7 ways to increase traffic to your website

Increasing traffic is always a critical concern whether you’ve just launched a website or have been around for a while. After all, whatever the reason you created it in the first place, most people start a site with the intention of it being seen. 

If you’re unsure about where to start, we’ve got you covered. Read on to find out how to drive traffic to your website.

1. Know your niche

The Internet has a lot of advice about launching a site on an underserved topic so that you can become the ultimate authority. And they’re not wrong, but only if you actually have an interest in and knowledge of that topic already. People will see right through you if you only come out with generic content or repackage AI articles as your own. So try to stick to something you have a real interest in so you can put your best foot forward from the beginning. 

2. Create a site worth visiting

Second to knowing what you’re talking about is making a website people actually want to visit. Too many people make the mistake of quickly throwing together a janky website with poor-quality content, then wonder why they haven’t instantly surged to the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs). The answer is simple (apart from the obvious fact that it’s impossible no matter how great your site is): your website is bad, and nobody wants to go there. 

But what is a good website? Outside of personal preferences, it should be:

• Easy to navigate
• Fast to load
• Valuable to the user
• As secure as possible

You can achieve these elements by familiarizing yourself with the basics of website architecture and UX design, optimizing the images, code, and general content of each web page, installing an SSL certificate, and creating quality content relevant to your niche. It might take a little work, and you might need some outside help from website designers and copywriters, but in the end, it will be worth it. 

3. Use SEO

Search engine optimization is a must if you are interested in making traction in SERPs. It’s probably the top answer to how to drive traffic to your website. SEO consists of two categories: on-page and technical. On-page refers to optimizing your website’s content and formatting, while technical primarily refers to coding and backend considerations. You can do many things to optimize your site for search engines, so how in-depth you go will depend on your time and resources. But here are a few basic ways to start:

• Provide value to users: create well-written content that anticipates their needs.
• Targeted keywords: Your content should include search terms relevant to your business so people can find you.
• Format content properly: Always use a title, headings, and subheadings.
• Create meta descriptions and image alt text: These are good areas for inserting relevant keywords.
• Make an XML sitemap so search engines know how best to crawl and index your site.
• As advised in the previous point, ensure your site loads fast and is easy to navigate. 

For more in-depth information, check out Google’s SEO starter guide. 

4. Build a social media following

Whether you want to promote a sale, share content, or engage with your audience, social media is a great way to do that while growing your following and ultimately driving more traffic to your site. It’s essential to be strategic about what you post. Too little, and the algorithm might think you’ve dropped off, but too much, you run the risk of spamming your audience, particularly if it’s all promotional. Research how frequently to post on your platform of choice, and make sure to choose the right platform. Facebook is ideal for targeting older audiences, but Instagram and TikTok suit younger segments better. 

5. Grow your email list

Putting an email sign-up form on your site is a great way to keep yourself on your visitors’ radar. Whether you want to promote content, start an email newsletter, or share a product roundup from your e-commerce store, email can encourage would-be one-time users to return for more. Keep things simple using an email marketing platform that will automate everything for you. And make sure everyone opts in properly — you don’t want to start your email marketing career by violating any data privacy laws, like Europe’s GDPR or CAN-SPAM in the US.

6. Advertise your site

Working on SEO is an effective long-term strategy for getting more traffic to your site, but it might take a while before you start seeing results. In the meantime, a paid advertising campaign could be the trick to seeing faster results. You can choose to go for ads on websites, search engines, social media, or a mix of each. It can be expensive, but it may be worth it if you want to get highly targeted visitors to your site. Consult with professionals if you’re uncomfortable with planning campaigns yourself. 

7. Get quality backlinks

Backlinks refer to when other sites post a link to content on your site. When your site has acquired many backlinks, Google will start seeing you as a trusted authority in your niche, boosting your SEO and ultimately increasing organic traffic. Not to mention if you get mentioned on a popular website, you’ll see a lot of referral traffic come your way. However, these backlinks must come from reputable sources and not spammy sites irrelevant to your niche because otherwise, search engines won’t be so favorable. 

Conclusion

Hopefully, this answered your burning questions about how to drive traffic to your website. This overview of best practices should make for a good starting point in your website growth journey. While it’s not complicated, it does take consistent hard work, so get started with your growth strategy sooner rather than later.