Here are things you can be doing right now (for free!) to get more traffic to your website. These practical and simple techniques can help you increase visitors to your website, even without focusing on SEO, content marketing and a full-blown social media strategy.
Whether you’ve just launched a brand new website or have a site that’s not getting many visitors, here are five strategies that you can implement today to let the world know about your products and services. The best part is that each of them won’t cost you a cent!
Before we start, of course everyone would love more visitors to their website but an important question to ask is: are they the right visitors? You want quality traffic, quality leads and quality customers. The following techniques are focused on helping you get the right clientele, people who would be genuinely interested in what you have to offer vs boatloads of people who will never be making a purchase from your business.
How to Get More Website Traffic
1. Use a Proven Sales Technique
40 years ago, insurance companies taught this strategy to all of their sales people. Fast forward to today, it is still being taught in sales courses and is one of the most effective ways to get sales…
Write a list of every single person you know. Not just your close personal friends but think about every single person you know well enough to either personally call, email or connect with on social media. Think about your networks from all the facets in your life – your childhood, career, volunteer experiences, acquaintances, hobby clubs, etc.
With your list in hand, reach out to absolutely everyone and let them know about your website. You could offer a referral incentive if they share it or a special family and friends coupon.
Peer to peer sales (it also works in fundraising) is the easiest and most effective way to reach people. Word of mouth spreads faster than any social media or ad campaign.
There’s already a level of trust – they know you and so it’s not some stranger on the internet. Oh that reminds me of a meme…
2. Post Personally
Post news about your website on all your social media accounts. Be on as many social media platforms as makes sense for your business. It’s daunting when you have 0 followers and a brand-new account but we all started at 0 and you need to start somewhere!
Wondering what to post? You can find “social media calendars” that have tons of content ideas on Pinterest. For example, Sonrisa Studio has put together this incredible calendar with 30 days of content ideas.
Extra Tip!
Something I see so many business owners forgetting is to make sure that your website is included in your bio. For example, on Facebook, if I’m posting in a group and someone is interested in finding out more about me and my services, when they view my profile they can immediately see the name of my company and a link to my website.
3. Join Facebook Groups
Facebook is a great source for connecting with potential website visitors. Join groups that are relevant to your niche. But…you need to go into each group with the mindset that you are here to help, not to wildly self-promote. Answer questions, comment and like other people’s posts. Share articles that you think would be helpful to the group. Don’t go overboard but be engaged. Be present. Be genuine. Be visible. Be an authority-figure for your niche. When it does make sense to promote your products or services (and if it’s allowed – some groups have a strict no self-promo rule), go for it!
4. Connect with Competitors
Look at others doing similar things and reach out to them. Take the approach of community over competition and reach out to introduce yourself. You never know if or when there could be an opportunity for a partnership.
When I first launched one of my websites, I reached out to a competitor who was close by and extremely successful in our niche. I simply introduced myself and let him know that he was a huge inspiration to me starting my website. We connected and he shared one of my articles to his extensive network. That connection helped skyrocket traffic to my site and get it off the ground. To this day, we share each others work on our platforms and it all started with a simple email reaching out to say hello.
5. Connect with List Writers
In the world of SEO, a lot of the top ranking articles are lists that highlight things like “50 gifts for gardeners” or the “10 most unique fashion accessories” Think about what type of lists would be a good fit for your product or services and then reach out to those writers and share your product or services and ask if they will be publishing an updated list in the near future. You never know where those connections may lead.
Bonus Tips
- Promoting your business can be intimating. But remember that you need to be visible in order for people to know about your products or services and as Wayne Gretzy says: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
- People like to do business with people they know, like and trust. Be authentic, be an authority figure and be honest. Keep it personal and use stories to describe how your product and services help people and solve problems.
- Comparison ruins all creativity. Don’t compare yourself to others you have been doing this for years. Even the most successful person in your niche started with 0 followers and 0 traffic. It takes hard work, patience and perseverance to grow your business. Have reasonable expectations and remember….a constant drip of water wears away the stone.
These are just a few quick tips of how to increase your website traffic. I purposely didn’t touch on SEO, content marketing, a full-blown social media strategy, email marketing (and of course ads) as I wanted to keep this list really simple and practical to help you get your website off the ground without being overwhelming.
