Every business needs a good website. But what makes for a good website? A beautiful design doesn’t mean anything if your website isn’t getting enough traffic. If people don’t visit it, you might as well shut it down.
So, whatever your business goals may be, you’ll need to generate traffic for your website. But how do you boost website traffic without wasting too much time or resources?
Many business owners focus on content creation as a way to boost website traffic. But research shows that over 60% of professionals struggle with content generation. About half are unaware of customers’ needs. Many more simply don’t have the right skills to do it well. If you tried content creation – you realized already – it isn’t enough and it’s time-consuming.
Boosting traffic requires serious multitasking. Enhancing social media interactions, email, and ad campaigns are crucial.
But, before we get into boosting tips, we need to make one thing clear – what is website traffic and how does it work? Understanding your own website traffic distribution will guide you in thinking through boosting strategies.
Understanding Types of Website Traffic
Website traffic might sound complicated, but it is actually very straightforward. Simply put – it refers to the volume of visitors on a website. It also allows you to figure out what are the strengths and weaknesses of your site. This is crucial for the success of your business.
“Traffic” also records the digital movements of people on the site. This means that at any given time, you can take a pulse of your website. How many people visit it? What do they like? What do they avoid? How do they get there?
Knowing how your website performs is crucial. If you understand the types of traffic you get, you will be able to do a lot more with it. Think about it – if you know what parts of your website perform well, you know a thing or two about your customers as well. If you know how people find your website – you will be able to “target” them better too.
So, before we move on to talk about boosting, it’s crucial that you know what types of traffic you get and what are the strengths and weaknesses of your site.
The most important types of website traffic are: direct, referral, organic, social, and paid.
Direct Traffic
Direct traffic refers to visits to your website without any search engines. In this case, the user knows your web address and they go to your URL directly. Who would do that? Most likely your returning customers and people familiar with your offer.
So what type of websites have high direct traffic? Most often, these are well-established and solidified brands. For example – Apple. Most people don’t search for Apple on google – they go straight to the website, right?
Another way to get high direct traffic is if people click on your site via other routes. Perhaps they find you in a Microsoft Office or PDF document? Or an app? Many businesses have their link posted on social media too.
Referral Traffic
Ok, so what is referral traffic then? Well, this is when users access your website through external links. Usually, users find your website through Google when they search for relevant content. In this case, the website they learn about you is the “referrer.”
There are numerous ways to boost referral traffic. This depends on your business goals and the kind of value you offer to your customers. For example, if you offer a product or a service you may want to have your product reviewed. This review may be on social media, a blog, or even a magazine or journal. Whoever reads it will then be referred to your site.
Or maybe you enjoy visiting industry forums? This could be a great advantage for you. If you’re active on forums, you will increase exposure too. Whoever reads your posts will likely visit your site too. Your knowledge and exposure will also give them confidence in you and your business.
Organic Traffic
Ok…now you probably heard people talk about organic traffic before…but what is it? Well, organic traffic is when people find your website through online search. Most of these searches go through Google. But, traffic from Bing and Yahoo also contributes to the organic traffic metric. But why is this type of traffic so important?
Well, one of the main reasons is that it takes care of itself. You can set up your site so that your SEO (search engine optimization) boosts your traffic at all times. Another key reason why organic traffic is so important is that it is targeted. When users type a query into a search engine, they are usually looking for a solution or answer to their problem. If you can offer them that solution, they are likely to become your customer.
Organic search is a lot more trusted. People don’t like being sold things. If they ever feel like they are pushed towards your website, they will not engage with it. Isn’t it annoying when a new ad pops up on your screen every second? Paid ads interrupt user’s online activity which is frustrating. But with organic traffic – they find you all by themselves which is usually gratifying.
Social Traffic
So what is social traffic then? Well, as the name suggests, it refers to those users that access your website through social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn – all these platforms account for this traffic. Whenever someone finds you through these channels, it counts towards social traffic volume.
Without this kind of traffic, it’s almost impossible for a business to survive today. A strong social media presence allows you to gain extra exposure and connect with your clients and customers. So, this kind of targeted marketing is one of the fastest ways to boost your website traffic.
If you notice that this type of traffic is low on your website, then you might want to invest more time and effort in your social presence. But let’s save strategies for later. There is one more type of traffic to keep in mind.
Paid Traffic
One of the fastest ways to boost your website traffic is via paid advertisement. Paid traffic accumulates through different channels. Businesses and individuals often pay a certain amount of money to display their websites on different pages or SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). You probably see a lot of ads on Facebook and Instagram too, right?
The best thing about paid ads is that you can target your audience more directly. One of the best examples of the Paid ads platform is Google AdWords. It can plant ads in search engines, as well as into non-search websites, videos, and apps.
Best Strategies for Boosting Website Traffic
Ok, now that we’re clear on different types of traffic – let’s discuss the best strategies. As you can imagine, boosting each type of traffic requires different approaches. To choose the right one, make sure to always keep an eye on your traffic flow. But how?
You can do this by using Google Analytics. Google Analytics will help you identify which type of traffic is most lucrative for your website and what resources are most useful to you. If you notice that one type of website traffic is low – you might want to invest more in boosting it. Or perhaps you find that one type of traffic brings you most business and decide to stick with it and boost it instead?
Whatever your strategy might be, there are a few things that you should consider always.
Solidify Your Online Presence
Social media is an inevitable part of our lives and crucial to business success. Using Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter is the best way to boost website traffic.
Think about it – with about 2.6 billion active users, Facebook is the world’s largest social media platform. But how can you use it to boost website traffic? Well, Facebook offers you the opportunity to advertise your products at low costs.
Ever heard of Facebook Dynamic Ads? This is a unique tool that generates automatic ads for the customers who visit your website. One-click will take your existing customers back to the products they looked at. This preserves the traffic your website is already getting.
Next – do you have an Instagram Business account? Unique stories, posts, and shareable videos will solidify your brand identity. Use posts and stories to link to your website and boost your traffic in no time.
Make sure that your website is linked to all your other platforms and that there is a clear connection between them. Coordinating content and curating different types of material you share across different platforms is key.
Engage Your Audience
Now, simply throwing in ads and Instagram posts in the mix might not do the trick on its own. If you want to boost your website traffic, you have to engage with your audience. But how to do this without wasting hours on comments and messages?
Ever tried automated lead generation feature on Facebook Messenger? With this tool, you can use an automated chatbot to send links to offers on your website. This keeps your traffic consistent without your input.
Now, no one likes pushy sales messages but guess what people like? – Giveaways and discounts! Inform your audience about giveaways and boost website traffic with special offers.
Remember – you must stay personal. It’s important that you use other ways to engage, beyond automated messages. Email campaigns are crucial for staying in touch with your audience. They are a great way to share stories about yourself and your business and invite your audience to visit your website for more content and updates.
Boost your SEO
Now, it’s important to know what happens when someone googles your business or a specific service or product you offer. Are you at the top of the search results? If your website doesn’t come up first, it might be a sign that you need to work on search engine optimization or SEO.
SEO fine-tunes your website to fit the market demand. Matching your titles and meta descriptions to popular searches is key to optimizing your website traffic.
To boost website traffic, you must know the rules that govern search engines like Google. Does your website match them? Ensuring that it does will put you on top of search results and ensure that your website isn’t buried under other content.
Another thing that is very important here is your URL itself too. Whatever your traffic boosting strategy is, having a good URL is key. Make sure it’s simple, brandable, and relevant to your offer.
Boost Your Copy
Now, what’s one thing that social media ads, SEO, and emails all have in common? Exactly – sales copy. Copy can make or break all these tools. If you don’t manage to hook your audience and build a relationship with them – your website will be useless.
Regardless of what path customers take to find your website, persuasive, gripping copy assures customer satisfaction. But, how do you write this kind of copy? What if you don’t know how to do it yourself or cannot afford to hire a copywriter? Well, we have a solution for that too: Instant Scripts.
Instant Scripts is the most powerful copywriting resource available. It provides the most gripping emails, sales pages, and customizable ads you can adapt to your business in seconds. With over 400+ templates, you can boost your website traffic in only a few clicks.
If you are ready to boost your website traffic now, click here to learn more!
