As a freelancer working with businesses, you’re going to be eager to impress the others in your industry with your knowledge of content/link strategies in the digital economy. In this article we are going to take the point of view that you are advising a client:
You are currently in the stage of your business where the growth is essential, but you’re so new that you – as yet – don’t have a marketing budget. You are just going with the flow and seeing what your efforts are costing, and yet you do need to start seeing some measurable results. One of the best ways to do this is with content marketing.
What Is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is self-explanatory – it’s the online marketing strategy that centres around your content and the way that you deliver it. You already know that no matter what, your content must be of the highest possible quality to capture the attention of your audience.
Once you’ve created this content, your task is to deliver it thoroughly so that you build an audience who are genuinely interested in consuming that content. The whole idea behind content marketing is to encourage activity and engagement.
You want to do this by putting the relevant content that you create in front of your leads. When you do this, you can drive your audience toward profitable results on your website.
This includes things like making an outright purchase, signing up to your newsletter or subscribing to receive discounts that are tailored to them. The more you create relevant traffic content, the more people you will see clicking through to your website.
For this, you need to think about website traffic and how important it is to your business.
What Is Website Traffic?
Your website traffic is basically the number of people who view your site. It also incorporates the pages that they view and the length of time that they spend on those pages, browsing your products and services, and getting to know you.
Anytime an individual clicks on your website or the pages within it, their visit is recorded, with any clicked links also recorded. These numbers then tell you how popular your website is and whether you are on the right track with your content marketing strategies.
Why Web Traffic Is Important?
To put it simply, without website traffic, your business will find it challenging to remain relevant in your industry. You need to be able to attract visitors to your website – and every site requires traffic if they want to succeed. The more people are visiting your website, the more you will show up in the search results, and without people visiting, you’re not receiving purchases, and you’re not achieving your business goals.
Without the right demographic providing your website with all the visitors you need; you’re going to find it very hard to do well. Targeted website traffic brings your business revenue, and these are the people who are most likely to be converted into customers who then remain loyal and refer your website.
20 Strategies You Need For Success
With all of this in mind, let’s look at 20 robust strategies that you can use to increase your website traffic and, ultimately, improve your sales rates.
Tip 1: Blogging And Having A Write For Us Policy
When it comes to content, blogging is the number one way to capture the attention of those you want to be interested in your website. Company blogs bring traffic to your website, and it’s an inexpensive and popular way to do it. The cornerstone of content marketing, businesses can bring more backlinks to their website when they blog regularly.
There’s nothing quite like sharing your knowledge, information about what your company is doing and your thoughts on your industry with your audience. More than that, though, your blog gives your company a voice, a personality, and it’s something that can help it to become more popular among your audience and beyond.
One of the best things about blogging is how well it integrates into search engine marketing, whether organic or paid search. Your audience is out there looking for specific keywords on search engines, and if your blog is optimized the way that it should be, it can be first on the list for searches.
Your blog needs to have useful information that people want to read published on it. Without adding value to your customers, you’re not going to encourage them to read what you’re saying again and again. When you do all of this, your site is going to benefit from more targeted visitors, which can then lead to your blog being an authority in your industry. All of this leads to increased sales and better website traffic.
Every business wanting to increase its interaction with its clients and the general public should have a guest posting policy because it increases your online presence and grows backlinks to your website.
It is important that it is managed correctly because it can increase your domain authority or online reputation as an authority on your subject matter. If it is found to be too onerous to manage it can be outsourced. If you want to read about the outsourcing of content and the service we recommend and why click here.
Tip 2: Attend As Many Conferences As You Can
It doesn’t matter what industry you are in; you need to be present in industry conferences. You may be wondering how this relates to traffic, but it does.
Attending – and speaking – at conferences and industry events is going to give you the exposure that you need to encourage engagement on your business website. As people get to know your business, they’re going to get in touch with you and want to find you afterward.
Even a basic conference in your industry is going to open you up to other businesses that will then lead you to be a leader who knows what they are doing.
Once you show the world who you are as a business, they’ll be queueing up to get to your website, which is precisely what your business needs to increase its traffic.
Tip 3: Link Internally Where You Can
One of the top link strategies that you can use to increase your website traffic is to think about your link profile. The strength of your link profile isn’t just about the number of sites that can link back to you. It’s also something that’s easily affected by your internal linking structure.
If you aren’t linking within your own website, you can’t give your customers easy access to other areas of your website. You want to create and publish exciting content, but within that content make sure you add a few backlinks to your own relevant pages.
It doesn’t just help with your search engine optimization, but it also allows your customers to have a better experience with your website.
When you provide value to your customers, you’ll increase your website traffic – nifty! We have a specific article written about how to build a website’s authority which you can read by clicking here.
Tip 4: Add in More Videos
We’ve mentioned blogging, but what about vlogging? Video blogs are becoming more and more popular, especially in recent years. Sites like YouTube have seen to that, with a massive demand right now for an online video being more prevalent here than most other websites.
Most people will head online for YouTube videos and spend up to 40 minutes per time when they are indulging in online vlogs. For the most part, video is easier for the viewer to digest than huge pieces of text, and that’s why video blogs are popular. The best thing? You can add them to your website and make your entire site a more interactive and exciting place to be.
Moreover, when you choose to use video blogs, you are offering your viewer a chance for a personal connection to the audience with the content. You give your website personality, and you allow the audience to view the company with humanity and a voice, not just professional text and uniformity.
Creating video content isn’t as expensive as you may think, either, and the investment that you may make into the right camera and stand to create your video blogs is going to be worth every penny. Your videos are going to draw in the audience, and this is going to generate more website traffic and thus, more sales.
This is going to earn you back the money you spent on equipment, and this is further going to be the right piece of the marketing puzzle in which to invest.
Even something as small as an explainer video is going to give your small business an edge, and you can then backlink your website to a channel on YouTube for a longer and more comprehensive version. This is going to increase your exposure to your website in so many ways, and it’s all because you decided to put a face on your website.
There is no doubt that videos are becoming increasingly important to businesses communicating on the internet. We have taken a close look at the issue with our article Top 20 Ways Video Can Improve A Business Client’s Authority which you can read by clicking here.
Tip 5: Host A Few Webinars
If there is one thing that people love, it’s education. People love to learn about new things, and if they are buying whatever you’re selling, then you can guarantee that they’ll want to jump onto your website and get to know a bit more about you.
If you start to impart some wisdom onto your audience, they’re going to come back for more. The best thing about webinars is that you can advertise for them and get your website visitors to sign up to alerts.
This can increase your website traffic and ensure that your website is shared by your visitors to others who want to engage, too. You can then archive older webinars and promote these on your social media so that new visitors can watch the older content. Believe it or not, content recycling is actually a good idea when the timing is right!
Tip 6: Head For Referral Traffic
Sometimes, it can be difficult to increase your traffic, especially if you’re trying to persuade other websites to link to your site. This is a long process and can be boring to be involved in. Where you can, try to create content that people WANT to link back to, and then go after those elusive websites to catch those links.
Referral traffic can be valuable to your business, but you must make your content valuable enough for others to want to advertise what you’re doing.
Tip 7: Indulge In Social Media
You must do more than just produce great content for your website traffic to increase. You need people to find it. We’re going to talk more about how people can find your website a little later, but one of the best ways that people will be able to find you and your content is via your social media. You must be far more proactive in your social media efforts so that you can connect to your audience.
Social media channels can help you to promote your content and increase your traffic and sales. . Facebook is fantastic for making new conversations, with Twitter being an excellent tool for short and snappy links.
Sites like Instagram are great for video and image content promotion, and Google+ can help your website to remain high in search results. Social media has exploded for both casual users and businesses over the years, and with the right exposure on social media, you can ensure that you are in front of those millions of users.
The best thing about social media is that – unless you make that choice to go for paid ads – it’s free to use. You can connect with your audience directly, and it gives you that mix of both location and opportunity that you need to ensure that social networking accounts work for you.
You can publish relevant, high-quality content without having to try too hard for people to see you, and then you’ll get the click-throughs that you need back to your website.
If you are looking to employ a freelance social media manager or train your own we recommend you read our article Ultimate Business Guide To Employing A Freelance Social Media Manager (Or Training Your Own). You can read the article by clicking here.
Tip 8: Don’t Choose Just One Way to Do It
A big part of your content strategy will be mixing things up. Don’t ever choose just one way to promote your website links or content; you need to mix things up so that you’re doing social media posts with videos and blogs.
You could also be editing your content videos to include swipe up links, clickable instructions, and text for those hard of hearing. There is no one way to have success with content marketing, but a combination of everything in this list can ensure that you get the visitation that you need for your website. It’s this that should tell you that you need to vary the length and format of your content as you go.
Short videos have just as much impact as longer videos and quicker, snappier blogs are just as successful as page-turners. All you need to do is figure out what your audience wants from you and give that to them.
Tip 9: Start Link Building
Mostly, link building is an SEO strategy. However, it’s a very effective strategy for you to improve your website traffic as it relies on you building a growing series of links.
All these links will point back to your business website, and the whole idea is to get backlinks from sites that are highly rated enough so that Google will consider them an authority in their industries. It’s these backlinks that you spend time growing that will boost your search rankings, thus increasing your web traffic and – ultimately – your sales.
When you use this method, your rankings will increase, and your website will appear far higher in the website searches for your target keywords. This will mean that you can get closer to the very first page in the search engine results page and if your site is already lucky enough to be on that page, getting higher in the rankings.
People like to click the first links to the answers that they are looking for, so the higher you are, the more exposure and engagement you get. This will all lead to better conversions because of search traffic and your revenue then increases, too. To be able to pursue link building, you can use agencies that will enable you to have your link posted to guest blogs on websites in your industry.
For example, if you’re selling bespoke jewellery, you can have your link posted on guest blogs for fashion and beauty websites, which hits your target audience. It does take time for link building to work, but the results are noticeable, and you can focus on the content that is most useful to you and build your reputation this way.
Tip 10: Stay On Top Of Your Data
Google Analytics is a valuable tool for any business, and it can help you to keep on top of every single type of data that is on your business website. It doesn’t just track your visitor numbers, but it also tells you which of your pages, blogs, vlogs, and information is the most popular space your visitors go to when they visit your website.
If you keep a close eye on your Google Analytics information is going to give you what you need to help you to decide the best avenue for your content strategies and promotional information. If you pay attention to which pages are the most popular your ones for your visitors, you can understand where the traffic is coming from and capitalize on those avenues.
Tip 11: Post Infographics
People love a picture. A picture speaks a thousand words, and while it sounds like a cliché, it is also correct. Infographics are one of the best content marketing ideas for your business as they take something that is specifically complicated, and they simplify them into bite-sized information blurbs that people can digest.
Infographics can help to convey complicated concepts that bore people, and they do it in vibrant, bright colours that catch the eye and draw the attention.
For web audiences that can only glance over your website quickly, they’re the ideal solution. Infographics can communicate the information that matters the most to your business in a way that is easily read, which makes your website far more attractive to read.
Some sites have pages and pages of black and white blurb, and this can bore your audience enough for them to go elsewhere. You want to increase your traffic, not reduce it, so think about being more convenient for your audience and you’ll manage to make those extra visits and increased sales happen.
Most people skim through websites on their smartphones or tablets while they’re on the go, and infographics are the perfect informative medium to ensure that you are getting your information out there without putting people off.
It’s all about the story that you tell and increasing your website traffic is going to be the result if you design the infographics well enough. Create relevant content on your infographics, and you’ll be able to promote them across social media platforms and make your website traffic rates increase even further.
You can include all the information that is relevant on your infographics, but if you want to go one better, you can also embed codes that will prompt people to share the infographics for you on their own blogs and sites. This also means that your brand name is always out there for all to see. There are so many ways that you can use your infographics to your advantage, and this can include:
- Offer your infographic to other blogs in the same industry as you. They’ll agree to display the infographic on their website, which will point others to you and allow you to increase your website traffic.
- You can go to the media with your infographic if you so wish and see whether any journalists are writing about your industry. This journalist can then refer people to your infographic in the piece that they are writing.
There are plenty of websites out there that can help you to design and create your infographics, and you can then share these on your website so that your audience can view them properly.
Tip 12: Think About Email Marketing
Many companies have forgotten the benefits of email marketing. Really, email marketing should be one of the most essential strings to your content strategy bow. Email is the one consistent way that has been identified as an effective way to regularly drive more traffic to your website.
You can include links and information in your emails which will encourage those who have subscribed to your email list to click through. When you get more traffic to your website via email marketing, you then get a better return on investment. Your email marketing efforts reach your audience directly, and it allows them the control of the relationship.
So, when you are emailing discounts and news, they are interested in what you have to say, and they are in control. When they don’t want to receive your emails anymore, they can simply unsubscribe.
Establish your email data list first, then once you have a long enough list, start to market your information to your audience. This is going to help you to build a good relationship with your audience all in one go.
Tip 13: Paid Search
Content marketing strives to use search engines as well as specific keywords to drive traffic to the websites of small businesses. Google AdWords ads are one of the forms of paid search, and these appear on the very top of the organic search results for your keywords.
These draw the eye of your audience by giving them copy that is relevant to their search. One of your customers looking for what you sell is going to type in a keyword that is relevant to your website or product, and paid search is going to lead them to you.
Your lead will then click the ad and be brought back to your site, which will then direct your customer to a landing page that will advertise the same product or service in the same paid ad on the search list.
Choosing to use paid search for your website traffic will give you the chance to optimize the landing page that your leads will end up on when they click the ad.
When you ensure that your design and content of your landing page is optimised, you will have a better chance of converting your website visitors.
Tip 14: Landing Pages
image credit: www.72pxdesigns.com
Landing pages are essential for driving traffic to your website, and as we’ve already discussed, paid search is very closely linked. Good paid search and great landing pages will drive more traffic to your site, so you need to ensure that you are promoting your landing page correctly.
You can do this with social media and paid search, and when you post your content on your social media pages, you can build your audience with a preview of your landing page.
You can align your brand message and landing page with Google AdWords, too, so that you increase the likelihood that your visitors will be converted.
Tip 15: Ensure Your Site Is Responsive
More users than ever are breaking away from internet browsing on a desktop PC and are moving to use their smartphones and tablets. They’re not plugged in all the time anymore, and the smaller screen means that your website must be responsive to the users online.
If your audience is going to be on mobile devices, then it makes sense that you should make sure that your site is responsive to the different screen size. You don’t want your visitors to have to pinch and scroll; your site must suit them so that you can increase your traffic.
Tip 16: Communicate In The Comments
There are going to be a few sites that are going to be relevant to your industry, and it’s essential that you join in the conversation and make yourself heard. When you communicate with visitors and with other businesses, you can build a following from other websites.
You can make a good name for yourself by providing comments that are thought-provoking and will allow others to take notice of what you’re saying. Leaving interesting comments will drive traffic to your own site, and this is going to help you to engage with others.
Tip 17: Know Your Enemy* (*Competition)
If you’re not looking at what your competition is getting up to, you’re not on top of your game as a business. You can use certain online services that will help you to see what your competitors are doing right.
If you can see what topics they’re posting that really capture the readers, you can see what changes you need to make to your own site. Once you know what people are reading, you can emulate that content and bring the numbers to your site instead.
Tip 18: Build A Community
Your audience wants to know that you give them the opportunity to speak to you publicly and the best thing that you can do is build a community onto your website. It’s an excellent way to start a conversation with your visitors and increase further traffic to your site.
If you enable comments on your blog posts and other pages on your website, you invite a conversation which shows your visitors that you’re the type of business that cares about feedback. You give your visitors a place to as questions, too, which is going to build trust, and this is how your visitors to drive more traffic.
Tip 19: Improve Your Speed
You have around thirty seconds to impress the visitors to your website, and the last thing that you want to happen is that they spend those thirty seconds waiting for the page itself to load in the first place. If your site is going to take forever to load, then you will have visitors bouncing off your website, and your traffic rates will decrease.
You should ensure that your web pages are going to be as technically optimized as possible so that your site loads quickly. The faster your site loads, the more you can ensure that your visitors will continue to come to your site. If your site is slower than your competition, you can kiss goodbye to your traffic.
Tip 20: Enjoy It!
As a business, you are going to thrive on increasing your web traffic as it will subsequently increase your sales. It can be fun to create content and backlinks on blogs that you know are hitting the spot with your visitors. The more you impress them, the more they come back to you.
