How to Drive More Traffic to Your Business Website

Even the most skillfully designed business website isn’t going to do much good if there isn’t traffic going to it.

While a paid marketing campaign can help, many small businesses have a tight budget they need to stick with, so they can’t put a ton of money into marketing.

A website’s purpose is to either sell products to customers or to get the customers to contact the business for further information. If there isn’t any traffic, this isn’t going to happen.

The good news is, there are effective ways to drive more traffic to a business website without having to spend a lot of money on a marketing plan.

Website traffic is the difference between a highly successful website and one that falls flat.

It’s easier to attract visitors when the website is targeted properly, which also makes it easier to convert visitors into leads.

Below are ways to help any website gain more traffic and lead to increased sales.

Here are some ways to get more website traffic.

Start Doing Keyword Research or Hire Someone to Help

The right keywords can make a difference in whether potential customers will find the website.

Research can provide information on which keywords potential customers tend to use and which ones are going to have less competition.

Keyword research can help the website rank higher in the search results, which leads to an increase in traffic for the website.

Create More Links Leading to the Website

Backlinks are a great way to help bring in more traffic, for a few different reasons.

Link building is the process of creating backlinks to the website, which is best done by earning them through real business activities.

This can be done by contributing guest posts for high-traffic websites that may have an overlap of target customers with the business.

It’s also possible to build links by asking other business owners to post a link, sharing content with those who are likely to link to the website, listing in business directories, and building relationships with other brands that might be willing to post a link.

Business owners will want to think creatively when they’re considering how to add backlinks, as there are plenty of ways to encourage other websites to link back to the business’s website.

Start Publishing High-Quality Content

High-quality content is a must for any business website today.

Content is the basis for many different types of marketing and can help increase the traffic brought in by search engines, social media, and more.

Content doesn’t need to be just articles or blog posts, either. It can include images, videos, infographics, podcasts, ebooks, and far more.

Major search engines like Google have told website owners for years that content is crucial for any business website, as it’s something that makes the website more desirable for the visitors.

Any business owner can create their own content for the website or, if they’re not sure they can create content that is high quality, hire a professional to create it for them.

The key here is to ensure all content is appropriately optimized for the search engines, whether it’s professionally done or done by the business owner.

Optimize the Website for Search Engines

Websites should be optimized for the search engines to help them appear higher in the results.

The coding for the website, including aspects like the URL itself, the title tags, and other tags, are just as important for the website even though they won’t really be noticed by visitors.

Search engines will, however, notice them, so optimizing these components and using schema code can help boost the website’s rankings so it’s easier for potential customers to find.

Take Advantage of Online Business Directories

Online directories have been around for many years now, and have only improved with time.

Many consumers will use these business directories frequently to find new businesses, whether they’re local or available online.

Main local directories like Google My Business and Bing Places can be edited by business owners and optimized to help increase traffic.

Once a website is listed, when someone looks for a certain type of business near them, the website will appear in the search results.

Any business owner can register their business, confirm that they own the business, and edit it to include all of the information customers are looking for.

This should include the website address as well as a physical address, open hours, phone number, and other information applicable for the business.

The more information included the better for these listings.

They will help improve the relevancy for the business, which helps increase the ranking position on the search engines and the traffic on the business directories can help boost the website traffic.

Invest Time in Social Media Marketing

Another area for business owners to focus on is social media.

Today, there are a plethora of different social media websites that can be a great way to increase traffic to the website, and it’s free to sign up for accounts on most of these sites.

Business owners should pick just a few sites to get started and ensure they are opting for platforms where their prospective customers are more likely to be.

It’s best to take some time to learn more about marketing on that particular platform to get a better idea of how it works and what it can be used for.

One thing to remember, however, is that it is easy to fall into the trap of relying too much on social media to market the business.

Instead, business owners should take advantage of both free and paid promotion options on social media websites, while still focusing on expanding and improving their website.

Start Promoting the Website Offline

A lot of website promotion is done online, but there are offline options available as well.

Business owners can include their website on business cards and hand those cards out at promotional events or provide them to prospective customers they meet.

A well-designed business card can still be a valuable asset for business owners looking to get visitors to their website, and creating the business cards is generally very affordable.

Another way to promote the website offline is to print the website on anything that a customer might see.

This includes work uniforms, products being given away to prospective customers, offline advertisement materials, and far more.

Some businesses may even post their website on their vehicle so prospective customers can see it when the vehicle is driven around town.

As long as it is done tastefully and in a way that helps capture the attention of potential customers, offline promotions can be cost-effective and a successful way to drive more traffic to the website.

Take Advantage of PPC Advertising

While the above methods are generally free for business owners to do, they may want to look into pay-per-click or PPC advertising as well.

This type of advertising is perfect for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google, and they can be highly targeted to ensure the ads are viewed by prospective customers.

This helps generate new leads quickly for a business and helps to create a significant surge in traffic to the website.

A completely customized PPC strategy is trackable, so it’s easy to determine the ROI and ensure this is an effective way to generate more traffic.

Though it can be hard to be noticed when a website is initially created, all of the steps here have been designed to help business owners draw in more traffic and increase their sales.

Talk to an expert about your business website today to learn more about what you can do to generate more traffic.

Bottom Line: You Need More Website Traffic

Today’s business owners need a business website to be able to fully market their business like with Chicago SEO.

However, just having a website isn’t going to be enough. There needs to be traffic getting to the website.

If your website is not getting enough traffic, follow the tips here to start reaching out to more potential customers and getting them to visit the website.

You don’t need to spend a ton of money to start marketing your business online, though a consultation with an expert can be helpful to determine where you should focus and what is going to make the biggest difference.