likely to keep visiting your site to find out.
8. Offer exclusive content within your website
Start a blog, create a free course, develop Slide share presentations, host webinars, and post relevant content on your website. Keep a regular posting schedule and allow users to subscribe and have a reason to return to your website.
9. Create questionnaires with the option to share the results
Questionnaires are a very effective tool to gain subscribers that you can use in your content marketing strategy. In 2016, Lead Quizzes users had a conversion rate of 33.6%. Not only will you be able to use users’ emails to send them advertising in the future, but you will also have data about them through the responses to their questionnaires.
But let’s get back to the main goal: your website traffic. When users take a questionnaire, they will be able to share their results on social networks, and their contacts will be able to click on the link to also take your questionnaire. You can use this strategy to generate more traffic and grow your email list at the same time.
The JUSTFAB online shoe store has a questionnaire on its style and shopping website. And they use user responses to offer what they are looking for.
10. Make a podcast
51% of Americans have listened to a podcast, and 32% regularly listen to a podcast at least once a month. This audio format has a large audience, so podcasting to support your brand can also help you drive traffic to your website.
Podcasting can benefit you in many ways on how to increase visits to your website:
Brand awareness: Users will be able to discover you first through your podcast and then visit your website to learn more.
Cultivate relationships with your customers: give added value to your customers through the content of your podcast. You can incorporate an interactive component to give them a closer and more personal experience with your brand.
SEO: If you transcribe your podcasts, you can embed audio and post the text within the blog on your website, which will give you more opportunities to appear on Google for relevant keyword searches.
11. Organize contests and giveaways
By running contests and giving gifts as a regular part of your e-commerce strategy, you will give users a reason to visit your site and increase your free web traffic. This is not to mention the word of mouth marketing that you will get, especially if as part of your strategy you ask users to share your campaign on social networks.
When users enter your contests, you will also have the opportunity to sell to them in the future. Almost a third of the participants will be willing to receive information from the brands.
In addition, you will have specific information about them in regard to their interests, so you can tailor your strategies to their purchasing preferences. Personalization is a great opportunity for brands, as 71% of consumers are frustrated when their experience is impersonal.
12. Master video marketing on YouTube
You can increase your website traffic by creating YouTube ads, adding links to your descriptions, adding links in your video annotations, or having other YouTubers share your links in their videos. By creating a new video at least once a week, consistently and in the long term, you can drive more traffic to your website.
If you don’t have an audience yet, you can reach out to YouTubers who have sizeable audiences and ask them to become affiliates. This can work well in the short term, but it’s always best to try to build your own channels to lower your acquisition costs.
13. Participate as a guest in other blogs
Have you ever wondered, how to increase my website traffic? Participating as a guest in other blogs can help you. Participating as a guest on other blogs works in two ways: you can write as a guest on other sites, or you can accept posts from external contributors (you can do both too!).
Look for popular posts and blogs in your niche. Pay special attention to those with active and engaged audiences or posts that get a lot of attention on social media. Some blogs have very specific rules for guest writers, so you should check this out first. If you can’t find it on the site, do a Google search, something like a guest post: URL.com.
Remember to carefully follow the instructions to be able to publish as a guest. Gananci, for example, has a detailed page and form for users to submit their content:
Generally, guest posts include a link to the websites: in the content, in the author’s bio, or both. Do this to drive traffic to your website.
You can also invite other bloggers within your niche and related brands to post on your blog. Share what you can offer them: do you have a lot of traffic within your blog? A large email list? Many followers on social networks?
14. Boost your website traffic with Facebook
How to increase visits to your website? With Facebook. Although Facebook’s organic reach continues to decline as Facebook prioritizes posts from users’ friends and family, this does not mean that this platform is not powerful. You can get traffic for your website by using Facebook groups, Facebook ads, Facebook Messenger ads, social media posts, and of course by making your own business page on this platform.
Tip: you can check the best times to post on social networks by analyzing the channel you are going to use and which works best for your audience.
As an online store, you can promote your products in the buying and selling Facebook groups to generate traffic to your website from people who are interested in buying your products.
In addition, by combining Facebook ads with consistent posts on your Facebook page, you will increase the chances of getting web traffic from various areas of this social network. Check out the Facebook chat app to share links from your product pages or blogs to potential customers.
15. Try Instagram Marketing
In recent years, people and online drop-shipping store owners have used Instagram to make money, which is why this platform has become an ideal marketing channel for online retailers for its business-friendly features and great audience.
While you can increase traffic by adding a link in your Instagram bio, you can also do it with affiliates – people who market your products for a commission and add your link to their Instagram accounts. You can also search for well-known and well-followed influencers to share your link in their bio. You can increase your website traffic by creating ads and finally adding links to Instagram posts, photos and stories. You can use free tools like showcase to create Instagram photo galleries.
So if you add the link in your bio, it will direct your Instagram followers to your product pages to shop on your website. It will also help increase overall conversions by allowing people to buy your products directly from specific Instagram posts that you have created.
16. Increase your website traffic with LinkedIn
For most online retailers, LinkedIn may seem like the last place to get web traffic. However, it is possible to get a constant flow of traffic from this social network.
Many online stores use LinkedIn to share their PR news. For example, if you recently made a donation to a charity, want to highlight an employee on your team, or took a big step in your business, you can share an article from your website on LinkedIn.
Sharing product links is not common, unless the product is one of a kind. Videos tend to perform very well on LinkedIn in terms of views and engagement, so adding a link to your website in a video post can increase traffic to your website.
17. Use social media buttons to share
Add buttons to share your blog posts, product pages, images and any other relevant content on your website to increase your free web traffic. These social sharing buttons make it easy for users to post your content (including links!), giving you social proof and traffic to your website. When your users’ contacts see these posts, they will be able to click through to your website.
The Liderlamp lamp brand has buttons to share on social networks within the blog of its online store.
18. Take advantage of Twitter marketing
Although Twitter is not a social network that allows you to easily display your products, it is a good source of traffic for your online store. If you want to learn new ways on how to increase your website traffic, Twitter is a great platform to experiment with. You won’t have to worry about the limited range. If you use relevant hashtags, you could reach an audience much larger than your number of followers.
A little trick I do to get Twitter traffic is to write a tweet and tag the people featured in the article. This allows your original tweet to have more visibility, especially if you use relevant hashtags, as it can help you rank higher in the feed for each hashtag you have used. As a result, more eyes will be able to see the tweet, and thus you will get a higher percentage of clicks to your website.
19. Use Pinterest
If you are wondering, how to increase my website traffic with new strategies, then Pinterest is the option for you. Pinterest is one of the best ways to get traffic for your website. If you pin your products and your blog content to Pinterest several times a week, your traffic from this social network can potentially exceed the traffic you get from Facebook. All it takes is for one pin to go viral to get an endless stream of traffic to your website.
If you share a blog post, you can add pins from all the images you use within the post. This will give you multiple opportunities for one of your images to stand out, and as a result, you could drive even more traffic to your website.
Let’s say you want to promote a product page. You can customize the images of your products to make them more attractive and, thus, get more clicks to your website. To increase web traffic from Pinterest, you can try the Pin oculars app that redirects visitors to Pinterest.
20. Try influencer marketing
There are multiple ways to find influencers in your niche to get traffic to your website:
Pay influencers to post about your brand and your products on social media, and make sure they include links.
Get influencers to introduce you to their email marketing campaigns.
Build relationships with influential bloggers to talk about your brand on their blog.
Send free products to influencers and invite them to post an honest review on their channels.
Mention influencers in your content and share the links with them with a “Hi, I wrote about you!” Influencers love attention and get free publicity, so they could share your post with their networks.
21. Promote your online store on Snapchat
With more than 190 million active daily users, Snapchat is another social media platform that allows you to connect with your audience, especially if you are targeting a younger demographic. Create a marketing strategy for Snapchat audience and direct it to your website to increase your free web traffic.
You can also experiment with making Snapchat ads that the user can click on to any URL in your online store.
22. Create your own forum
Use your website as a platform to create your own forum, where you invite people to discuss various topics, and not just about your brand and your products. Make it a respectful community where people can talk about topics relevant to your niche.
This will organically drive traffic to your website, giving people something to come back to – there will always be a new discussion or a new response on active forums. You can add notifications to proactively engage people.
Forums also create more unique content, useful for your content strategy and SEO. This content will already be optimized, since it will be the same users who will use the relevant keywords so that other customers find it.
23. Enter Facebook groups
Facebook’s groups have become particularly popular of late, and many of the ecommerce brands are taking advantage of this opportunity to get directly involved in thriving online communities.
Find groups relevant to your niche, look at the posts, and only join the conversations when you have real value to add. As with forums, it is important to avoid being overly promotional. If you focus on building good relationships, you will generate traffic as a result.
24. Collaborate with other brands
Collaborating with other brands validates your company and places you in front of a target audience. Every brand collaboration should have some kind of digital marketing component, especially if you want to drive traffic to your website.
This could include an email or social media marketing plan, as well as links to your website.
25. Post a press release
Have something newsworthy to share? Write and publish a press release about it. In addition to publishing the release on your own channels, share it on websites like PR Newswire. These web pages can put your press release and brand in front of new audiences, which in turn will allow you to generate more traffic to your website.
Summary
There are many ways to drive traffic to your online store, from social media to in-person marketing. The most effective method for your website will depend on your brand and your customers, and you will only learn through trial and error (plus a bit of optimization).
