You have a new website; now it’s time to build an audience. While driving traffic with ads is one way, there are others, some of which are free.
Following are 10 ways to increase traffic.
1. Understand SEO – Tools like Rank Math and Yoast can offer a baseline of SEO, for adding meta titles, descriptions, and structure data, helping with indexing and targeting keywords. Google Search Console can help identify which keywords and content are ranking for your site. Higher search rankings will follow if you focus on producing quality, high-value content.
2. Use email marketing – Newsletters can be great to drive interest in your site. Keep content punchy, direct, and focused on your audience’s needs, use prominent CTAs to encourage readers to click.
3. Blog – If your site doesn’t have a blog, consider adding one. A blog forces you to write about your space and can increase SEO. Being a trustworthy source can also help you gain traction. Include images and videos to make content engaging and categories to enable readers to browse stories quickly.
4. Guest blog – Once you’ve built your blog, reach out to other website owners in adjacent markets to share perspectives, increase exposure, and gain links back to your site. Cross-promotion can get new eyes on the content.
5. Post on social – Social is one of the easiest, most effective ways to engage with audiences. To start, try making a new page for your site outside of your personal account on Facebook or Twitter. Start plugging it from your personal account and gauge current follower response.
6. Use online directories – Places like Google My Business are a must. Creating a Google My Business profile is free, easy, and makes your business easier to find in location-based searches. You can attach your new website to opening hours, contact details, and location, making it easy for customers to find you among search results.
7. Post on forums – Search for keywords in your industry plus “forum”; you may be shocked by all the people with questions about your space. Reddit has an infinite number of “subreddits” on topics. Start a new thread or jump into discussions to organically promote your page, but make read rules on posting and self-promotion first.
8. Collab – Similar to guest blogging, reach out to influencers in your niche for partnerships benefitting you both. Set a goal and find people who could help you achieve it–from backlinks to creating partnerships. At the least, you’ll build relationships and be included in someone else’s address book.
9. Showcase your expertise – Rich snippets and answers to questions have dominated Google search. Quora allows users to post questions for the community to answer. Link to a blog where you’ve already answered someone’s question or your “About” page to show qualifications.
10. Focus on quality – Strive to produce quality content on your site. If you do, most other things will fall in line. For each piece, you create, assess: what’s in it for your audience?
The author, Erik Anson is head of growth marketing at Ezoic, providing AI technology for online publishers and websites monetizing content with display ads. Erik specializes in web design, content strategy, and blog and copywriting and has consulted and developed media for brands, earning accolades for his agile tactics and lean marketing approaches.
